What Passes For Normal

Chapter 22

We just stared at the last photo for a while.

The long series is the centrepiece of Shane's show and I can see why. It's really powerful, even if I'm not exactly sure what it means. I ask Teddy what he thinks.

"Oh man," says Teddy. "I dunno. Something about how people are so voyeuristic maybe? I know she's supposed to be hitting the photographer with the bat, but it's like she's hitting us, the viewers, you know? Like we're the ones she's mad at."

"Yeah, I think so too," I say. "She's like 'you think I only exist for you to get off on? Well get off on this, bitches!'"

Teddy smiles. "Exactly," he says, then pauses for a sec and I start to wonder if we're done with the topic before he goes on.

"Shane's drawing the audience, or viewer I guess, into the equation, but maybe the point is that the viewer's always part of the equation, you know? It's human beings on both sides—the one looking and the one being looked at—with the photographer as the middle-man, directing things maybe, but really just being sort of a lens."

"What do you think pissed her off in the middle there?" I ask.

"Yeah, good question," Ted says. "I was thinking maybe the pretend photographer asked her to do something she really didn't want to do, you know?"

"Yeah," I say. "Or she just woke up to how degrading it all is. You think he's also making a comment about violence? Like, her reaction is pretty over-the-top!"

"Maybe," says Teddy. "Like not just sex-porn, but violence-porn as well? I don't know. I wonder if it's cheating to ask Shane what it means."

I'm really enjoying our conversation about Shane's crazy photos, but now Jello comes over and sort of tugs Teddy aside. I can hear him clearly and he pretty obviously asks for Ted's permission to hit on C. J. without actually saying it like that, cuz that isn't the guy way of doing things. Instead he says that C. J. is hungry and they were thinking of going, just the two of them, over to Safi's for pizza and would that be cool with Teddy?

I feel a little flutter, hoping Teddy will indeed be cool with it because, really, he officially came to this thing with C. J. and I'm just tagging along, but he and I have had such an awesome time together I really want it to continue.

"It's fine Jell, really," says Teddy, and being Good Guy Ted, he looks over to where C. J. is somewhat awkwardly maintaining a strategic distance from the conversation and gives her a smile and a wave. She smiles back and shrugs pretty damn cutely, I must say. Can't believe Teddy has, for the moment at least, chosen me over her. She's so cool and I think, if I were him I'd probably like C. J. way more than me, but then, I'm not going to start playing that game. For one thing, I'm having too much fun, and for another, C. J. has clearly fallen under Jello's magic spell just like, apparently, a billion other girls.

Teddy turns back to me and I play it cool. No biggie, Ted. I don't want to bear-hug you or anything right now. Byron and Katie are still here. They've found a couple of chairs and are sitting close together drinking sodas. Byron's talking while looking at some of the other guests in the gallery and Katie is giggling.

There's one last series of photos that we haven't looked at yet. This is the set with the penis shots that Jello very maturely commented on as soon as we stepped inside the door. The title is "AdamEveAdamEveAdamAdamEveEve" and there are eight big black-and-white portraits, each of a different man or women, all completely naked, with a very long snake, maybe a boa constrictor, stretching from tail to head across all of their shoulders. The tail of the snake is on the first portrait, the first of the four Adams, and the head, eyes glistening, tongue flitting out, is above the left breast of the fourth Eve in the last portrait. In between, Shane has cleverly positioned the snake so it looks like it continues all the way across all eight portraits. Pretty cool, Shane.