Katherine Dunn Geek Love Analysis
Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love is the tale of an oddly sensational traveling freak show called the Binewski Carnival Fabulon. The show, run by Aloysius (Al) and Crystal (Lil) Binewski, ultimately is hit with hard times due to some of the performers shortcomings so Al “decided to breed his own version of freaks” (Dunn 7) in order to insure they would not have any more issues with such behaviors. Or as Al so loving recalled: “before I even dreamed you, my dreamlets!” (Dunn 6). Not only was the creation of their children considered a means to provide for the family but also as described by Lil "...the idea of inherited security was ingrained from her childhood, "What greater gift could you offer your children than an inherent ability to earn a living just by being themselves?" (Dunn 7). Throughout each of Lil’s pregnancies Al would concoct various cocktails for her to take. The cocktails
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included various illegal and prescription drugs, arsenic, insecticides, and eventually even radioactive items. The pregnancies that did not result in live birth, or resulted in death thereafter were proudly displayed, publicly, in large glass jars in an area called the Chute. The experimental children that did survive were each unique in his or her own way. With that being said meet the Binewski children: a bald albino hunchback dwarf named Olympia (Oly), twin girls conjoined at the waist named Iphigenia (Iphy) and Elektra (Elly), a malevolent aqua-boy named Arturo (Arty) with flippers instead of limbs, and a regular looking boy, Fortunato (Chick), who’s claim to fame is not a physical feature but instead his telekinetic powers. You see the Binewski family is not your average family, they test all the boundaries and put a new spin on what it means to be normal all the while still being what I consider an “all-American” family with a twist. Whereas some people think that Al and Lil are bad parents because they intentionally sabotaged their children, I like to consider the Binewski family of Dunn’s Geek Love you’re not so typical, very extreme family next door and although some of their methods are unconventional Al and Lil truly wanted the best for their children and went to every extreme imaginable to insure each child was taken care of all the while each of the children grew up proud of who they were and even felt bad for ‘norms’ for being forced to live in such restraints..
As stated by Arty: “I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Each of these innocents on the street is engulfed by a terror of their own ordinariness. They would do anything to be unique.” (Dunn 223). Aside from the fact that this came out of the mouth of someone with flippers for hands and legs this young man sounds very proud and content with who he is as a person which is sadly not something that is too common in the world of ‘norms’. One of the biggest problems we have in today’s world is the ideal of what is pretty or acceptable has been greatly modified due to society’s unrealistic expectations specifically in regards to appearance. Some would argue that social media and magazines have set unrealistic goals of beauty due to the photo shopping and editing of celebrities pictures others would say that the issue lies more at home and how a person was brought up. Regardless, Al and Lil must have done something right because their children were not at all ashamed of who they were or the fact that they were different but instead knew the value of being unique in such a uniform
world.
The 1970’s and the 80’s were a time in American history where the model home was immersed with nurturing love typically provided by the woman of the house which in turn allowed the male counterpart to work and to provide for his family. Simply put, the woman took care of house and home while the husband worked outside the home. Geek Love dismantles the many boundaries that exist between money and love. Instead of the customary sentimental ideal of caretaking, the Binewski’s reside in an unusual, sometimes illogical fun-house. Still, Al being the man of the house does provide for his family by utilizing each child’s unique feature that he was solely responsible for providing them with. The children were put on display as they were intended which in turn provided money and a way of life for the family. And by definition that would make Al Binewski the provider for his household which even still today is widely considered the man’s responsibility. For many centuries now people have not only studied how to handle genetics but have learned how to manipulate them and how to enhance certain desirable traits (elective plastic surgery, fat transfers, etc.). Wasn’t that what Al was doing? He and Lil manipulated each of their unborn children’s genes in order to achieve the features that they considered to be most desirable. Such extreme abnormalities are not everyone’s idea of normal or beautiful but to the Binewski’s they are both monetarily and personally irreplaceable. “They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.” (Dunn 20). Al and Lil saw abnormalities almost like a contest to see how strange and extreme they could create their children in order to ‘win’. The more extreme the deformities, the more valuable in their eyes. That is not too far-fetched from parents choosing their child’s gender or even a woman picking the father of her future unborn child from a catalog that is organized by highest GPA or best physical features. But because Al and Lil went to such extremes and the children’s unique features were utilized almost immediately after being born Al and Lil had to make sure to implement that the relationship between parent and creator ran parallel to one another; not one title was more significant than the other. Al screams at Oly: “It is called a voice! . . . I gave it to you from the love in my guts for your scrawny and unmarketable carcass, so be kind enough to use it properly!” (Dunn45). Here the relationship between parent and child seems to morph into an interaction between producer and product and there is nothing new about that only that the Binewski family choose to nurture or grow (for lack of better words) oddities.
In conclusion, the Binewski family of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love typically is not the type of family that what would come to mind when you hear the term “all-American family. Instead Geek Love has been described as brutal, horrific, and even bizarre yet all the while still being relatable and incredibly human with a pinch of heartbreak at times. Dunn has an unprecedented approach of examining human nature and relationships from an unconventional perspective all the while challenging what love is and what it means to be “normal”. In short, expect to see yourself in and everyone you know in one character or another. There is a little bit of Chick and Arty in all of us.
included various illegal and prescription drugs, arsenic, insecticides, and eventually even radioactive items. The pregnancies that did not result in live birth, or resulted in death thereafter were proudly displayed, publicly, in large glass jars in an area called the Chute. The experimental children that did survive were each unique in his or her own way. With that being said meet the Binewski children: a bald albino hunchback dwarf named Olympia (Oly), twin girls conjoined at the waist named Iphigenia (Iphy) and Elektra (Elly), a malevolent aqua-boy named Arturo (Arty) with flippers instead of limbs, and a regular looking boy, Fortunato (Chick), who’s claim to fame is not a physical feature but instead his telekinetic powers. You see the Binewski family is not your average family, they test all the boundaries and put a new spin on what it means to be normal all the while still being what I consider an “all-American” family with a twist. Whereas some people think that Al and Lil are bad parents because they intentionally sabotaged their children, I like to consider the Binewski family of Dunn’s Geek Love you’re not so typical, very extreme family next door and although some of their methods are unconventional Al and Lil truly wanted the best for their children and went to every extreme imaginable to insure each child was taken care of all the while each of the children grew up proud of who they were and even felt bad for ‘norms’ for being forced to live in such restraints..
As stated by Arty: “I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Each of these innocents on the street is engulfed by a terror of their own ordinariness. They would do anything to be unique.” (Dunn 223). Aside from the fact that this came out of the mouth of someone with flippers for hands and legs this young man sounds very proud and content with who he is as a person which is sadly not something that is too common in the world of ‘norms’. One of the biggest problems we have in today’s world is the ideal of what is pretty or acceptable has been greatly modified due to society’s unrealistic expectations specifically in regards to appearance. Some would argue that social media and magazines have set unrealistic goals of beauty due to the photo shopping and editing of celebrities pictures others would say that the issue lies more at home and how a person was brought up. Regardless, Al and Lil must have done something right because their children were not at all ashamed of who they were or the fact that they were different but instead knew the value of being unique in such a uniform
world.
The 1970’s and the 80’s were a time in American history where the model home was immersed with nurturing love typically provided by the woman of the house which in turn allowed the male counterpart to work and to provide for his family. Simply put, the woman took care of house and home while the husband worked outside the home. Geek Love dismantles the many boundaries that exist between money and love. Instead of the customary sentimental ideal of caretaking, the Binewski’s reside in an unusual, sometimes illogical fun-house. Still, Al being the man of the house does provide for his family by utilizing each child’s unique feature that he was solely responsible for providing them with. The children were put on display as they were intended which in turn provided money and a way of life for the family. And by definition that would make Al Binewski the provider for his household which even still today is widely considered the man’s responsibility. For many centuries now people have not only studied how to handle genetics but have learned how to manipulate them and how to enhance certain desirable traits (elective plastic surgery, fat transfers, etc.). Wasn’t that what Al was doing? He and Lil manipulated each of their unborn children’s genes in order to achieve the features that they considered to be most desirable. Such extreme abnormalities are not everyone’s idea of normal or beautiful but to the Binewski’s they are both monetarily and personally irreplaceable. “They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.” (Dunn 20). Al and Lil saw abnormalities almost like a contest to see how strange and extreme they could create their children in order to ‘win’. The more extreme the deformities, the more valuable in their eyes. That is not too far-fetched from parents choosing their child’s gender or even a woman picking the father of her future unborn child from a catalog that is organized by highest GPA or best physical features. But because Al and Lil went to such extremes and the children’s unique features were utilized almost immediately after being born Al and Lil had to make sure to implement that the relationship between parent and creator ran parallel to one another; not one title was more significant than the other. Al screams at Oly: “It is called a voice! . . . I gave it to you from the love in my guts for your scrawny and unmarketable carcass, so be kind enough to use it properly!” (Dunn45). Here the relationship between parent and child seems to morph into an interaction between producer and product and there is nothing new about that only that the Binewski family choose to nurture or grow (for lack of better words) oddities.
In conclusion, the Binewski family of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love typically is not the type of family that what would come to mind when you hear the term “all-American family. Instead Geek Love has been described as brutal, horrific, and even bizarre yet all the while still being relatable and incredibly human with a pinch of heartbreak at times. Dunn has an unprecedented approach of examining human nature and relationships from an unconventional perspective all the while challenging what love is and what it means to be “normal”. In short, expect to see yourself in and everyone you know in one character or another. There is a little bit of Chick and Arty in all of us.