History Main / Camp

** In his essay [[http://media.opencultures.net/queer/data/international/batman-medhurst.pdf Batman, Deviancy and Camp]], Andy Medhurst goes so far as to say the best definition of camp could be "sort of like the Batman TV show." Adam West has apparently [[AdamWesting made a career]] out of playing campy superheroes. Occasionally he even plays himself ''as if he thought he was a superhero''.

* ''Film/{{Barbie}}''' has a colorful, deliberately artificial set design designed to resemble old Technicolor-era musicals, including large dance numbers and flamboyant costumes, with pretty much every Ken falling squarely into CampStraight territory.

** This is not to say Who doesn't indulge in {{deconstruction}} now and again. The aforementioned ''New Adventures'' novels turned the Creator/TerranceDicks interpretation of the Doctor ("Neither cruel nor cowardly") on its head: In ''Love and War'', the Doctor still behaves like the children's hero we all know and adore -- even parroting the same Dicks catchphrases -- while simultaneously doing thoroughly fiendish things. This contradiction later surfaced on the Doctor Who spinoff ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', most notably with the flamboyant pansexual immortal child killer Captain Jack -- about as schizo a character as you can come up with.
** The new series, faced with the terrifying prospect of a reasonable budget and cheap and high-quality special effects being widely available by that point, perhaps overcompensated for this by having a DarkerAndEdgier Doctor -- one who was now the LastOfHisKind, wore [[PuttingOnTheReich a black leather jacket that, in WWII London, has a fellow time traveller compare him to a U-Boat Captain]] and a [[ImportantHaircut shaved head]] and had committed double genocide as BackStory -- fighting mostly extremely goofy comedy monsters over his short run, with the notable exceptions being the Daleks (a "serious" but legendarily campy [[TheFifties 50s]] BMovie-like monster [[{{Reconstruction}} played painfully straight here]]) and the Empty Child (whose double parter is considered to be one of the best and creepiest stories in the show's history). [[OurGhostsAreDifferent The Gelth]] and [[OurZombiesAreDifferent their Zombie forms]] are also among the more serious threats he faces. The worry was that, with good special effects, the NarmCharm responsible for a lot of the campy appeal would be lost, and so it had to be added by replacing "low camp" with "high camp" - not least to avoid traumatising children (which [[NightmareFuel the original series cared about much less]], being by far the goriest show on Creator/TheBBC at the time). By the second series, the Doctor got more mellow and the monsters got (mostly) spookier, finding what is generally agreed to be a good middle ground -- and it's still camp as hell. Since then, it's yo-yo'd between gleefully embracing the camp and playing up the drama (the Creator/JohnSimm incarnation of the Master epitomising this by starting his takeover by bellowing "HERE! COME! THE DRUMS!" and bopping along to Music/RogueTraders' "Voodoo Child", then casually ordering the deaths of 600 million people because he thinks the word 'decimate' sounds nice).
*** Of course, this didn't stop the early seasons of the revival from steering ''hard'' into camp at times, from the vain villainess Lady Cassandra (a flap of skin attached to a brain who demands to be constantly moisturized) to thrilling action scenes set to Britney Spears' "Toxic" to a killer robot [[Series/TheWeakestLink Anne Robinson]] to the Slitheen, a group of large predatory aliens crammed in human suits who are constantly farting due to matter compression. Some of these efforts were more successful than others.

** The costume designs under Creator/JohnNathanTurner's tenure as producer were done this way for [[MerchandiseDriven merchandising reasons]], probably inspired by the IconicOutfit appeal of the Fourth Doctor's scarf (which he ironically attempted to dispose of before being talked out of it) -- the Doctors went from dressing in a somewhat [[RummageSaleReject bohemian]], [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel anachronistic]] approach to [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece whatever is mainstream fashion of the day]], into dressing in blatant costume, with red question-mark motifs and occasionally really hideous colour schemes. Many fans agree this crossed over into WhatTheHellCostumingDepartment, especially with the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, though the JN-T Fourth Doctor outfit is generally agreed to be flattering and quite good. In retrospect, it helps that the Doctor has notoriously bad fashion sense, so the clothing choices could be dismissed in that light.

** The score of the official "Shada" reconstruction shot for this (alongside {{Retraux}}) as it was a late 80s-era ''Doctor Who'' scorer doing a very knowing pastiche of the 70s style scores, but it is generally agreed upon to be distracting, inappropriate and just really nasty to listen to.

** This is not to say Who doesn't indulge in {{deconstruction}} now and again. The aforementioned ''New Adventures'' novels turned the Terrence Dicks interpretation of the Doctor ("Neither cruel nor cowardly") on its head: In ''Love and War'', the Doctor still behaves like the children's hero we all know and adore -- even parroting the same Dicks catchphrases -- while simultaneously doing thoroughly fiendish things. This contradiction later surfaced on the Doctor Who spinoff ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', most notably with the flamboyant pansexual immortal child killer Captain Jack -- about as schizo a character as you can come up with.

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* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has flirted with camp on-and-off throughout its various incarnations. This was partly out of necessity, due to the [[NoBudget low budget]]. However, camp is, in some ways, inherent in its premise: It's a world where the hero triumphs (usually deflating any attempts at seriousness in the process) by virtue of being gallant, romantic, and stoic in the British tradition. In Whovian circles, this push-pull dynamic between camp and drama is known as "Guns and Frocks", a term taken from one of the ''New Adventures'' novels. The Sixth Doctor, when confronted with a choice between fending off the villains with rifles or frocks, sides with frocks. The Doctor will always win in the most outlandish, silly way possible, because the alternative would be to resort to violence, which is against the franchise's philosophy.

* Both ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' delved into this with gusto. The latter is a heavily self-aware and unapologetic cult show about scantily-clad [[UsefulNotes/{{Sapphism}} sapphic]] warriors fighting crime.

*** Of course, this didn't stop the early seasons of the revival from steering ''hard'' into camp at times, from the vain villainess Lady Cassandra (a flap of skin attached to a brain who demands to be constantly moisturized) to thrilling action scenes set to Britney Spears' "Toxic" to the Slitheen, a group of large predatory aliens crammed in human suits who are constantly farting due to matter compression. Some of these efforts were more successful than others.

*** Of course, this didn't stop the early seasons of the revival from steering *hard* into camp at times, from the vain villainess Lady Cassandra (a flap of skin attached to a brain who demands to be constantly moisturized) to thrilling action scenes set to Britney Spears' "Toxic" to the Slitheen, a group of large predatory aliens crammed in human suits who are constantly farting due to matter compression. Some of these efforts were more successful than others.

* ''VideoGame/FZero GX'', where everybody has wonky character models, animations and voice acting while the story is about futuristic racing pilots fighting for the fate of the universe. The deliberately weird and silly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJvd0si9tbo pilot profile movies]] also count, especially Dr. Stewart's, which is Camp incarnate.

* Creator/JohnWaters' ''Film/PinkFlamingos'' is a particularly outrageous example, but ''all'' of his movies are swimming in camp to one degree or another.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' was ''meant'' to be a classic "dashing hero saves beautiful true love with aid of LovableRogue mentor" story. Then Creator/JohnnyDepp took over and turned it into something glorious.

* ''Film/TerrorVision'', an obscure 80's monster film, is this in loads. It's about a literal family of [[ClicheStorm cliched stereotypes]] that install a dish for their TV and an EldritchAbomination that barks like a dog gets received from space and comes out of their television to absorb everyone. It's like ''Film/TheThing1982'', but a parody.

** The new series, faced with the terrifying prospect of a reasonable budget and cheap and high-quality special effects being widely available by that point, perhaps overcompensated for this by having a DarkerAndEdgier Doctor -- one who was now the LastOfHisKind, wore [[PuttingOnTheReich a black leather jacket that, in WWII London, has a fellow time traveller compare him to a U-Boat Captain]] and a [[ImportantHaircut shaved head]] and had committed double genocide as BackStory -- fighting mostly extremely goofy comedy monsters over his short run, with the notable exceptions being the Daleks (a "serious" but legendarily campy [[TheFifties 50s]] BMovie-like monster [[{{Reconstruction}} played painfully straight here]]) and the Empty Child (whose double parter is considered to be one of the best and creepiest stories in the show's history). The worry was that, with good special effects, the NarmCharm responsible for a lot of the campy appeal would be lost, and so it had to be added by replacing "low camp" with "high camp" - not least to avoid traumatising children (which [[NightmareFuel the original series cared about much less]], being by far the goriest show on Creator/TheBBC at the time). By the second series, the Doctor got more mellow and the monsters got (mostly) spookier, finding what is generally agreed to be a good middle ground -- and it's still camp as hell. Since then, it's yo-yo'd between gleefully embracing the camp and playing up the drama (the Creator/JohnSimm incarnation of the Master epitomising this by starting his takeover by bellowing "HERE! COME! THE DRUMS!" and bopping along to Music/RogueTraders' "Voodoo Child", then casually ordering the deaths of 600 million people because he thinks the word 'decimate' sounds nice).

* Music/DavidBowie, especially his stage persona of Ziggy Stardust in TheSeventies.
* Everything Music/DoctorSteel - or his fans - do is done consciously and conspicuously over the top.
* [[Music/GhostBand Ghost]] is known for a deliberately campy take on HollywoodSatanism; their overall schtick can be summed up as channeling the theatrical flair of Music/AliceCooper into a Satanic parody of Catholocism. The singer wears papal outfits and a skull-painted mask, the band is completely disguised and is only referred to as "a pack of Nameless Ghouls", stages often have backdrops like massive stained glass murals from cathedrals, and concerts are referred to as "rituals" in reference to a song on their debut album.

* Music/MichaelJackson sometimes was intentionally campy, most famously with the song and video for "Bad", where he dances in a leather jacket to impress some gang members that he is "bad" like them.
* Music/KlausNomi, an eccentric pop star dressed in theatrical costumes who sings in an operatic voice on albums like ''[[Music/KlausNomiAlbum Klaus Nomi]]'' and ''Music/SimpleMan''.

* Music/{{Queen}}'s sound was essentially this combined with the EpicRiff and/or EpicRocking. Lead singer Music/FreddieMercury was a decidedly MachoCamp variety of bisexual and loved to dress in fur and leather (and sported a PornStache later in his career).

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': The anime's OP for ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' is a good demonstration of the glam {{Bishonen}} action, but you can't realize how Campy it is until you perform or see the poses in real life, which [[MemeticMutation caught on first with fans]] and spread to other anime and Japanese idols and celebrities.

Derives from the French gay community's slang term ''se camper'', meaning "to pose in an exaggerated fashion." The term "camp" morphed into referring to a sensibility that revels in artifice, stylization, theatricality, irony, playfulness, and exaggeration rather than content, as Susan Sontag famously defined the term in her short essay "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20140514001236/http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html Notes on Camp".]] [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness Don't expect it to take itself the least bit seriously.]]

Derives from the French gay community's slang term ''se camper'', meaning "to pose in an exaggerated fashion." The term "'''Camp'''" morphed into referring to a sensibility that revels in artifice, stylization, theatricality, irony, playfulness, and exaggeration rather than content, as Susan Sontag famously defined the term in her short essay "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20140514001236/http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html Notes on Camp".]] [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness Don't expect it to take itself the least bit seriously.]]

* Both ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' delved into this with gusto. The latter is a heavily self-aware and unapologetic cult show about scantily-clad sapphic warriors fighting crime.

* Creator/TommyWiseau's ''Film/TheRoom'' is one of the more popular examples of low camp. Although Wiseau made the smart marketing decision to now push it as an ironic comedy, it's clear to everyone that he originally meant it to be completely serious.

* The Entire Burton/Schumacher ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' film franchise to varying extents. The [[Film/Batman1989 first film]] less so than the succeeding three.

* Where the hell do we even begin with ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''? Some even view it as the Sonic equivalent of Creator/AdamWest's Batman. For starters we have Sonic (who is voiced by [[Series/FamilyMatters Jaleel White]]) shouting out over-the-top {{Catch Phrase}}s such as "I'M WAAAAAITING," and "WAY PAST COOL," [[HarmlessVillain Scratch and Grounder]] who are too [[TooDumbToLive INSANELY stupid]] to do almost anything right, let alone catch Sonic, and ([[WatchItForTheMeme of course]]), [[LargeHam Dr. Ivo Robotnik]] who should probably [[MemeticMutation give himself a promotion]] for displaying such [[{{Pun}} camPINGAS]] usual we see.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'' has this in multiple places like Big Guy's EagleLand [[CatchPhrase catchphrases]], the [[TheFifties 50s]] [[{{Zeerust}} visual aesthetic]] for the show, and, most notably, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqBM-RrprfY theme song.]]