Post #241406 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Jul 6, 2006 8:34 PM

The funny thing is that that Disneyland castle was built after Bavarian King Ludwig's castle Neuschwanstein, which is already considered an example of contrived kitsch by historians. King Ludwig was the king of nostalgic gaudy pomp, sort of an 18th century Liberace, recreating opera inspired (he was a Wagner fan) theme rooms in all of his castles...of which he had built five, almost ruining his family, which was hard to do, since they had been in office for several generations, racking up quite a fortune.

Ludwig had baroque castle building mania, and when he wouldn't stop after building his first five and devised plans for several more, he was locked away for insanity by his family, and soon mysteriously drowned in a lake (with his therapist!), some say by a plot of his kin.

He's my hero because he was the first historic figure who was killed because of his bad taste! Last year I toured Schloss Linderhof and in one room the guide pointed out his very precious porcelain vase collection (also a mug collector?), and I swear one could not see the vases because every inch of wall was so covered with baroque golden/velvet/satin ornamental crap that the pieces disappeared!

Ludwig was also called the sun king (like Kon-Tiki!) and loved by his people (which he rarely saw, as an aesthetic recluse). He stands at the beginning of a direct lineage with other visionairy luminaries who built their dream castles, like Walt Disney, William Hearst's San Simeon (Xanadu), Elvis' Graceland, Lee Henry/Bill Sapp's Kahiki, and Michael Jackson's Neverland.

I digress, but just to point out that Tiki Style is supposed to be bad taste, it only becomes embarrassing if it is turned into subdued, Tommy Bahama-like fake vintage "good" taste. So yes, that Kleenex snotting Moai is "Tiki" to me.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-07-06 20:52 ]