Sianne Ngai S Explanation Of The Contemporary Aesthetic Category Of The Cute
Sianne Ngai’s explanation of the contemporary aesthetic category of the cute reveals the darker side of human nature, accurately explaining that what people find cute is what can be violently destroyed—that which we have power over is cute. Animals, especially younger animals, possess a vulnerability that arouses a sort of destructive impulse in people: they often say they could devour or cuddle to death subjects they find innately cute. Cuteness is everywhere in children’s literature, but it makes itself especially prevalent in the adorably crushable character of Eloise in Eloise by Kay Thompson. Children, like Eloise, are like animals in that they possess a sort of vulnerable amorality that slots itself directly under Sianne Ngai’s aesthetic category of cute.
Eloise is not an animal, though one is hard-pressed to find the difference between her and an animal, as they both provoke a kind of pitiful desire to protect them in others. In the front flap of the book, part of the summary reads “If you take her home with you, you will always be glad you did.” Taking this excerpt out of context, it is easy to imagine that this could easily be placed on an ad that is calling for a person to adopt an animal from a shelter or buy a newborn animal. This sort of baiting with a hypothetical situation by addressing the reader directly in 2nd person makes it seem like Eloise is a girl who needs to be protected and taken into a kind home, someone who needs to be smothered with love.
She is an emotionally vulnerable subject. Eloise declares that “Getting bored is not allowed,” one of many clues that reveal that her absentee mother may be the root of her desire to get attention by rousing trouble and that she is not willing to admit that she is, perhaps, lonely (Thompson 48). This clue, amongst many others, where Eloise pretends to be very busy doing nonsensical actions, reveals a certain vulnerability within her. Eloise realizes that she is emotionally threatened by boredom on a
Eloise is not an animal, though one is hard-pressed to find the difference between her and an animal, as they both provoke a kind of pitiful desire to protect them in others. In the front flap of the book, part of the summary reads “If you take her home with you, you will always be glad you did.” Taking this excerpt out of context, it is easy to imagine that this could easily be placed on an ad that is calling for a person to adopt an animal from a shelter or buy a newborn animal. This sort of baiting with a hypothetical situation by addressing the reader directly in 2nd person makes it seem like Eloise is a girl who needs to be protected and taken into a kind home, someone who needs to be smothered with love.
She is an emotionally vulnerable subject. Eloise declares that “Getting bored is not allowed,” one of many clues that reveal that her absentee mother may be the root of her desire to get attention by rousing trouble and that she is not willing to admit that she is, perhaps, lonely (Thompson 48). This clue, amongst many others, where Eloise pretends to be very busy doing nonsensical actions, reveals a certain vulnerability within her. Eloise realizes that she is emotionally threatened by boredom on a