As soon as she appears on the screen in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Lucy LiuCalypso immediately reinforces the film’s camp factor. As seen in the armored mini-skirt outfit she wears throughout the film, Calypso is designed with excess, theatricality, and attention to appearance—many qualities that define Camp’s queer aesthetic. Played by gay favorite Liu, Calypso instantly adds to the canon of campy diva supervillains along with Michelle PfeifferCatwoman and Uma ThurmanPoison ivy.
The windiness of Calypso is the basis of the character. Though paired with Hespera (Helen Mirrenlisten) as the film’s main antagonist, Calypso is portrayed as the needy younger sister of Hesperus. The two enter the film when they steal from the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) a broken staff from a museum in Greece. As Calypso reaches out to grab her, Hespera stops her so she can grab her first. From this moment it becomes clear that Calypso is in the shadow of Hesperus. The camp aspect of this dynamic is twofold. First, the fact that the motivation of an ancient, all-powerful Greek god is about the same as your average attention-hungry little brother is completely ridiculous. Secondly, since this character in need is played by an actress as innovative, versatile and recognizable as Liu, the mere appearance of the character on screen is an unsurpassed pleasure.
What does Kalypso Campy do?
However, Liu’s contribution to Calypso’s mannerisms is not limited to her casting. Throughout the film, Liu delivers a series of cartoon-appropriate lines with such cool rigor that her performance exudes camp theatrics. Some of these lines of dialogue are already made for comedic pitch, such as when she asks a captured Freddie Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) if Gatorade is a weapon. Even better, though, are the lines where Liu’s stern delivery produces brutal results that wouldn’t be the same with another actress. When Freddie begs Calypso not to harm his teacher, Mr. Geckle (Diedrich Bader), she replies, “I won’t raise a hand against him,” before casting her chaos powers on him with her voice. Liu’s feed infuses the line with Big Mean Girls Energy, turning Calypso into a true petty diva.
The most important thing, especially in a superhero movie, is what the powers of Camp Calypso are. Calypso has the power of chaos, which allows her to hypnotize people with whispered spells. Calypso’s powers are first revealed in the museum sequence, in which Calypso warps the minds of the museum’s visitors, apparently more for pleasure than out of necessity. In the film, her powers are shown bending over the ears of her victims through Calypso and casting spells in a hushed voice. However, the spell doesn’t stop there. After being deformed, hypnotized people rush to the nearest person and whisper the same spell. The use of this power reads like Calypso whispering secrets into the ears of her victims, and then hypnotized people spread her secrets like the hottest new gossip. What could be more powerful than the hypnotic pouring of tea?
The ideal appearance of Calypso
However, Calypso’s ability to knead the dirt of chaos is not the only strength of her camp. Throughout almost the entire film, regardless of the level of action on screen, Calypso’s hair and makeup remain, like Lew’s, absolutely flawless. It would be easy to write this off as standard Hollywood beauty practice. However, in the fight scene with Shazamili, Calypso flies through the air into a nearby building. As she climbs out of the rubble, her face is smeared and beaten. But as she walks away from the wreckage, her face brightens and returns to perfection. This quick moment reveals that Calypso actually has the ability to heal himself and maintain his perfect appearance. Nothing emphasizes camp’s aesthetic interests more than the ability to control one’s own aesthetic.
As the film nears its climax, Calypso plants a golden apple in Citizens Bank Park, from which the Tree of Life grows. Riding on the back of his pet dragon Ladon, the Calypso Tree gives birth to dozens of mythological monsters that terrorize Philadelphia. If her character, ability, and Liu’s performance weren’t enough to solidify Calypso as an icon of the camp, then her reign as mother of monsters certainly does the trick. After all, what’s cooler now than being a Mother?
Source: Collider
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