An objectum reading of Faster Than Sex (A Faster Than Sex rant I worked on for days this time.)
If you're online enough to have listened to Faster Than Sex, there's a good chance the term objectum came to mind at some point before during or after listening to the album. If you don't know or need a refresher, objectum is a label for people who have romantic, sexual, platonic or even familial relationships with (or attraction to) inanimate objects. So yeah, Carlito.
Objectum is such an underrepresented group that Faster Than Sex just existing is interesting. It wasn’t written as a representational piece, it wasn't made to be a queer masterpiece. It was made to be funny, and it is. However, that won't stop me from reading too deep in to it like some kind of fuckin' music critic.
Carlito is introduced to us through the opening track Garage Of Sex. We meet a pre Carl Benz Carlito having relations with his wife's car, seemingly for the first time. This is what causes the ghost of Carl Benz to appear and tell Carlito about the prophecy. This isn't about that though. The important part is Carlito's decision to fuck a car BEFORE he's told about his destiny. Who knows how long he'd been thinking about it before this point, what internal turmoil this desire must have caused for him before he went this far. The shame, the guilt of hiding this attraction from his wife that he really cares for.
It's likely Carlito has never heard the term objectum (except for maybe in passing in comments on Cars fanart on deviant art.) Without a word to describe what he was feeling other than "car fucker" I'm certain he feels awful. Carlito's attraction is likely, in his own mind, the biggest problem in his life. (Side note, I'm not saying objectum attraction is a problem for most people, just that in the context of Carlito's pre FTS life, it's likely he would see it as an issue.)
Enter Carl Benz: "A'ight big C. Imma need you to fuck more cars, 'k?" Carlito: "Huh?"
It's made clear that Carlito never wanted a divorce, but it's too late for that. His wife knows what he was doing in the garage, and now he's trying to blame a fucking ghost? It's over for him.
Now that he's following his destiny, what does his still unlabeled objectum sexuality mean to him? Well he's freaking lost it. Encouraged to act on his every attraction, he's forced into this mindset where his sexual desires define who he is as a person. Everything comes second to this once shameful lust.
Power Of The C.A.R.S is an interesting song in this context. It's like a misguided objectum hype song sung by someone with no understanding of moderation. It seems like Carlito has reached a point where he can have pride in his identity. If only there was anything left to be proud of. It's truly a shame that Carlito had to destroy everything he loves to feel comfortable with this aspect of his identity. Maybe if Carl Benz hadn't fucked up his life he could have made it here intact, but this album was never about living a comfortable and fulfilling life, now was it?
Another song I'd like to highlight is BMW 325(i)ntervention. This song is a major turning point in the album. "There's something wrong with him/ /He needs therapy/ /I got an idea/ /Intervention for TV" Well, uh, the intervention didn't go well. We don't know who exactly is holding this intervention, but we do know they want that dank reality TV money. But back to the point, this attempt to get Carlito to stop fucking cars relies heavily on negative objectum stereotypes. That isn't to say that Carlito doesn't live up to every single one, but the way it's presented expects Carlito's problems to be synonymous with his attraction to cars. Of course, this could have been on purpose to make him look more unreasonable on TV. If they were really worried about Carlito they could have easily pointed out their concerns and how the feel they're linked to his sex addiction. But it's not about helping Carlito, it's about exaggerating how weird he is for fucking cars. The statement, "This ain't a phase/ /It's a lifestyle cursed/ /I'd rather die fast than a lifestyle reversed", very much reads to me as Carlito acknowledging his attraction to cars as a sexuality and a part of his identity. The issue with that being that he likely sees the addiction aspect as a part of this "lifestyle".
I consider BMW 325(i)ntervention to be a turning point because this "intervention" seems to encourage Carlito to distance himself further and fall deeper into the behaviors that had them concerned in the first place. And the following songs seem to reflect this, with songs like Monday Meltdown (Carjacking), Kiss From A Mazda, and Sex With Bulldozer (Komatsu D575A) showing the worst depths of Carlito's self harm and emotional distance.
So what am I getting at here? Basically, I've layed this all out to answer the question: Is Carlito Benz good objectum representation? In a vacuum, no, not at all. He lives up to every negative objectum stereotype. He's impulsive, emotionally distant, gets off on hurting himself with the objects he's attracted to, and has no regard for the sanctity of public spaces. HOWEVER, I'd argue that with a hint of common sense most people who really paid attention to the album could comprehend that these behaviors aren't exclusive to objectum people, and more so linked to a more general sex addiction. And if I'm not wrong in my assumption that people have common sense, and in context with how few objectum characters there are... He's not the worst?
I mean how many objectum characters get there own story? He's not a joke character in someone else's story. It's his story, his sexuality is the main focus. It might all be for lols, but I know there are objectum people who probably love this album and are so happy to have a character like them. If you're one of those people, I love you, I hope my art and rants about this album are satisfactory to you (I know they are for me ;].)
