I find the term very confusing, because it seems like everyone has their own version of what camp means and you can just never tell what someone means. Some people seem to to think it means just exaggerated and over the top but still sincere, some people think it refers to silly schlock you don't take seriously or that you can't take any meaning from, some think it's intentional, and others thing it's not intentional.

A lot of the time when trying to find a definition for it, it seems like it's always referring to works that aren't trying to be realistic, but does that mean that anything that isn't trying to be realistic is "so bad it's good?" because it comes off as irony-poisoned.

Exaggerated and flamboyant but sincere is how I see it. Stuff that tries to be intentionally tongue in cheek and self-parody are more irony poisoned than true camp. If anything, it's like anti-irony.

In a literal sense, it's an exaggeration of aesthetics for the sake of amusement/humor. Heightening the artificiality of a work to explore the elevated space. Also, I believe for it to be camp, it needs to be in on the joke or in some way be a little self aware.

In application, camp is a lot harder to nail down. It's more a vibe and feeling. It's one of those things that you kind of need to immerse yourself in to start to understand. But once it clicks, you know it when you see it.

What about But I'm a Cheerleader? Is that a good example of camp? I'm also trying to understand

I don't think you can really detach the concept of camp from queer culture. You haven't mentioned gender or sexuality at all in your post, and I think it's the missing piece here.

'Camp' is a broad term, and is certainly used in different ways in different contexts, but it generally describes element of culture that mocks the gender-normative way that men or women are 'supposed' to look like and behave.

A film that deliberately and unapologetically embraces the 'tacky' or 'tasteless' might be called 'camp' if it's doing so in order to mock heteronormative society.

To put it another way: society fiercely defends gender and sexual norms through the mask of "good taste", and camp culture mocks that by deliberately pushing up against those arbitrary boundaries.

The definitions of Camp you are seeking are contained in Sontag's notes on camp, in which she distinguishes 2 essential categories: naive and intentional. It's a short and beautiful read. As she puts it: "That way, the way of camp, is not in terms of beauty, but in terms of the degree of artifice, of stylization"

Susan Sontag wrote a famous essay called "Notes on Camp" which is well worth reading. I haven't read it in a while, but I remember she cites Art Nouveau as a quintessentially campy art movement. Her definition of camp requires that the artist is sincere in their approach, produces something which is a failure on its own terms but provides absurd or ironic artistic merit nonetheless. I could be somewhat off the mark.

As a modern example of camp, I'd say the John Wick films. They're in a heightened reality that's utterly ridiculous, with a lot of attention paid to the appearance of everything in the world. But it's all played completely straight, with never a wink to the audience.

A classic, more traditional example of camp would be the 1960s Batman TV series.

Well said. Camp films wouldn’t be the same without John Waters.

Absolutely. The movie features exaggeration and absurdism as a form of commentary on conversion therapy, sexuality and societies perception of all that means. It plays the plot earnestly while taking the piss out of the moral panic people had over others sexuality not just in the tone of the script, but visually as well. think of all of the heightened blue and pink visuals, the general aesthetic of the conversion camp and it's leaders - like RuPaul is a conversion camp leader. So while it is satire, it is also very camp with how it addresses the movies themes and aesthetics.

I agree with other commenters that say that the definition in itself is kind of fluid and changes depending on what the culture is, as it is born out of counter culture and societal reference/commentary.

Yes, John Waters' films are the best examples.

Yes. BIACL is a perfect example of camp that crosses over into full satire. They spend the movie trying to adhere to those very gendered and heteronormative tasteful family roles- and the result is very camp.

this is a good summation of her point but I think our understanding of camp has evolved a bit since her essay