I'm in The Atlantic talking about Bettie Page!

"Male Fans Made Bettie Page a Star, but Female Fans Made Her an Icon"

Hey neat! I'm in a major online news source talking about pinup icon Bettie Page like I'm some sort of expert on the subject. Heh. I was approached by the writer of the piece, Tori Rodriguez right before the holidays after she found my artwork, notably my Bettie-homage pieces and asked me some questions. Some of my answers were used for the article, some weren't. I figured I'd post the rest of the interview here. Def check out the article above though, it covers a lot of ground, delving into her past, the musings of other fans including the illustrious Dita VonTeese (whom I had an intimate run-in with back in 2012) and a review of the new documentary Bettie Page Reveals All!



1. How did you first learn of Bettie, and what initially drew you to her?
I first learned of Bettie as a teenager in the early 90's when I would go shopping at Tower Records and saw Bettie's image on lunchboxes and other merch. As a young goth, it was initially her black and white Irving Klaw era photos that hooked me in. All those boots and corsets and those iconic bangs. I've heard of her being referred to as the 'Marilyn for brunettes'.

2. What is it that you love about her/what does she represent to you?
As a pinup artist, her photographs are an invaluable resource. Her posing, expressions and choices in attire are what pinup art is all about. She can run the gamut of fun-loving beach bunny to whip-cracking dominatrix.

3. Any thoughts on why she appeals to so many women in general?
I think it's that she represents a freedom to express her womanhood in a very repressed time. Even though her outfits (or lack thereof...) aren't as shocking today as they were when they were taken, she owns it. I have several books in my reference library that feature her spreads from men's magazines back in the day, and how she unabashedly owns the outfits she wears is inspiring. No matter how over-the-top, or scandalous or even downright silly, you can see her rock it. Such confidence is inspiring.

4. Some women see Bettie as an alternative to unhealthy societal pressures to look perfect and behave in a certain way. Where do you think these unhealthy messages come from, i.e. who/what is sending the opposite message to what Bettie represents? (I know the answer to this seems obvious, but we want to hear fans' perspectives.)
To me Bettie was a gateway into subcultures like rockabilly and burlesque, which are very body-positive environments to women with ample curves who want to celebrate their bodies. From Bettie I learned about other pinup models and burlesque superstars like Tura Satana. From Tura I learned about the movies of Russ Meyer and from there I've monkey-barred into this whole wonderful world of showgirls and rhinestones and pencil skirts and cleavage, cleavage, cleavage. So I surround myself with these images of powerful women and try my best to ignore what the standard of beauty is that other people or entities try to push on me.

Things I Love Thursday: The Phantom of the Paradise

I think I kinda started a trend with myself a couple weeks ago with my Things I Love Thursday Special Edition entry for Sleep No More, which a lot of people seemed to enjoy (myself included). So I'm gonna talk about something else I love at length this go-around, being my 2nd favorite movie in the whole wide world, The Phantom of the Paradise!

With added reason for this 'TILT' entry, being that the Phantom himself, actor William Finley sadly passed away a few weeks ago, which inspired me to draw a portrait of the titular tragic hero he portrayed.

"My music is for Phoenix. Only she can sing it. Anyone else who tries, dies."

If you've never heard of it, it's Brian De Palma's 1974 Satanic/psychedelic rock opera based on a combination of Phantom of the Opera, Faust and The Picture of Dorian Grey. A scathing satire of the music industry, it's the first of DePalma's movies to use the split-screen method he would use again during the infamous pigs blood scene in Carrie. The entire movie also features an amazing original soundtrack by legendary singer/songwriter Paul Williams (who wrote The Rainbow Connection... so yeah...) who also plays the movie's villain, the nefarious record producer Swan. The late William Finley plays Winslow Leach, an ill-fated singer/songwriter who amazingly terrible circumstances becomes the Phantom and terrorizes Swan's music palace The Paradise. I always love movies about talented musicians (or artists) that are just starting out that get swooped up into the cutthroat world of recording/business, then screwed over only to exact their sweet revenge. Or something to that effect. Mostly I just love movies about the music biz and the crazy egos involved, especially with 70s-80s rock.

Here's the schlocky, grindhouse-esque trailer!

Though Phantom, like all my favorite movies, is a bit of an acquired taste and not for everyone (my parents turned it off before Swan's big reveal), if you're a fan of crazy cult movies I highly suggest checking it out. I first saw Phantom in high school and then subsequently went on to buy it on VHS, then DVD and have been slowly collecting the few various bits of merch that they have had available.  I own a replica of the Phantom helmet that I sat on a waiting list for 3 years to be able to purchase. Even though I no longer cosplay, I reserve a very strong desire to construct a femme version of the Phantom's costume for a *dream* photoshoot. Ugh, those would be the coolest publicity shots ever. What a way to truly capture my nerdy insanity. Haha... One day... I also have the ultra-rare Medicom Real Action Heroes figure of the Phantom as well, which I purchased 5 years ago ago at Toy Tokyo in NYC when I first moved here for $150, which compared to current eBay listings is a steal. My husband also drew me Phantom fanart for my first birthday we spent together as a couple.

My coworker made a quick little video of me when 

I *finally* got the helmet in the mail at work.

What I love about the music in Phantom is how the same songs are played over and over in different genres and by different musicians and it all sounds awesome. They really push that idea in the movie, about the importance of the music, not necessarily who sings/performs it. I really wish there was a full version of the random country guy singing 'Faust' and Beef's over-the-top version of 'Old Souls'. Also, Beef is AMAZING. Though he's only onscreen for the second act, everything he says/does is comedy gold. He's usually everyone's favorite, he's such a great character.

By my husband, Ballsy
See more of his work here!

There's been heresay that the Phantom's costume inspired the look of Darth Vader, what with the gnarly yet awesome voicebox and imposing black leather getup. No word whether this is true, but it's an interesting connection. Phantom is actually the favorite movie of one of my most favorite directors, being Edgar Wright of Shawn of the Dead/Scott Pilgrim fame, which is super cool and makes me love his work even more. Edgar Wright has a very touching tribute to William Finley on his blog, that you can see here. The parallels of Swan to Scott Pilgrim's Gideon Graves are such a sweet Phantom phanservice (see what I did there?) that I couldn't help but nerd out when I saw it. There was also talk of them remaking it back in the day (about 10-12 years ago) with Marilyn Manson as The Phantom, but that fell through. While I think this movie is perfect the way it is- such a product of it's time, I gotta admit seeing Manson dressed as the Phantom during his Mechanical Animals heyday would be kinda awesome. Though I'd hate to see a remake, it'd have been pretty sweet if they had done an homage to it for a video or something. Manson has the perfect face to go under the Phantom helmet. 

If you haven't seen Phantom yet I hope you give it a chance. It's a strange yet beautiful gem of a movie full of great music, iconic characters and some hilarious scenes.

Things I love Thursdays 1/13/11

My 5 favorite movies of all time:

#5:

Trainspotting





I saw Trainspotting in the theater my junior year of high school on a quasi-date with a classmate. It was my choice of activity, and also our only date. I think I scared him. Haha, oh well. The movie blew my 15 year old brain away. Marcus Renton is also who I would be if I was a dude.

#4:

Streets of Fire





The most recent addition to my top movie list, I finally saw Streets of Fire about 2 years ago via Netflix after being curious about the video cover when I worked at Tower Records back in 2001. I love how dramatic it is, especially with half the songs on the soundtrack written by the great Jim Steinman, who also wrote for Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler. It also has an evilly hot young Willam DaFoe looking amazing with his quiff and vinyl butcher overalls. And also has Lee Ving, lead singer of the 80's hardcore band Fear and Mr. Boddy from the Clue movie.

#3:

True Romance






I didn't see True Romance until about 2006. I had no idea it was written by Quentin Tarantino, and is his more optimistic version of Natural Born Killers (which he wrote later out of frustration that no one was interested in True Romance). Once I finally saw it though I was in love. Clarence and Alabama are just the absolute ideal of two people completely in love with each other. I even plan on getting my own version of the True Romance cupid tattoo on my inner upper left arm with the words 'You're so cool' in the banner eventually.

#2:

Phantom of the Paradise





I saw Phantom of the Paradise in high school and immediately loved it upon first viewing. The music, the visuals, THAT HELMET. I still want to make a 'femme' Phantom costume and make my BFF Fenny be a lady version of Swan. I've already got the helmet, just need the cape, catsuit and voicebox.

#1:

Rock & Rule





What can I say about Rock & Rule that I haven't already said? Haha, well, I'm going to get Angel, the female lead tattooed on my left arm this spring in Sailor Jerry classic pinup style by Cyn Rudzis, one of my new favorite tattooist. And I really need to just get on making some 'I survived the Mok concert' buttons. If not just for myself.