should have shown his support the next day, because I thought it was unfair that Janet Jackson got the brunt of it. He knew about it -- it was part an act, an act that didn't play well. To me, the whole thing just made more conscious of how many people were laughing at us in Europe. But no, that whole thing didn't have any effect on how I made the movie, because I've been doing this for so many years now that I make the movie I want to make. I didn't change anything.But there's always going to be decency rallies, and actually, my suggestion for the ad campaign for this movie was going to be "Can tolerance go too far?" If you can just see both sides of things sometimes, it makes a big difference, you know? For example, some of these fetish groups. As much as I'm for the freedom of people, they have no sense of humor about it, and that to me is shocking. How can you be a pickle top and not laugh about it? Or even say it with a straight face?
The dance Tracey Ullman does with the water bottle is a hilarious sight gag. Did she have any reservations about doing the scene, and what was her initial reaction when she read that part of the script? How did you pull the scene off, technically, because it looks entirely ... real.
I wasn't there when she read it for the first time, but I do know that after she read it, her husband said, "You gotta do this movie," and she told me she rarely got a chance to be controversial. I was very careful to make her feel comfortable doing that scene. We did it with a magnet in her underwear and a magnet in the bottle.
A magnet! Oh, the genius of simplicity!
Yeah, and it was worked out by my two great prop masters, Brooke Yehon and Jeff Gordon. Funny story -- the day we were set to film that, we were in a parking lot at the 7-11, and we decided to try it out there, just to see if it worked. It did work. Then we looked across the street and saw that all the guys at the gas station had seen the whole thing and their mouths were just wide open. Tracy went into the 7-11 to get something, and some guy came up to her and said, "Would you like to have sex? I have a really large penis." She screamed, because she thought it was a set-up, but it wasn't at all. And that just happened to be her first day in Baltimore! I have to say, it's never happened to me, and I was raised there. Thank heaven for 7-11!
I think the film breaks a record for euphemisms, slang and one-liners -- all in reference to sex. From "Let's have lunch downtown" to the picking your seat joke, which was particularly hilarious. Did you come up with these all by yourself?
[Laughing] Yeah, that one with Big Ethel about the picking your seat, that was something my friend's mother always used to say. You say it to someone who's scratching their rear: "You going to the movies?" "No, why?" "Well, you're picking your seat!"
That's exactly what I'm talking about, and that's only one of what I am guessing to be 50 -- and they are over-the-top funny. Where did you come up with them?
A lot of them I already knew, and a lot of them were in reference books. There's a great book called "The Big Book of Filth," which is a dictionary of slang terms, and it's just fantastic. But I also had to be really careful, because there are a lot of really offensive ones in the book, too, and I didn't want to use any of those because I think my film is ... sexually correct. I think it's about a woman who demands satisfaction, it's a feminist tale, and there's no anti-woman sex in this film. So many slang terms are anti-woman in a weird way, and there were a lot of them in that book, so I had to be careful.
Were you in New York during the Republican National Convention, and do you have any comments on it?
No, I was in New York the day before and then I was in Provincetown and had a nice time there. I didn't watch it because it's all a big infomercial at this point. I know who I'm voting for -- nothing's going to change my mind.
Did you watch any of it on TV? I'm curious to see what you thought of Bush's entrance. The house lights went down, strobe lights came on, he came out from behind an American flag and the place went nuts. It was like a Kiss concert.
I did see that, and it was frightening. Unfortunately, he has very good advisors who have taught him how to use the media in a good way. He was terrible at it at the beginning, but as much as I still can't stand him, they have taught him how to speak well. Which is distressing.
There is a sudden influx of straight actors playing gay. Heath and Jake, Johnny's playing bisexual, Liam Neeson. What do you think of that?
I think it's fine. See, I like mixing it up. I always cast straight people to play gay people and gay people to play straight people. I like it confusing, just like I like it in real life!
Which two actors do you think would make a good same-sex couple in a movie?
Well, Johnny Depp and Johnny Knoxville would certainly be a great, great, great couple. And they'd like each other, too.
You know, speaking of Johnny Knoxville, I know you are a fan of "Jackass: The Movie," and so am I -- I own the DVD. I don't understand why that movie is not a cult classic with gay men. Do you?
I love, love "Jackass!" Here's the thing: Cool gay men love it; square gay men hate it.
I don't get that -- how can gay men hate "Jackass?"
Because they're square! They think it's in bad taste and they don't think it's funny. But I'll tell you what: Johnny gave me "Too Hot for Jackass," which is the stuff they wouldn't let him run on TV, and, whoa -- you oughtta see that!
If they make a film about you, who do you think should play you?
Well, certainly Steve Buscemi in later life. He and I are friends, and people mix us up all the time. In fact, one year my Christmas card was Steve Buscemi dressed as me.
But you know who else looks like you and could play you? Macaulay Culkin.
I LOVE Macaulay, and I have tried to get him in a few of my movies. He wouldn't, but that's OK. I'm still going to get him to be in one someday, because I am a big, big fan. I think he was fantastic in "Party Monster." That was a good example of someone going out on a limb in a big way. And it was so believable because that guy was so creepy, so he wasn't supposed to be someone you especially liked.
You are known for becoming fixated on certain people and then meeting and becoming friends with them. For instance, Patty Hearst and Leslie Van Houten, who was one of the Manson girls. Are there any new obsessions you have?
Johnny Walker Lindh.
The September 11th guy?
Yes, the American Taliban guy. [Laughs] Remember him? He was so handsome.
[Laughing.] Well, are you going to pursue a friendship with him?
No, I'm not even going to bother trying -- I'd have the Bush administration waiting out front.
Anyone else?
Yes, I was very interested in the 9/11 Nympho. Remember her?
Not really.
She was the woman who was fucking all the police and firemen in Manhattan, and her husband said she did it all because of 9/11. He said, "I don't know why -- she didn't lose anyone or even know any of the victims." But after 9/11, she became like the Tracey Ullman character in my film, running around, the 9/11 Nympho. God, I love that name.
What was her real name?
I don't think they ever revealed it, but she was busy working her way from firehouse to firehouse to police station. Very busy woman, the 9/11 Nympho.
Do you watch any television at all?
I almost never watch television, but I do watch "The Wire," because it's filmed in Baltimore and all my friends work on it. I think it's a good show -- otherwise, I almost never watch television.
What do you think about the first gay TV channel, LOGO?
I have mixed feelings about that. I'm for it, but to me, I don't care if it's gay. All I care about is if it's good, you know? I mean, I think progress sometimes is when we can admit there's a bad gay movie.
Recent Articles
Movies
Television
