Something to Chew On

Director Mitchell Lichtenstein discusses his new film Teeth

BY LAWRENCE FERBER

It's a mouthful of sorts, alright: vagina dentate, a vagina packing a set of teeth. When Camille Paglia discussed this mythical notion in her Bennington College literature course, it stuck with one of her students — Mitchell Lichtenstein, son of famed 20th Century pop artist Roy — for years to come.

Teeth, Lichtenstein's darkly comic debut as a feature film writer/director, imagines a modern day, small town teen afflicted (or perhaps blessed) with vagina dentata. Innocent Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a leader within an abstinence-only youth organization, the Promise, and completely unfamiliar with her own body. When a boy attempts to rape her, Dawn discovers that she has, well, Jaws, that bite off his offending organ. As more boys make the same mistake—and end up squirting gore—Dawn is forced to reconcile her sexuality and a long strained relationship with her bad-boy half-brother, Brad (John Hensley).

Raised in New York, the out Lichtenstein first made his name as an actor, playing gay characters in Robert Altman's 1983 military drama, Streamers and Ang Lee's 1993 queer classic, The Wedding Banquet. Via telephone he chewed the fat about Teeth and the film's conservative supporters.

FRONTIERS: You first heard about vagina dentata from Camille Paglia?

LICHENSTEIN: Yes. It was connected to late 19th Century literature, where it made appearances. I [remained] in touch with her for years afterwards and there's a part in the movie where Dawn researches her condition online and much of what you hear in voiceover, that describes the origins and meaning of the myths, Camille wrote that.”

Would you like to have teeth buried somewhere else inside of you?

No. (laughs) Not really a wish fulfillment thing. I wanted to explore what it said about men's attitudes towards women, but in a comedic way.

And how easy or hard was it signing up actors? John Hensley has certainly seen his share of freakshows, gore, and sexual deviancy on Nip/Tuck.

He has said that at first when he saw [the script] he thought it was like a practical joke or something. The good thing was that I wasn't under any obligation to hire actors with name recognition, which is rare even for low-budget movies.

We never actually see Dawn's second set of chompers. At any point did you contemplate an elaborate animatronic effect?

In writing and developing the story I wondered, should I show the teeth and in what way? I pretty quickly knew that I wouldn't because the teeth would be an ugly, violent image and I didn't want the character of Dawn to be associated with violence and ugliness, so I figured it would always be off-screen. You may notice she never gets a drop of blood on her.

Would you like to see sequels with Dawn roaming across the nation and taking care of date rapists?

There's room for a sequel. I'm not sure exactly where it would go because I'm not sure I want her to turn into Aileen Wuornos!

What has the female reaction been like so far—has anyone been appalled?

I hear women really get into it but I always hope someone will be appalled, and that seems to be mostly men. In France at a film festival a woman came up afterwards and said, “you people”—meaning Americans—”have a very messed up view of sex.” I agree!

Could you see the Christian right actually hyping this film and advocating for new scientific advances so there were teeth in women's vaginas and nobody would touch them ever again? Until marriage.

It can certainly be viewed as a pro-abstinence film. The MPAA was behind the movie and wanted it to get an R rating because they saw it as a cautionary tale parents should take their teenage sons to see. There is a very clear moral stance—if your intentions are honorable, everything will go fine.

Although it's also an argument for anal sex, isn't it?

I hadn't seen it that way, but OK. Isn't that happening anyway because of the whole abstinence thing, that girls will do anything except…

Is Teeth a good date movie?

It's a good last date movie!

LIMITED RUN

Lynch

Shot over two years, this documentary provides a glimpse into the mysterious mind of David Lynch, revealing the filmmaker's creative process as he completed his most recent film, Inland Empire. Lynch has produced some of contemporary American cinema's most enigmatic films. LACMA. Fri., Jan. 18. 7:30 p.m. www.lacma.org.

For the Bible Tells Me So

It's faith vs. sexuality in this free screening of the award-winning documentary. St. Matthew’s Church, 1920 W, Glenoaks, Glendale. Sun., Jan. 27. 6 p.m. www.matthewchurch.com.

Dorothy Dandridge Double Feature

The classic (and rarely-screened) Porgy and Bess is a misbegotten romance between a crippled beggar and a drug-taking prostitute. Dandridge became the first actor of color to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Carmen Jones, based on Oscar Hammerstein's Broadway version of the classic opera set in the American South during wartime. Aero Theatre. Sat., Jan. 19. 7:30 p.m. www.americancinematheque.com.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The epic three-hour documentary, King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis, consists of newsreel and other period footage from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 through the assassination of the civil rights leader in 1968. Academy Theater at Lighthouse International. Mon., Jan. 21. 1 p.m. www.oscars.org/events.

Homo Must

Elizabeth Taylor Double Feature

Secret Ceremony is a mindf*ck starring Mia Farrow as a disturbed, orphaned young woman and Elizabeth Taylor as the prostitute who pretends to be her mother. Boom! is the notorious camp adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore with Taylor as a demented rich recluse along side Richard Burton as “the angel of death.” Egyptian Theatre. Fri., Jan. 18. 7:30 p.m. www.americancinematheque.com. .