It's come to our attention that one could cast models in all the roles requiring nudity. Thanks to online portfolios, it is an efficient process.
Alas, a simpler question exists: why is there nudity at all?
To answer this is to bring forth a quote from Cecil B Demented: "Hollywood coopted our sex and violence..." What can Orlandont offer the cinema goer (and later, cinema tourist) that isn't fed to them every day? Graphic sex is out. Graphic violence is out. Graphic sexuality and sensuality is out. Dirty talk is out. What's left? S_T_N_L.
On that end, our city has to examine how we feel about nudity to begin with. Frankly, nudity of itself is not erotic. Once you deal with other beings in a caregiving manner, nudity ceases to be hot. It's as we are born, and as we will pass. It's the lump of clay we can shape up or let sag around the edges if that's what genetics and lifestyle determines. Of that clay, the ass is the one thing that everyone shares and becomes unremarkable. Breasts are for breastfeeding. And any frontal nudity has so much cultural pressure. Oh, it's a mess to process, and it's just distracting. And it's never what you expect, you know? An ass pretty much will be what it's supposed to be and where it's supposed to be- your rear end.
Given that, why nudity? It's fundamentally honest for S_T_N_L. In a way it's a hope to use nudity to enhance the narrative joke, and to subvert the gaze, such that it subverts voyeurism (in promising voyeurism) and an becomes an opportunity for deeper introspection. The ol' bait and switch. And any luresperson knows you won't catch much of nothin with puritanical milquetoast. You gotta have fun with it. And that's why there's nudity in S_T_N_L. It's funny and fun and safe. It reveals a lot without revealing anything.
On a different level, when folks see naked folks, they ask "how do I rate in comparison?"
Which brings us back to models. A model- a working model- obviously fits a preordained definition of hot or party person. Its a given they are attractive and in amazing shape. That's great for models. Alas, that's not great for Orlandont. Miami has a lock on that. SF has punk-rock strippers. LA has goth go-go. It's all a body type or scene. Um, no me interesa.
Let's rewind. For anyone latino, the most latino person on TV before was Daisy Duke, only because she had brown hair and every other female was blonde. Daisy Duke was NOT latina. But you associate with physical traits. We look for that similarity. It enforces a concept of beauty that is by the grace of genetics. For all the workouts you can do, the shape of your nose and contours of your face are out of your realm of shaping up. Elective surgery is offlimits in Orlandont.
TIRED OF CONVENTIONS OF BEAUTY
And that's where it comes up. Unfortunately it's the folks constantly reinforced with "you're hot" that openly share photos of their bare asses. Everyone else covers up because the mirror or measurements don't match. Or no one is saying "you're hot" because they don't have the courage to see for themselves.
Cinema DOES shape standards of beauty. And frankly, Orlandont doesn't want to push forward the bullshit that we find everywhere else. No, we're not going to douse the world with unscrubbed snot-ridden humanity. That's a falsehood, as most individuals follow some regiment of self care. Cinema is not a spent tissue. Rather... we hope to NOT resort to casting models. They're beautiful people, hopefully of great heart, doing hard work. Alas, they run the fucking world and get whatever the fuck they want for the years they can work it. There's a greater beauty in something else. We hope to find it in our casting.
And we hope it comes naturally, as frankly we don't have any map as to where to find the cast. We hope the talented individuals we contact get the joke, are in on the joke, and service the jokes. In doing so the underlying themes will be served, and the underlying ethos will manifest.
We just don't find models cool because they're models. You have to bring something more to the screen, ideally through expressing yourself in sincere ways in everyday life. Christ, it's not like there isn't EVERY AVENUE POSSIBLE FOR EXPRESSING ONE'S SELF. Myspace lets you write, post photos, post video, post audio. Free.
In SUMMARY, we'd love to hear from you if this post makes sense. We're still sorting it out ourselves. And no, we never bought into the tripe of "self exploitation" gives you power. (it's a common defense to going overboard with sexuality). It's still exploitation. The end user will use it as they see fit. Your underlying motivation gets lost in the translation to screen without sometype of REFRAMING DEVICE.
NUDITY IS GOOD
Basically, if you dig it, dig it. Don't justify it with poor arguments. It's okay to push buttons. But if you push the base buttons, don't be shocked with a idiot response. You can't reinterpret the imagery if you're simply duplicating it. There needs to be an effort for translation. Dig?
With S_T_N_L, given the NC-17 nature of the subject matter and tone, we've questioned how far to push. What boundaries to cross. In this, the idea of sexuality and faith is tougher boundary than depicting acts in full. It takes a smarter performer, and one without self censorship or self imposed limits. We know they exist.
Given all that we've written, we celebrate what is celebrated in S_T_N_L. These are ideas and questions. These are not answers or doctrine. S_T_N_L is about finding the sacred in the profane. We're not judging. Sin Verguenza.
To wrap it up, Not every role requires rear nudity. Alas, for the greatest flexibility in assigning roles, every role at this point requires rear nudity. This way we can run folks through the casting options without that barrier of "Oh, they can't do that so they're off that list..." And please note that this movie is what it is. All contributions are welcome, alas, it is an NC17 film in tone and subject. We are casting adults for an adult film. We're not asking you to change your belief structure or value system. We are asking you to explore an alternate set in an alternate land of make believe. It's all in the spirit of fun and love of humanity. (It's not until people are married that the emotional component of sexuality and faith is FINALLY dealt with frankly. Sadly, that's the worse time to figure yourself out. Hence a 50% fail rate... or 50% success rate. Go optimism!)
Models should be respected for their hardwork. It's not an easy gig. Alas, Orlandont has a very real obligation to the children. As when they grow older to see the NC-17 movies, they'll have some understanding of the culture of that time and the standards of beauty, and whether or not the artists were slaves to convention, or dared to be daring, and if it is at all possible to convey the idea that smart & commitment=sexy in visual terms (without resorting to a hot for teacher pantomime). (Obviously there's a problem... if you're single and uncommitted then commitment is a blow off, as getting someone to hang out with is kind of a hard order to fill and a huge pain in the ass. But Hollywood's got your pain covered!)
If all else doesn't work, thank goodness for model sites!
Best, Orlandont
