words: R.A. the Rugged Man
photo: Brian Berman
Some know him as George McFly, some remember him throwing kicks at David Letterman’s face, or for classic roles like At Close Range [Orion, ’86], River’s Edge [Hemdale, ’86] and more recent Hollywood fare, like the Charlie’s Angels movies [Columbia, ’00 & ’03] and his reunion with Back to the Future [Universal, ’85] director Robert Zemeckis in the upcoming Beowulf [Warner Bros, ’07].
But don’t let his resume of mainstream work fool you, Crispin Glover lets us take a look into his scary and bizarre mind with his unbelievably fuckin’ insane directorial debut, What Is It? It’s the first installment of his self-financed trilogy starring predominantly mentally and physically retarded people and is now hitting the streets after 10 years in the making. Obviously corporate pussies at film studios would have nothing to do with Mr. Glover’s demented vision. He isn’t on that Gummo, I’m so cool because I’m weird, fake shit. He’s genuinely weird, it’s real. This is the disturbing conversation that took place between psychotic rap maestro, R.A. the Rugged Man and filmmaker Crispin Hellion Glover.
Next time you do a movie starring handicapped people you should cast my sister Dee-Dee, she is microcephalic and has cerebral palsy but she got a real pretty face.
Really? Uh, well the sequel to What Is It? is already shot called It Is Fine, Everything Is Fine but I look for people who have family members like that, I’m doing part three called It is Mine. You said she has Down syndrome?
No, she’s microcephalic.
So microcephalic is when they have pinheads like in Freaks [MGM, ’32]? I like that. The presence they had in the film Freaks was just tremendous.
But Dee-Dee can’t run around and talk like they did in Freaks.
Well that’s all right, there’s different sensibilities behind different people. People with Down syndrome are by and large very nice but they can also be a bit mischievous, the little bit that I met who had microcephalia I sensed they were incredibly nice. Is that your feeling?
Yeah, my ’Nam vet father puffs chronic with her and blows weed smoke in her face and she just sits there and giggles all day.
Interesting. I wanted to work with somebody that had microcephalia in What Is It? but their parents didn’t want to have them involved. I should get your contact information.
No problem. Now tell me about the blackface scenes in your movie?
Well, the film has a number of taboo elements that are not delved into corporate funded media. And rather than listing the specifics of what they are and what they mean, I think it’s more important for people to see the film as a whole.
Did you ever have sex with a woman wearing blackface?
[Laughs] No.
Would you want to?
No. I don’t think so. No.
I never did, but I think I would.
[Laughs] Uhhh, I don’t think that would be my particular preference.
So you have an image of Shirley Temple as a Nazi in your film. Are you a fan of the real Shirley Temple?
I actually do admire Shirley Temple. I like the film Bright Eyes [Fox, ’34]. She loses her parents within the film and becomes an orphan and you really feel general emotion for her. She would sing and dance and she was a good actress.
How did you decide to let a retard write the upcoming sequel to What Is it?
Well, he wrote It Is Fine before I met him. Steve Stewart was able to write on his own even though he had severe cerebral palsy. There’s a naiveté to how he wrote it, but sometimes that folk art can be really powerful at the same time.
Does he even know how to talk?
Yeah. Yeah. He speaks, but he’s difficult to understand.
My brother Maxx also had cerebral palsy, he couldn’t walk, talk or see.
Oh wow, wow. Your family has a lot of stuff going on.
Agent Orange.
Ohhhh, really?
He passed away when he was ten but he never got a chance to be in a movie. He kinda looked like a ten-year-old handicapped Charlton Heston.
Right, right. Interesting. Yeah, Steve died too. He was 62 when we made the film and he died within a month after we finished shooting. And I feel like he genuinely stayed alive to make sure we got the film done.
In the first film, Steve got jerked off by someone in a monkey suit.
Yeah, there’s a lot of sexuality having to do with his character, if we’d shot the second film the way he had written it exactly, it would’ve been a XXX porn. But that isn’t to say there isn’t strong sexuality, because there definitely is.
Did Steve ever get laid in real life?
He was married at one point, so he wasn’t a virgin.
Did you ever punch someone in the face for calling you McFly?
No. I’ve never punched anybody in my life. That film was made a long, long time ago so that generally doesn’t happen. But I know it wouldn’t serve me well to get physically violent about something like that.
So your father Bruce played a homosexual killer in Diamonds Are Forever [UA, ’71]. How did that affect you as a kid?
I didn’t think of it like that. I thought he was quite good in that film. I think I was 8 when that was shot, I was on the set and I met Sean Connery, it was interesting.
Did you get to party with any Bond girls?
No, I didn’t get to meet any Bond girls.
Probably because your Dad was playing a homo.
That’s right, he had a Bond guy. It’s funny, my character in Charlie’s Angels had certain structural things that were similar to my fathers character, also one of the pinstriped suits he wore in Diamonds Are Forever was an influence on the suit I wore.
Wait. Let’s kick it some more about retards. What do you think of Corky from “Life Goes On” as an actor?
I’ve never seen “Life Goes On,” but I had people when they see What Is It? say, “Oh, it’s Corky.”
Do you think Squiggy on “Laverne & Shirley” had Down syndrome? He kinda looked like it?
No. He definitely did not.
Did you see a movie called The Baby [Quintet, ’73]?
Nooo.
It’s about a mother who doesn’t let her son grow up. Every time he tried to walk or talk, she’d electrocute him and he ends up as a grown-ass man that thinks he’s still a baby.
[Laughs] That sounds interesting.
Do you think if your mom forced you to stay a baby but you weren’t born retarded that you’re still a retard?
[Laughing] Well, I’m not a doctor but if somebody is forced into certain physical and psychological patterns I think it’s apparent it would have severe effects on their emotional growth. I mean, I’m just glad that didn’t happen to me.
[Laughs] Yeah, thanks for your time, brother.
Yes, thank you. Interesting questions. This interview should be interesting.
