That's 'Slut' with a capital 'S'
Could history get more oral? By Dian Hanson and Vanessa del Rio
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I made my Avon films for Joe Davian. I ran into everybody in the business doing them. In the '70s it was a form of rebellion, to try everything. Joe had been in a concentration camp, had numbers tattooed on his arm and always directed dark movies coming from his experiences. He was a nice guy, a really nice guy, and he liked me because I could always get into what he was trying to do. I did a film called Domination Blue for him. It was about women in prison and I was one of the prisoners and the guards were supposed to take advantage of us and beat us and then we'd all get together and escape and take advantage of the guards. Joe came and whispered to me,"Remember what they did to you the day before," trying to give me motivation like a real director. I went over to the other actresses and said,"He's really serious about this scene so I'm just going to whack you really hard because otherwise he's going to want to keep doing it over and over." They all agreed that I'd just give it to them really good and that's how we did it. Then most of the footage had to be cut away because of the intensity!
Chicka Chicka Boom
Black people relate differently to sex. Black sexuality is extroverted, rawer. Rap is rawer, more angry and passionate; you can feel the more blatant sexuality than in white-based rock.
Black and Latin women like to strut their stuff. Historically they come from hot countries where less clothes are worn and they're more comfortable with their bodies. Even big ethnic women think they look hot, they feel hot and therefore they are hot. They could look in the mirror and say,"I need to change this or that," but they choose to flaunt it instead. And the men are at their feet. If you grow up held down, the one thing they can't take from you is your inner soul, your body and sexuality. It comes from survival. These women are less afraid to get down and dirty when it comes to sex. They're not afraid to look at movies; they want to know how to suck dick well. I think the women who like me do because I'm able to do what they want to do without holding back. I never thought women would hate me for this, and over and over I get letters from women saying they admire that I could just let myself be who I was with no shame. It inspired them to express their sexuality rather than suppress. In a world that's white-run they appreciate seeing one woman of color really standing out and feeling it and being it and meaning it. They call me the Black Marilyn. "You're our Marilyn," I've heard over and over.
Gym Rat
From what I heard, the dykes in the Richmond City Jail were waiting for me. [laughs] They'd seen me on the news. I wound up making friends with the head dyke, an older black woman, who was also named Vanessa. I was assigned to clean the guards' toilets, mop the floors, and that's when I started to exercise. The mop was my first weight. That sucker was heavy! Little by little the other women starting doing exercises, so I guess I was a positive influence. They even asked me to head an exercise class, but I was hoping I wouldn't be in that long. The guards were annoyed I was so eager to do my work. I'd be there at 6:00 in the morning holding onto the bars waiting for my detail. I used to mop the stairs in the visitors' section and there was a window there where some of the male guards would come to see me every day as I did my mop workout. By the end I was combing my hair in a DA and rolling my Marlboros in my sleeve. I made The Devil in Miss Jones 3 in 1986, and it was when I was the most juiced up.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
I made my Avon films for Joe Davian. I ran into everybody in the business doing them. In the '70s it was a form of rebellion, to try everything. Joe had been in a concentration camp, had numbers tattooed on his arm and always directed dark movies coming from his experiences. He was a nice guy, a really nice guy, and he liked me because I could always get into what he was trying to do. I did a film called Domination Blue for him. It was about women in prison and I was one of the prisoners and the guards were supposed to take advantage of us and beat us and then we'd all get together and escape and take advantage of the guards. Joe came and whispered to me,"Remember what they did to you the day before," trying to give me motivation like a real director. I went over to the other actresses and said,"He's really serious about this scene so I'm just going to whack you really hard because otherwise he's going to want to keep doing it over and over." They all agreed that I'd just give it to them really good and that's how we did it. Then most of the footage had to be cut away because of the intensity!
Chicka Chicka Boom
Black people relate differently to sex. Black sexuality is extroverted, rawer. Rap is rawer, more angry and passionate; you can feel the more blatant sexuality than in white-based rock.
Black and Latin women like to strut their stuff. Historically they come from hot countries where less clothes are worn and they're more comfortable with their bodies. Even big ethnic women think they look hot, they feel hot and therefore they are hot. They could look in the mirror and say,"I need to change this or that," but they choose to flaunt it instead. And the men are at their feet. If you grow up held down, the one thing they can't take from you is your inner soul, your body and sexuality. It comes from survival. These women are less afraid to get down and dirty when it comes to sex. They're not afraid to look at movies; they want to know how to suck dick well. I think the women who like me do because I'm able to do what they want to do without holding back. I never thought women would hate me for this, and over and over I get letters from women saying they admire that I could just let myself be who I was with no shame. It inspired them to express their sexuality rather than suppress. In a world that's white-run they appreciate seeing one woman of color really standing out and feeling it and being it and meaning it. They call me the Black Marilyn. "You're our Marilyn," I've heard over and over.
Gym Rat
From what I heard, the dykes in the Richmond City Jail were waiting for me. [laughs] They'd seen me on the news. I wound up making friends with the head dyke, an older black woman, who was also named Vanessa. I was assigned to clean the guards' toilets, mop the floors, and that's when I started to exercise. The mop was my first weight. That sucker was heavy! Little by little the other women starting doing exercises, so I guess I was a positive influence. They even asked me to head an exercise class, but I was hoping I wouldn't be in that long. The guards were annoyed I was so eager to do my work. I'd be there at 6:00 in the morning holding onto the bars waiting for my detail. I used to mop the stairs in the visitors' section and there was a window there where some of the male guards would come to see me every day as I did my mop workout. By the end I was combing my hair in a DA and rolling my Marlboros in my sleeve. I made The Devil in Miss Jones 3 in 1986, and it was when I was the most juiced up.
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Vanessa del Rio - Art Edition
Hardcover + Box + DVD, 30 x 30 cm (11.8 x 11.8 in.), 396 pages
$ 1500.00
$ 1500.00
Fifty years of slightly slutty behavior. Limited to 200 numbered copies, each signed by Vanessa del Rio, accompanied by a signed and numbered Robert Crumb lithography.
An L.B.O. loop with Merle Michaels, (hidden by Mr. Smiley) a late-'70s star forgotten today.
Me, Samantha Fox and Jill Monroe, New York's first transsexual actress, at a Times Square film premiere.