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Reply to "Party Monster - Michael Alig"

This subject is always so polarizing, and we've tried to steer clear of it ...

While all of it was going on, we were being good little students and getting our education at Ohio University in the middle of nowhere. Zazoo did go to Limelight and Club USA in '92 (or ˜93) and had a blast. The Little Professor bookstore on campus carried "Project X" but that was the extent of our knowledge of the scene in NYC.

When Chi Chi posted Michael Wilkinson's note above, we debated for over a week. When we did our research, and found out that Killer Films was the production company, we couldn't resist. Stonewall, Boys Don't Cry, I Shot Andy Warhol,Velvet Goldmine, Poison and Hedwig are among our very favorite movies, and the imagery in them is just one of the reasons.

It IS a shame that there is a movie that makes the story of a true-life murder entertaining. Angel is dead. His family will have all of it put back in their face again, but I don't think the goal of this movie is to glorify Michael Alig. In fact, I'm betting the story will illustrate how messed up he is and how dangerous hedonism can be.

I'm also betting that the whole story being put out in the world as a feature film will do him more harm than good, because now what parole board in their right minds will let him out before his entire sentence is served.

You are right about people wanting to see the lowest people can go. Most good stories are based on the rise and fall of the main character, dating back to Greek tragedies. It's why "Behind the Music" and "E True Hollywood Story" are so successful.

So, even though it may be an unpopular choice, we've contributed costumes to the movie... Michael Wilkinson and his assistant Lisa have been VERY professional and friendly. Their staff DID create the majority of the costumes in the film, but wanted to get a good range of looks. They have a very small costume budget. The entire production is being done for under $5 million. So, they are constrained, and were probably tapping in to the one community that they knew would have connections to some original, creative and authentic costumes. And for the record, they are renting our stuff, so there was really no begging going on in our case.

I guess what I wanted to express, is that there are many people connected to this movie, and they are not all like Michael Alig. I'm sure everyone involved had to think about the positive and negatives in being connected to this film. (except for Marilyn Manson who probably doesn't care.)

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