![]() I had to know more about this artist and groupie! I set out to learn all I could. Then I found out what Plaster Casting actually meant: Cynthia Plaster Caster casted the members of the rock bands! I knew the double meaning of that word, “member,” from my reading of pornography-she made plaster casts of rock stars’ penises. A few were mentioned most often: Lori ‘Lightning’ Mattix, Pamela Des Barres and…Cynthia Plaster Caster! The girl from the KISS song! The wives and girlfriends bored me – they reminded me of popular girls. Sometimes (but not enough) girls and women were mentioned. ![]() I read magazines and books about rock stars. Who was she? What did she look like? Did she date the guys in the band? Could we be friends? I joined the KISS Army, and I wondered if the guys in the band would like me the way they liked Plaster Caster. She was obviously ultracool because the band was singing about her. One of my favorite KISS songs was “Plaster Caster,” from 1977, and the woman mentioned in the song sounded interesting. The summer before sixth grade I was writing pornographic fantasies about sexual romances with rock stars, especially the costumed and face-painted rock band, KISS. Introduced to hard rock the same year I discovered hardcore pornography, the two became inextricably linked for me. Also featuring some great camerawork and a totally rockin' soundtrack, PLASTER CASTER has definitely earned a place among the greatest rock 'n' roll documentaries ever made.Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Wayne Kramer, Dennis Thompson, Richard Lloyd, Jello Biafra are ‘members’ of Super Groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster’s special rock ‘n’ roll cast, as she looks back on her life in the fast lane The film is incredibly intelligent, but is totally unpretentious and an awful lot of fun. We learn more about Cynthia as a person rather than glorifying or just luridly focusing on her controversial artwork. Director Villines doesn't force any kind of viewpoint on her subject and treats Cynthia with tremendous respect. The film itself is also brilliantly constructed and avoids the many pitfalls that most documentaries fall into. She's been making plaster casts of rock stars' penises for 30 years, but it's only now that she gets her first gallery showing? But you do have to give her credit for her excellent taste in music: the Buzzcocks, MC5, the Dead Kennedys, Mudhoney and Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few of the bands/people she's either casted or at least asked. She also appears to give no consideration to the ramifications of her work. It's as if she's still stuck in the mindset of a 14-year-old rock groupie even though she's now in her mid-fifties. Cynthia herself is a difficult person to figure out, but is thus endlessly fascinating. In the hands of a less gifted filmmaker, this could have been a completely tawdry and simplistic movie, but director Jessica Villines has made a classy and intelligent portrait of a unique artist. PLASTER CASTER is one of the most engaging and entertaining documentaries I've seen in the past couple of years.
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