I wrote a letter to Lloyd Kaufman tonight, and posted it to Troma. I wonder if he'll reply?
Dear Lloyd,
I have no idea if this will ever get to you, but I felt like sitting down today and watching a few of the classics from your wonderful company, and after listening to your words on the commentary tracks, I felt compelled to write a letter to you, just to express a few of my responses to the things you've said.
I don't want to sound like a fawning fanboy. Even though, in all honesty, that's largely what I am. When I was a young boy, my Mum used to take me to hire videos - and even at 13 or 14, I was already sick and tired of the bullshit that Hollywood was attempting to shovel into my brain. I just didn't care very much about Steven Segal, or whoever was popular at the time - I was in love with The Beatles' 'Magical Mystery Tour' film, which was my first real indication that there was a cinematic world out there that didn't seem custom-built to separate me from my cash. And I still remember walking into the independant video shop near my house, and seeing 'The Toxic Avenger' on the shelf. Little did I know that the film was rather heavily edited by our less-than-progressive censors, but even still, the images in the film were important to me. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new when I say that Toxie's debut is a vicious, savage, bleeding wound of a film - but that was what I loved about it. 'The Toxic Avenger' was such a complete spit in the face in the direction of corporate media that I instantly fell in love with it. I wouldn't presume to put words in your mouth by politicising your output - but that was honestly how the film seemed to me. And as time dragged on, I started to plow through the Troma library as best as I could, given the censorship limitations of the time, but I managed to absorb Class Of Nuke 'Em High, Blondes Have More Guns, Bloodsucking Freaks, Surf Nazis Must Die, and many, many more of your titles - and all the while, there was a purity in your work that made it stand alone. Amonst all of the bodies, bullets, and blood - it was honest. It felt like it came from a man who was making films the way he wanted to make them - and if they involved tits and gore, then that was how they were SUPPOSED to be. Tromaville was a wonderfully detailed, satirical vision of the western world - and it held a billion more salient truths about the way in which the world functions than all of the moralizing and hypocrisy of the Hollywood system.
Now I'm 25, I just finished a master's degree in writing and editing, and I find myself in a position where I am largely useless - the only way to survive is to sell out to the various elites that you have discussed - which, I guess, is going to be what I have to do. I always dreamed of being able to work in some kind of alternative media - to find somewhere that offers a writer a chance to talk honestly about the giant dollar bill-lined beartrap that we are caught in - but out here in Australia, where we are largely subjugated by the U.S corporate media, this is impossible. It sickens me to watch the freedoms - artistic and cultural - that the world once enjoyed being slowly eroded by hypercapitalist leeches - and it is this nausea that leads me to write to you.
You talked on one of the commentary tracks - I think it may have been Class Of Nuke 'Em High - about the Troma Team's distribution problems in the wake of the deregulation of the cinema industry, with companies like Fox buying theatres so that only their product is offered. You also talked about the destruction of freedoms - the freedom of choice in art, literature, and film which has been eviscerated so that we are forced into going to watch the latest Brad Pitt movie. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Australia, which is where I live - in a little suburb of Melbourne - but here, we have absolutely NO choice. In Australia, you either watch Gwyneth Paltrow, listen to Justin Timberlake, and cringe at Oprah - or your access to contemporary art is, essentially, cut off. We don't get any DVD's released here that aren't by Warner Brothers/Fox/Paramount - and as far as alternatives to Hollywood, we are basically only offered 'World Cinema', which is another fancy schmancy way of controlling our intake of art - only it focuses on beret-wearing clove smokers, rather than Mum and Dad. In short, Lloyd, we got nothin' out here. But *I* do.
I've been buying disc after disc by Troma and Something Weird - a company I'm sure you're familiar with. And I've been doing it because it has reached the point where I simply cannot take it anymore - I refuse to be treated like an imbecilic child any longer. I want to be challenged, entertained, and amused - and I want it to be done by humans, with all of the quirks, flaws, idiosyncrasies, and passions that they bring to the table. This is where you come in.
Whenever I've watched you interviewed, you've always struck me as so wonderfully humble about your successes - and so accessible to the fans. Troma always felt like a place that ACTUALLY EXISTS - rather than simply a town full of overpaid models who are used to make you feel bad about yourself in order to extract your cash. Troma was sweet, and clever, and fiercely proud of their independant status. And through it all, you always came across as the kind of guy that it would be an honour to spend time with. You always seem humble about Troma - yet Troma is far more important than you may realise. For me, a scungy nobody in a country that has little consequence in the grand scheme of things, you and your team are a lifeline to world of art that isn't corporate, isn't soulless, and can honestly be believed in and loved.
Like I said, this letter will probably never reach you - I'm sure you're a busy man, and after all, I'm just some punk kid with loose lips. I just wanted to write to you, though, to let you know just how important Troma has been, and still is - and to let you know that even though The View or the Village Voice may never review 'Class Of Nuke 'Em High' , you'll still be more important and relevant than all of the
Hollywood product of the last twenty years combined.
Thanks for all the movies.
Your friend,
David