Video Vixens - Vhs

In a nod to Dr. Strangelove's General Jack D. Ripper, he claims that America is losing its libido because of a conspiracy in the government, which has introduced a chemical in hand soap, hexachloraphene, which makes soap act in the same way that Graham crackers and corn flakes allegedly do. And whenever he goes off on a crusading speech, a snare drum is heard rat-tat-tatting as if in a war movie. It stands to reason; after all, he is the field marshal of his crusade.

His compatriots in this are Rex Borsky, the self-proclaimed king of the stag film genre (read pornos), his luscious, blonde, airhead, Barbie Doll assistant Inga, and a stick-in-the-mud, traditional, uptight movie reviewer disgusted at the sex in contemporary movies, Gordon Gordon, this last being an unwilling ally. He is strong-armed into becoming the MC, with Inga being his co-host.

The clips of the award winning shows are in black-and-white, and my favorites are the Dragnet parody, and the scene between Borsky and a very nervous girl who's shy of taking off her clothes and acting in a sex scene. After experiencing simulated sex with Borsky, she has the last word by telling him it's no wonder she's the one who has to the real acting. Ouch!

The commercials within the awards show, promoting products of Bradley's sponsors, is a booster to the movie. One of them, for the Passion perfume, is a bit twisted. My favorite involves a feminine hygiene product with a luscious blonde by a swimming pool. It's for Twinkle Watt. this last word is an anagram. Another has to do with merkins, while yet another deals with Kentucky slidod<-- another anagram, and reminiscent of the "You've come a long way baby" of the Virginia Slims ads of long ago. Like the clips, the commercials have full frontal nudity.

I wonder what American movies and TV would be like if the Puritans didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Would we be more open about sex and see violence as the greater evil like the British do in their programs? Video Vixens is a vision of that which I wouldn't mind experiencing in a US of a parallel dimension.

Norman Field is great as the fieldmarshal of this whole operation, Clifford Bradley, and Greg "Buck" Flower does wonders as the profane, down-to-earth, non-PC Rex Borsky.

The opening shot of Gordon Jr.'s hand scribbling out expletives on the movie poster shows the petty mind of censorship. It didn't die with the Hays Code, the Legion of Decency, or as we saw during the Reagan Years, Edwin Meese and Tipper Gore.

The only thing I take issue with is Bradley's homophobic remarks, but I would be a willing volunteer for his war. Long live the USA and down with hexachlorophene!