DVD Review

Plaster Caster (Xenon Pictures/Fragment Films); Director: Jessica Villines

By Amber Drea
Published: November 18th, 2003 | 1:36pm

Cynthia Plaster Caster goes above and beyond the average groupie by turning her method of showing her love and admiration for great musicians — casting their penises in plaster — into a revolutionary way of recording rock history.

A winner at the 2001 Chicago Underground Film Festival, the film Plaster Caster, is now being released for the first time on DVD. The 91-minute documentary is extremely entertaining and informative, even if you have no prior interest in or knowledge of Plaster Caster’s work.

The documentary tells of Plaster Caster's journey from a high school student in 1966 with a gimmick for getting her foot in the backstage door to official New York City arteest. From former and attempted castees, such as Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, and from the mouth of Plaster Caster herself, we learn about the many aspects of her craft as well as its evolution.

Jessica Villines’ direction is effective: she intersperses Plaster Caster going about her daily activities with footage of meetings with potential castees Bill Dolan of the Fire Theft and Danny of Demolition Doll Rods, commentary from feminist Camille Paglia and artist Ed Paschke, and reunions with old accomplices. The film opens with Plaster Caster asking Dolan if he would like to pose, and so begins one plot line of the narrative, which flows smoothly between scenes and interview snippets. For instance, a conversation with Dolan about Plaster Caster’s incident with the band Kiss transitions to a Kiss historian’s account of the story.

The film’s most interesting moments are the most emotionally intense and create suspense, such as Plaster Caster’s confrontation with Wayne Kramer of MC5, who supposedly had the clap when she cast him 30 years ago, Dolan’s embarrassing first attempt to be casted and his successful second attempt, and Plaster Caster's difficulties with the company she commissioned to have latex molds made of her "sweet babies." The documentary’s climax — the casting of Danny Doll Rod — takes place in the very same room she originally cast Hendrix and is shown in its entirety, in porn-style slow motion, though private parts are blurred out. The final scene takes place on opening night at Thread Waxing Gallery, where the casts are displayed lit from below in glass domes.

In addition to the feature, the DVD also includes must-see deleted scenes: the first breast cast with Suzi Gardner of L7, the depressing Led Zeppelin story, and backstage with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, in which his wife denies him the honor.

Rather than a woman hardened by decades of dealing with rock stars, Plaster Caster is wide-eyed, goofy, and still afraid of her mother, whom she calls "the Warden." She takes her life’s work very seriously. "A good groupie only sleeps with the one she wants, not the whole band," Plaster Caster advises in the film, in reference to her rejection of Jimi Hendrix’s sexual advances. The casting process is more technical and clinical than the erotic experience you might expect. Even her term for the girls who stimulate the subjects —"plater" — sounds formal and professional.

Plaster Caster is an honest portrayal of her impact on art and feminism, dissipating any impressions one might have that preserving the penises of rock stars as being a gimmick. Plaster Caster has integrity and credibility; she only casts musicians she truly feels are extremely talented and contribute significantly to rocknroll. From the Animals to Momus, her subjects are well deserving of being immortalized in plaster. The role of the groupie has never before and will never again seem so glamorous.

The Plaster Caster DVD is available online at amazon.com, Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, and Barnes and Noble.