JMM had
drawn comics for 7 years, being published by Fantagraphics Books in
Seattle. Though he had received some publicity (including a glow in the
dark review from the Village Voice Literary Supplement) he felt he was
not reaching enough people with his "regionalist unpopular culture".
Highly
premeditated in his approach, JMM got a feel for shooting film by
serving as associate producer on two shot-on-video horror movies in
Memphis. "I set up the locations, found the actors, & let everyone
stay at my house." Gorotica and Gorewhore had sold-out shows in
Memphis. Soon JMM planned his own projects with the help of credit
cards. Armed with a script that he had originally planned to draw, JMM
made Damselvis, Daughter of Helvis in 1993. The flick featured such
characters as Rebelvis, Psychedelvis, and Evel Knielvis! An ongoing
trademark to be established was nudity & a certain amount of
violence. "Sex plus violence equals nature," says JMM, "and we have
forgotten that we are permeated and controlled by this feminine force.
Due to this analogy, my women characters always come out on top.
Perhaps in similar fashion to Russ Meyer's movies. My movies are also
intentional comedie, which most low-budget filmmakers are afraid to
make."
Big Broad welcomes back a simpler age when fans of
adult-related themes in cinema were no so jaded. "We sell the sizzle,
not the steak."
With Teenage Tupelo, JMM deals with the story
of his own conception in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1962. "My biological
father is unknown to me, so in my story I've made him into an
Elvis-inspired characer called Johnny Tu-Note. Basically, I'm saying
Elvis is my father. "
Teenage Tupelo makes my biological mother
into the definitive heroine, though I've never met her. You might say
this movie is a "semi-auto-bio-sexploitation-comedy-drama-musical."
Therefore, JMM is the first to make a "Nudie-Cutie" starring his own
mother.
"I suppose the genesis of Teenage Tupelo belongs to
history & synchronicity", JMM explains, "My bio-mother saw Elvis
play at the '56 Tupelo Fair when she was barely a teenager. You can see
her in the famous photo of Elvis singing & reaching out to the
crowd of mostly young women. At the same show, the people who would
adopt me years later are sitting in the backrow. Elvis is my devine
arbiter of synchronicity. We shot exclusively in Tupelo & Memphis
where HE walked."
Impressed with JMM's previous outing with
Damselvis, Sexploitation cinema pioneer David F. Friedman has loaned
his name as associate producer to Teenage Tupelo. The premier
underground video company Something Weird (who carry all of David F.
Friedman's classic films) also carries Teenage Tupelo as their first
new release.