self-made superstar sighting in san francisco
Today I was having a coffee outdoors on Hayes Street when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a man with tight leather pants, puffy tuxedo shirt and black vest power walking down the sidewalk. There's nothing unusual in that around here, but there was something about the way he walked that had an air of confidence beyond the norm, and then I looked up to just catch the sun reflecting off a shock of blonde shaggy hair to realize that it was Peter Berlin.
An apparently shy man who made his fame off of selling self-made erotic photos, often double exposures of him admiring himself, eventually catching the eyes of Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe. Now in his 60's, he still looks great, at least he did today. I've never watched his films from the 70's but have caught a bit of the strange movie That Boy on the monitors at Tube Steak.
He sounds like a textbook narcissist, in a 1982 interview he says, "...most of the time, when gays come up to me and say 'Oh, you’re really great.' I say, 'What else is new?—I know that.' I look in the mirror every day." Wow! And he seems to say it in such a matter-of-fact way. But I guess he was just telling the truth, so, it's not really vanity then, or something like that.
Comments
i'm looking for his tokyo version even as i type this...
Posted by: r. | January 17, 2006 8:03 AM
i'm so curious to know what you come up with!
Posted by: roddy | January 17, 2006 6:59 PM
double exposures of him admiring himself? and you think he SOUNDS like a narcissist?! LOL!!!
Posted by: janek | January 18, 2006 4:51 AM
well... yeah, ok, he is a narcissist. you know, when someone is beautiful they're beautiful, and being a narcissist doesn't really change it one way or the other. in his case, it's interesting, because apparently he was very very shy and had insecurities about his body. and from what i've read, he's still very shy. maybe that's why he was only comfortable of taking pictures of himself. that kind of paradox is kind of fascinating.
Posted by: roddy | January 18, 2006 12:41 PM
Are you planning on seeing the screening of the new documentary on him when it plays in SF in February? I'm hoping to get a press pass. It looks fascinating.
Posted by: Siona | January 20, 2006 10:36 PM
Oh, when is it coming to SF? For some reason I thought it had already played here, but I definitely want to see it.
Posted by: roddy | January 20, 2006 10:57 PM
For the mags I write for, doubt I could get a press pass, unless I can convince them I was there to review the soundtrack. :)
Posted by: roddy | January 20, 2006 10:59 PM
I'd assumed it had too, but I was wrong. It'll be at the Castro Theater from the 17th to the 23rd. I imagine they'll have to do some sort of Q&A on one of the nights . . . or that that man himself will be there. I hope his narcissim overrides his shyness.
Posted by: Siona | January 20, 2006 11:08 PM
Ah, I can't make it then, I'll be in Berlin. Too bad, I would have liked to have seen it, and in the Castro theater yet, that would have been fun. I wonder what he's like in person, the day I saw him walking down the street, it sounded as though he were sort of muttering to himself. About what, I can only imagine. It was probably something boring like his grocery list.
Posted by: roddy | January 20, 2006 11:17 PM