MOVING PICTURE BOY

Jordan Christopher Michael

One of the comments I always hear about this film is “I don’t understand it.”  My answer is always “how can you not understand it?”  Seen from a linear point of view it is just entertaining…  start reading between the lines (in this case the visual images) and the film takes on many different levels.  Just pick one.

A ten year old boy named Gus gets tired of life with abusive parents and cashes in his piggy bank and steals the family Mustang. He drives off (with wooden blocks tied to his shoes) into a surreal America playing “Motorama,” a game sponsored by Chimera Gas Company. The way it works is like this: every time you spend at least five dollars at a Chimera gas station you get game cards for the game. If you collect the eight letters to spell out “Motorama” you become eligible to win $500 million.

Jordan Christopher Michael as Gus

During his journeys, Gus meets up with a myriad of characters, several of whom are bent on doing him harm. At one point he’s kidnapped and loses an eye, and later a band of ruffians give him a bunch of tattoos (one of them is played by Meat Loaf).  Along his road trip Gus sees a fantasy girl from a distance (Drew Barrymore), but nothing will deter him from his goal. Sooner rather than later his funds begin to run out, so Gus begins grifting for money.  At one point he puts on a set of Groucho Marx glasses (you know, the ones with the funny nose and mustache attached) and pretends to be a food inspector at a greasy spoon diner. This scam nets enough money for the next part of his journey. In the heartland, with his last dollar, Gus receives the final letter and races to the Chimera Gas Company where he finds they are not playing by the rules of the game.

Jordan Christopher Michael

My take on the film (I picked one of the many levels)…

First of all, this is not a children’s film. Just because you see a kid on the cover doesn’t make it a children’s film (Rated R). The cover has nothing to do with the film. Is it coming-of-age? Yes, but the director takes that away by the end.

The best way to view this film is not linear; when you do that you are just watching the journey without understanding it. Yes, 10-year-old Gus (Jordan Christopher Michael) is on a journey. He makes an adult decision to escape the abusive situation at home and from that point the director allows Gus to continue to make adult decisions (although he looks like a kid)… and like real life, where we do not always make the best decisions for ourselves, neither does Gus.

He steals a car (Mustang) and rides off into a surreal landscape playing “Motorama,” a game sponsored by Chimera Gas Company. But Gus doesn’t go far and he finds a lonely gas station attendant in a small filling station in the middle of no-where who needs some help. This is a pivotal point in the story. Gus is about to make either the right, or the wrong, decision and he makes the wrong one, driving off to pursue his selfish game, his fortune, without any idea of the cost to himself or others.

Jordan Christopher Michael

The consequence is a hard troubled journey that cost him not only his eye, but also his youth. In the end when Gus eventually reaches the Chimera Gas Company with the winning ticket he finds they are not playing by the rules of the game. And neither is life… It’s a hard lesson for a young boy to learn. But Gus gets another chance and miraculously he finds himself back at the small filling station in the middle of no-where. The attendant still needs help, and this time Gus makes the right decision and stays.

Motorama has achieved cult status. Loved by many, hated by a few that want to dismiss this as the “worst film ever made.”  I say, watch it again. Barry Shils went on to direct “Wigstock: The Movie,” maybe that’s your clue that you’re not in for an ordinary experience.

1991 Columbia Pictures, Director Barry Shils with Jordan Christopher Michael, Michael J. Pollard, Drew Barrymore, Vince Edwards, Garrett Morris, Irwin Keyes and Meatloaf.