Episode 113 - Pink Strutters

On this episode of the podcast, things get so weird that we had to bring in our friend Julie to comment on it all. During the 50's, 60's and 70's, cinemas ( and more often drive-ins ) were full of movies about bikers and biker gangs.  Usually these were stories about disaffected men who had turned their backs on society to pursue a life with a different set of morals and rules. This era gave us such landmark films as The Wild One and Easy Rider. In 1972, a VERY different biker movie was released called Pink Angels. This gang of cyclists is unique because they are all gay and are traveling the highways to get to Los Angeles for a big drag ball.  It is mostly funny, with some great performances and an undercurrent of subversion that is still very potent now. If you read about the movie online, you will hear a lot about the ending, and it is a real shocker, but don't avoid the film because of that...this one needs to be seen to be believed.  We follow that up 1975's Darktown Strutters, which combines 1000 different elements into a really trippy stew.  We start with 4 gorgeous African-American women on  big, badass 3-Wheeled choppers, hauling ass around Los Angeles and putting all the men in their places. Then we add Roger E. Mosley as "Mellow" who has his own oddball gang, some KKK members in shiny satin robes, disco, funk, an evil Colonel Sanders, and tons of slapstick wackiness that somehow, strangely, works ( mostly ). The music in this movie is fantastic, the girls are gorgeous, and  the racial politics are right up front and writ large across the screen.  This is another one that you really do need to see. Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.