Written by:
Malinda Lo
The idea of a teenage girl selling her virginity on eBay is so twisted that it seems like it could actually happen. Buy It Now capitalizes on that slippery slope between fiction and reality in a two-part film that is both disturbingly creepy (particularly when we meet the man who pays $2,000 for 16-year-old Chelsea Magan’s first time) and fascinatingly complex. Actress Chelsea Logan is eerily brilliant as the virgin in this frighteningly realistic tale, which leaves the viewer questioning whether the film is truth or fiction. The film was awarded the Cinefondation Prize at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2005 CineVegas Film Festival.
In an e-mail conversation over the course of several weeks, Chelsea Logan, director Antonio Campos and I discussed the provocative issues raised in the film.
First, the obvious question: What inspired this film?
Antonio: At the time, I was an avid eBay shopper and I had been hearing about the strange things people were selling on eBay. The question popped in my head: “What if a girl sold her virginity on eBay?” After writing the script, I did some research and found out people were actually doing that, which blew me away. As I thought about it more, I knew that I wanted it to be a comment on an American teenage girl’s attitude toward life and sex, as well as a comment on a society where something like this could happen. In writing it and working with Chelsea, we figured out who this girl was and why she would do something like this.
Chelsea: Last summer, Antonio approached me saying he had an idea for a film, but it would be an intense shoot. Without knowing the exact details, I excitedly signed on to the project. When I returned home to New York after visiting Los Angeles, Antonio and I spoke more about the story. The idea of a 16-year-old girl selling her virginity on eBay was intriguing to me. As an actress, it seemed like there were so many possibilities … so much to build on with this character. I couldn’t initially relate to my character’s desire to sell her virginity on an online auction, but I could definitely identify with the feelings she was having that would motivate or propel her to take such drastic actions.
Do you remember the details about who had actually put her virginity for sale on eBay?
Antonio: When I came up with the concept, I wasn’t aware that anyone had actually done it. Eventually, when I did look up virginity on eBay, I found that there were about 20 results, about six of whom were people selling their virginity. Most of them were men, and most of them were in England for some reason. Then, I learned that some guy in the States had done it a few months back, and saw a clip of him being interviewed. It was only recently that this girl made headlines in England doing it.
From what I’ve heard, and this is only from a few British friends — I’ve never actually read an article about this — the girl was a college student who wasn’t applicable for financial aid because her parents were above the income bracket. But the parents were refusing to pay for the girl’s tuition, so as a way of making some money and as a way of getting back at her parents, she sold her virginity on eBay. I’m not sure if she made any money, but I did hear that the girl was very comfortable going into it, and that she was actually a lesbian and that her girlfriend would be in the room when the sex took place. Now, I’m not sure if all of this is true, but it’s a pretty good story. Nothing to do with the film, though the British people that hear about Buy It Now automatically assume it’s based on that. If that’ll get them into theaters, it’s fine by me.
How do the two of you know each other?
Chelsea: Antonio and I met in high school when I was a freshman and he was a junior. We were both involved with the theater program at our school, and got to know each other through rehearsals and school productions.
Antonio: We were out of touch for about a year or so and reconnected in my second year at NYU when she was about to start at Tisch for acting. Even in high school, Chelsea was one of the strongest and most dedicated actresses I had seen, and I knew she would be more than willing to give everything to this project.
The film was split in two parts, a more straightforward narrative and a “documentary” in the first person. Why did you decide to do two versions?
Antonio: There were a few reasons for the two versions. Initially I had imagined showing both films separately at festivals — that is, the documentary would be playing in one theater and the narrative in another — and then at the end of the day someone would say, “I saw this great documentary about a girl who sells her virginity online,” and someone else would say, “Yeah, I saw that, but it was a narrative short film.” Then, eventually, both would be shown back to back.
I think it was a good idea, but the problem is I don’t program festivals, and it became clear after a little while that this wouldn’t work out. So they were placed together with the documentary first and the narrative right after. The other reason was that I did want to experiment with the documentary form in a dramatic way. When used correctly, it can be very raw and intense, and it allows for a much closer connection to the character because you’re essentially seeing everything through her eyes, and she’s talking directly to you.
It was also very different to direct, which I liked. I stepped away and gave my actors a lot of freedom; I would talk to Chelsea and Rosemarie [DeWitt, who played Chelsea’s mother], for example, and I would tell them what I wanted, points to hit, where to put the camera, maybe a line or two, and then walk out. I would then just listen to them from outside the room, and if I felt as though I was eavesdropping on something, I knew I had something good. With the narrative, I had much more control because the scenes were constructed. I had shot-listed everything; there was a script; and I knew how I wanted it to play out. Both ways were exciting, but there is something very nice about doing a film in the documentary form where all there is one camera, no lights, no boom in the actor’s face; just the performers, a small camera and myself.
Chelsea: I really loved having the opportunity to work both ways; the first being the more regimented, mapped-out style, and the second, the “documentary” approach, was just so liberating. Having the time to improvise with my on-screen mother, Rosemarie, in addition to the hours I spent alone in a room speaking directly to the camera, allowed me to discover more about the character and her story. I just love that the film is done with these two versions, because they each have a unique voice, a different rhythm and a special point of view, but at the same time, they fit together and need one another.
I found that the documentary version was much more disturbing than the narrative version. Did you intend to make something so disturbing?
Antonio: I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I didn’t sit down and say, “I’m going to make a really disturbing film. Great!” I knew the film would be heavy and intense, and the idea with the documentary was to achieve as close to a sense of realism as possible, which meant it would be gritty and very raw. But all I was thinking during the shooting and editing was: How do I make a good film? What is going to work? What is the next beat? How are the performances? At no point did I think about how the audience would react. I just worry about telling the story and making the best film possible.
I’m not someone who wants to disturb people. I like to move people and get them to feel something and think about what they’re seeing. Most movies don’t do anything except distract you for a couple of hours; Buy It Now stirs up a lot of emotion in just an hour. If moving people translates into disturbing people, then at least the film has done something.
Chelsea: I was not going into the project with the mindset to make something disturbing. I wanted to embody a character with depth and truth. I think the subject matter is quite unsettling, and I know for myself that I didn’t want there to be any romanticizing about what this young girl’s situation was. The documentary version delves into her home life a bit more, and the fact that her relationships with her parents and friends are so relatable hits pretty close to home for audiences.
Chelsea, how involved were you in the writing of the film? It’s made to seem like it’s all your doing, but tell me more about the degree of collaboration between the two of you.
Chelsea: Well, I think Antonio touched on this in his response to the last question, but basically he approached me with the general script and the idea for the narrative version. The documentary version was all improvisational, so in that sense you could say that I wrote that portion of it. The creation of this character was truly a collaboration, and I was fortunate to have a director who welcomed my opinions and ideas for the film. I’m happy it seems like it’s all my doing … this girl is emotionally naked and vulnerable. It should feel like she’s telling her story to you as the viewer, free of barriers.
Antonio, how do you feel about the end result feeling like it’s entirely from Chelsea’s perspective?
Antonio: I feel good about it. The whole point with the documentary is to feel like this is all being done by the girl herself. In the first cut of the documentary, when it was playing by itself, I used a fake name as the editor for my credit, and used Chelsea’s character’s name for the “camera by” credit. And with the narrative, I don’t think it feels entirely like Chelsea’s perspective. You are with Chelsea for essentially every shot of that half hour, so there is a definite connection felt with her, but the perspective is more distanced. I think the best way to describe it is that the documentary is closer to this girl’s perspective of herself, and then the narrative is an outsider’s vision of who this girl is.
What’s the strangest response you’ve gotten to your film?
Antonio: The strangest response was during a Q&A in CineVegas. After a slew of great responses and questions, a woman raised her hand, and in the sternest, coldest of voices just said, “As I watched your film, the only thing that ran through my mind was, ‘Why does this director hate women?’ Because from watching your film, it’s obvious you do.” She continued, “I had sex at an early age and did drugs and had a single mom, and I’m strong and lived in New York. Why was the girl in your film not strong?”
I was taken aback, and really had no idea how to respond except to say that, “I don’t hate women.” My brain had stopped for a moment, and luckily Chelsea was by my side and she gave the logical response of, “This is only one story and one character, and she can’t be representing all scenarios and people at once.” In subsequent film festivals, I have received harsh words from women and many dirty looks, and on the other hand, some women do really love it.
A girl’s virginity is a sensitive subject and to see a man deal with its loss in a somewhat aggressive way can rub women the wrong way. My intention is not to cheapen it, but to show that in some way, society has cheapened it, and in this case cheapened it into something that can be bought or sold with the click of a mouse. I also do not think it’s fair to say you know how a filmmaker — or any artist for that matter — feels based on one piece. Thinking back to that one woman who asked me if I hated women, my response would now be, “Listen, wait twenty years and watch my subsequent films, and if you see some common thread, you can make a reasonable claim about how I must personally feel. I have issues with women, just like women have issues with men, but none of them are dealt with in this film. This film is by me, but it isn’t about me.”
Chelsea: Yeah, I’d have to agree with Antonio on that one. I think it was the strangest response because it just felt like she had bypassed the whole idea … the journey that this young girl makes in the film. It’s a story about an individual young woman who is vibrant and sensitive, yet overwhelmed by the deep emotions that I believe all women … all people feel at one point or another. She deals with confusion, loneliness, acceptance, self-love — all while in the throes of her adolescence. This is not meant in any way to be some kind of sweeping generalization on women. Our Las Vegas audience member saw it as anti-woman, when in reality we weren’t trying to make it anti- or pro- women at all. It’s all about the gray area. That where the true story lies. The mere fact that this woman had such a strong opinion on the film is personally very exciting to me. If people love it or if they hate it, I don’t care. I’m just tickled that they’re having such intense reactions to it. That’s fabulous.
I actually felt that your film, if anything, was anti-man, not anti-woman. The character of Peter was so sleazy, and Chelsea just seemed like this really innocent young woman who was largely corrupted by society. Why do you think these people felt that Buy It Now was anti-woman?
Antonio: I don’t feel like the film is anti-man or anti-woman. If I were to read into it like that, though, that’s probably how I would see it, too, and I think I said that to the woman who got angry at me at CineVegas. I think it’s pretty simplistic to make a film that is anti-man or anti-woman. The film is dealing with more complicated issues — mainly what kind of culture could create a situation where something like this could happen, and what does it say about the girl and her family structure. The film is against selling your virginity on eBay.
Chelsea, to go back what you wrote earlier, what is this “gray area” you are addressing? Can you be more specific?
Chelsea: To me, one of the best parts of filmmaking is its capacity to show the complexities of human emotions. Take Pretty Woman, for example. On the surface, Julia Roberts’ character is a Los Angeles prostitute, hardened by working on the streets and seemingly devoid of emotion. What makes this film a modern classic, however, is that Ms. Robert’s character turns out to be sensitive, goofy and surprisingly normal, qualities that you wouldn’t initially expect. The same holds true for Buy It Now. Chelsea isn’t just your stereotypical messed-up teen. The gray area is where the un-relatable becomes something you can identify with, because even if you can’t directly relate to her circumstances, the feelings that she goes through are ones that everyone understands. That is why I said that the true story lies in the gray area. Film is a universal communication, and the power and brilliance of the art form is its ability to bridge the gaps between people from all walks of life.
Do you believe that teens these days really do have lives as separate from their families as Chelsea did?
Chelsea: Yes, I think a lot do. The entire relationship between teenagers and parents has been a complex one throughout history. Making that uncomfortable and often confusing transition from child to young adult doesn’t come with a handbook for either party, so there’s going to be a lot of trial and error. It’s not that there wasn’t a lot of love between Chelsea and her parents, but her family had a lot on their plate: a messy divorce, lack of true communication and so on. There’s a fine line between allowing your children to have their freedom and turning a blind eye to what’s really going on.
Antonio: I think that teens have always had lives separate from their parents. It is just recently that families have grown further apart. I think that’s partly because of technology, partly because of over-medication, and partly because of the ease with which people get married then divorced a lot of times. People don’t communicate, and parents have this tendency to make themselves believe everything is okay because they don’t want to think that their son or daughter is doing something wrong, or is in pain. And if they are, either because they are too busy or because they are too insecure with their abilities as parents, they rely on outside sources to help their children, such as medication and therapy. I have no problem with medication or therapy, when it is seen as just part of the solution to making yourself feel better, not the cure. I guess Buy It Now is anti-that as well.
For more on the film, go to http://www.buyitnowthefilm.com
|
