The REAL best Gencon meme...

... came about while we were driving home. Jason and I were probably babbling about cult movies and were taking a brief tour wondering if El Topo would be considered a drug movie. Richard was affecting a 6-hour-at-the-wheel-thousand mile stare. (The man is a driving machine.)

Then from the passenger seat we hear:

"You know. If I wasn't me, I think I'd be Hispanic."

[long stunned silence]

"Probably Cuban....like a beach bum. And I like those cars with air shocks...with a Virgin Mary on the dashboard. I'd definitely be Hispanic."

We were all in hysterical confusion and laughter for a good 10-15 minutes afterwards.

If I wasn't me, I'd be gay and into hardcore S+M. I can really see the appeal of that lifestyle.

Que Pasa esse?

Estafano"Suave'"Avero

I did the next best thing and married one.

OK, the main thing I want to know about was the El Topo discussion. Who thought it was a drug film? Maxwell?

Because it's really not. It's actually pretty intellectual, it just also happens have that mix of surrealism and absurdity that "head film" enthusiasts flock to...Holy Mountain is far better, and it's even less of a drug film, although I'm sure some would regard it is as such. Jodorowsky is much more into mysticism and allegory than drugs.

But definitely psychedelic, either way.

If I wasn't me, I guess I'd still be me. Anything else would be really strange.

I was making the pro argument, but somewhat doubting it myself. Obviously El Topo pulls a fair bit from Carlos Castaneda's writings, which don't really seperate the mystical bits from the drugs. And I could continue the argument if there were a lot of movies completely steeped in that level of mysticism. You have to jump into Maya Deren (Voudoun), and Kenneth Anger (Crowley). Anger's work also has those combined concepts of religion and drug use, but none of the movies are really overtly about drugs themselves.

So I do like the Psychedelic tag. Seems more fitting.

And at that point, Estefano came into being.

So...Family Business is being renamed to "Empresa Familiar"?