Mapplethorpe and Me
A New York Love Affair
(A Shooting Script)
by Jack Fritscher
INTERIOR. MANHATTAN PLAYROOM
– NIGHT – MEDIUM SHOT
2 men naked kneeling kneecap to kneecap.
Gunfighter gun play from gay bar saloons.
Hit men packing heat. Gun oil greasing torsos.
Erect. Loaded. Silencers. Mute.
Beyond words better left unsaid.
A and B who is A who is B
stroking a brace of pistols trading handguns
unholstered cock
amygdala algorithms
of gun lust/fear/anxiety/sadness.
Grunt/grin/spit/tongue/lick weapons,
rimming the bore
the ammo of amor
hazarding risky roulette
in a perilous plague,
a season in hell,
playing under
the “Gun Blast” silver-gelatin photo
gun-crazy Mapplethorpe
shot for Rimbaud
shot by Verlaine
with a 7mm six-shooter
loaded with
opium and absinthe.
CAMERA TRACKS IN VERY SLOWLY
TO CAPTURE ACTION IN ONE CONTINUOUS SHOT
as slow as the 2 marksmen, touching chests,
scratch pistol muzzles nipple to nipple
each clocked in the other’s gun site, bulls-eye,
locking arms, groom & groom intertwining
strong wrists/biceps/firearms to drink
the champagne of their blood wedding,
Saturday night special
duel in the dark
gunslingers, pistol-whip blood lust
groans, huffs of panting breath
snuffing out a candle with a bullet
eyes wide dilated
lightning-fast slow-motion quick draw
taking aim, hands gripping gunstock butts
hardon of cold steel barrels
parting equal each other’s lips.
CAMERA PUSH-IN 2-SHOT CLOSE-UP
Parting the beloved’s bared teeth
no one but him puts a pistol in his mouth
taking aim, both stare down the barrels of true love
in the other’s gun hand
into the other’s squinting eyes
biting down, sucking the cold metal taste of the barrel
tasting like graphite and olives
brokeback gambling men,
trigger fingers on hair triggers,
fists on rampant cocks cocked,
eyeball to eyeball, cocked,
countdown, on three, cocked,
crack shots, cum bullets, adrenalin rush,
leaving tea and cakes and civilization behind.
Click-Click-Click
of the spinning pistol chambers
empty, unloaded under the animal roar
the thrill-kill draining of anxiety
shooting their loads up belly and chest
into the target hearts.
CAMERA MEDIUM SHOT HOLDS ON
Two men in La petite mort collapse.
CUE MUSIC UP
“Bang! Bang! My Baby Shot Me Down!”
SUPERIMPOSE TITLE
Never let’s become ordinary to each other.
Sex. Death. Art.
THE END
Roll credits over Mapplethorpe photo
“Gun Blast” 1985.