The Sigla Blog

Depending on your viewpoint, Vincent Gallo is either an esoteric but talented erudite or an over-rated toss-pot. In the past I have tended to defend him for a couple of reasons: he makes very accomplished music (’When’ is beautiful debut), Buffalo 66 is a likeable film and the fact that he owns the largest collection of analog synths in the world makes him something of a curiosity to me.

That said, he tends to rise bile in even the most mild-mannered among us for his various pronouncements. A few years back, I watched a Channel 4-aired short film of his called ‘48 People in Hollywood who should be Dead’ shot by The Guardian’s Jacques Perreti. The film was based largely around comments Gallo made in an infamous interview with Grand Royal magazine.

In it he spared no mercy in sticking the knife in to people he loathed. Tim Roth was branded “a filthy no-talent mini dwarf Brit” and he lambasted Bill and Hillary Clinton and “their ugly orphan-like daughter Chelsea”. Also derided are film directors - One Hour Photo director Mark Romanek was summed up as “that dark, anal photo plagiarist and his useless penis, he’s a great example of a world gone wrong” and he dubs the director of Magnolia Paul “I can’t direct, but boy can I brown nose” Anderson.

Transposed to the screen he pulls even more punches, accusing director Abel Ferrara as being too high on crack most of the time to do a decent job of directing films, John Kennedy Jr was “philandering cadaver” and perhaps most surprising target is the remark that’s the most vicious, calling his Brown Bunny co-star Chlo� Sevigny “Connecticut without the etiquette… too busy spreading Harmony Korine’s herpes” to act properly.

Ever the self-publicist, his latest stunt is his most audacious. He is selling his sperm for $1 million. There are, as you’d expect with Gallo, some caveats. Not only does he not want the sperm to be used to create a mixed race child, there is a discount for any woman who can prove her Arian looks and pedigree.

“Mr. Gallo maintains the right to refuse sale of his sperm to those of extremely dark complexions. Though a fan of Franco Harris, Derek Jeter, Lenny Kravitz and Lena Horne, Mr. Gallo does not want to be part of that type of integration. In fact, for the next 30 days, he is offering a $50,000 discount to any potential female purchaser who can prove she has naturally blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone who can prove a direct family link to any of the German soldiers of the mid-century will also receive this discount.”

At a guess, these sentiments are self-promotion Gallo-style (oh the irony) but in case it’s not, where are the Mark Chapman style stalkers when you need them?