Part of the Cinema of Transgression movement, Nick Zedd’s War is Menstrual Envy aims to shock by presenting the human body in radically unconventional ways
Within the first ten minutes of its runtime, it becomes clear that Nick Zedd aimed to do more than entertain with his beautifully illogical 1992 film War is Menstrual Envy. Full of the black humour and shock value that are signature features of the Cinema of Transgression movement, the film focuses on blood, self-mutilation and the vulnerability of the human body.
The film’s title sequence features a naked man sitting cross-legged and carving “WAR?” into his chest with a razor blade. It’s a visceral representation of the film’s title, which plays with the idea of “womb envy”, a term coined by neo-Freudian psychiatrist Karen Horney. Womb envy is the theory that cis men spill blood through violence, as they are subconsciously jealous that cis women expel blood naturally.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, War is Menstrual Envy juxtaposes unusual and conventional characters. A shape-shifting neon alien woman with Amy Winehouse-esque winged liner stands alongside uniformed men, bejewelled drag queens, innocent babies and tattooed biker boys. Themes of motherhood, violence, sex, bloodshed, gender and queerness are explored through nonsensical scenes that focus on the human body being presented in radically unconventional ways.
Totally mute throughout the vignettes comprising the film, Zedd’s characters use violent, sexual and strange movements and interactions. Make-up and costume, meanwhile, become a shorthand to instantly signal non-conformity, as well as the hedonism and rebellion that runs rampant through the Cinema of Transgression. Head-to-toe tattoos, UV-striped body paint, men who are severely burned, and lots of full-frontal nudity are just a few of the unconventional and extreme states in which the body is shown.
New York-based performance artist Kembra Pfahler’s iconic naked alien sports black teeth, teased hair, lips that always match her neon body, and either no brows or thin black ones placed haphazardly on her forehead. Extreme black liner is highlighted by stark white on the lower lash line, making the whites of her pupils appear larger. This eye make-up is a focal point throughout the film.
Pfahler is naked throughout the entire film, but her make-up and styling exclude her from excessive sexualisation – at least in the traditional sense of conventional ideas of female attractiveness. A toothless grin, lash-less eyes, teased and messy hair, undefined lips and neon skin are far from the beauty standard for the stereotypical sexy-naked-lady film trope. The actions of Pfahler’s character equally deviate from stereotypes of meek and mild female sexuality – from getting off with a (hopefully plastic) octopus to grinding on a man in uniform alongside co-star Annie Sprinkle, who simultaneously hits him with a plastic penis. Anything to disrupt the patriarchal norms of polite society and academic cinema.
Zedd uses sexuality in the film to shock, rather than arouse (or perhaps to arouse through shock, which shocks the viewer even more). The combination of weird, creepy, scary, gory and sexy aesthetics that Zedd employs in this film makes it simultaneously a masterpiece of transgressive cinema and a film that would definitely confuse your granny.