Spoiler alert: I was a wee bit disappointed in Teeth – sure, the dismembered penis count outdid, well, In the Realm of the Senses‘s, but the actual execution struck me as slightly gummy, somewhat misguided, and more than a little, er, unrealistic. And trust me, I wanted to believe! Hey, admit it, we’re all secretly a little fascinated by the myth of fanged poonannie. The idea of the feared and fearless, anti-penetration sexual organ chomping at all comers – it’s intriguing, no? And director Mitchell Lichtenstein – the 51-year-old son of pop artist Roy, and an actor who appeared in Robert Altman’s 1983 movie, Streamers – is more than willing to please, with his relatively wholesome, coming-of-age fable, flaws or no.
SFBG: You wrote the screenplay for Teeth – why did you choose to make the movie?
Mitchell Lichtenstein: Well, I had learned about the myth years ago, and it stayed with me as something that could be fruitful territory: the myth really says something about men’s attitudes toward women. And the pervasiveness of the myth does, too. as I found, the more I researched it. It had been referenced at a further remove in other movies and such, but not so much directly. And if you deal with it directly, it becomes clear that it’s something men put on women. I just wanted to see a woman being the heroine in a story about it. Her teeth would never be – and she would never – be conquered.