Bike Fetishists Unite! Bike Porn is Here
What: A film! The Pornography of the Bicycle Where: Chashama at 217 E. 42nd St. When: March 22 at 7, 9 & 11 p.m. How much: $6
An ordained reverend from Portland is traveling the country with a film about [bike porn]. Had no idea such a subculture existed? Neither did we. It seems like people on the West Coast are so in to bikes, the relationship borders on sexual. We called the films curator, the Rev. Phil, 31, for answers. The film screens this Saturday and Phil will be there, you know, to explain.
Whats up with your name, are you really a reverend? Im an ordained minister from the Church of Bicycle Jesus in Seattle. Bicycles for me are a lot about freedom. You cant really ask for more than the ability to transport yourself. I do a bike church every Sunday in Portland. I try to [organize a game of] bicycle polo.
Is this a joke? No! You tell me what church is. Then Ill tell you how I define church. Some people say church is a place, but I say church is a people. Being in a park, and being able to ride bikes with my friends feels really great. Youve got to do some more research about biking: Its huge!
Does this have to do with God? Regarding higher power, thats all individual. No ones going to be able to dictate for you what is and isnt out there. Those are belief systems. And trying to tell people what to believe isnt very bright. I believe in bicycles because I know theyre there.
Tell me about this upcoming film, The Pornography of Bicycles. How did it come about? Last year, I asked a few friends if they would make me some bike porn. They told a couple of friends, and the next thing I know is, a whole lot of people were submitting. I got submissions from across the West Coast. It became much larger than I anticipated.
How is this possible? There are a lot of people who are excited about displaying their relationship with their bicycles. Its a very intimate one. For a lot of people, you put your life into its hands and vice versa. Your bicycle puts its life in your hands. Every time you ride your bike into the street, you never know what could go wrong. It creates a heightened degree of closeness with your bike. If it suddenly fails, you may fail. Youre connected, the two of you. Whatever is going to happen to it is happening to you.
How long have you been on tour? The first world premiere was June of 2007. Since then weve biked up to Seattle and Vancouver, BC, with it. Then we took it down to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Now were on our East Coast Swing. Were half way done already. Weve gotten a tremendous response from all the crowds, and people promising to make more [films]. The call for Bike Porn 2 is out there right now.
What about the mixture of religion with porn? What about it? Theres no restriction on reverends. Reverends can drink, reverends can have sex. Apparently, priests can have sex with little boys, but thats not my thing. Being a reverend and being in pornography is kind of unusual, I guess. But its not really that big of a deal.
What do you hope people will get from the film? The film is going to inspire people to ride more. Its going to inspire them to think creatively about what pornography is. It would be really easy to just go out there and have lots of dicks, penises, vaginas and boobs. Theres plenty of skin! But to really inspire somebody to be creative with their bodies, to be, like, hey, porn could be this. As an art form, there are not many people making pornography thats very interesting. Mostly its just people with a very boring plot line and then sex. Im not opposed to sex, or even boring plot lines, I just think we can do better. So Im trying to encourage people to do it better.