Ax Wound/Hannah Neurotica: What brought you to write a film about the dark side of a Women’s Studies program? How did this idea come about?

Lonnie Martin: About ten years ago, I had just finished writing another feature horror script and had sent it to my old college professor to get his thoughts. He was planning to do a short film with his students in the upcoming semester and asked me if I could come up with a short script for him that had lots of roles for women, took place on a college campus, and was less than fifteen pages. I had just seen the 1975 version of THE STEPFORD WIVES for the first time and that film had made a big impression on me as a horror film with a lot of social commentary. Basically, WOMEN’S STUDIES is an inversion of THE STEPFORD WIVES concept. Instead of the “old boys club” who want to replace women with robot slaves, my script had women who wanted to enslave and/or wipe out men. My original script ended up about forty pages, and my professor decided to go another direction.I held on to the script for a few years until it came time to do my first feature. It was actually my wife and co-producer, Cindy Marie Martin, who suggested that script was the most marketable I had in my “box of scripts.” I rewrote it, changing some characters around and lengthened the script.

AW: Have you ever taken a Women’s Studies Course? If so can you talk about your experience?

LM: I haven’t taken a Women’s Studies course. I was a communications minor in college and was introduced to Camille Paglia’s “Vamps & Tramps” as part of a communications theory class. I was attracted to Paglia’s idea that women seeking power should not simply emulate the way men obtain and retain power as well as her view that the “second wavers” were stuffy, safe, and politically correct. She cited Madonna and Princess Diana as two women with amazing amounts of power yet they still retained their femininity, personality, and individualism. Being a pretty fervent individualist, that idea resonated with me. Though I’ve read a few books on the subject, I’m no student of feminism. However, I’ve always been interested in the social psychology of gender in film and culture an well as in personal relationships.

AW: I read in an interview with you that The Stepford Wives influenced the script for Women’s Studies. I always saw Stepford as a comment on women’s subordination to men. Therefore Womens Studies programs would be a step away from women as robots in the kitchen. Yet your film portrays Womens Studies as a dark man hating Academy. Is that how you view Womens Studies programs in real life or is that read of the film completely off base?

LM: Saying that I view all Women’s Studies programs as turning out dark man-hating extremists because I made WOMEN’S STUDIES the movie is like saying Tobe Hooper views all low income rural Texans as chainsaw wielding cannibals because he made THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. It’s ridiculous and narrow minded.
The message of WOMEN’S STUDIES isn’t “Feminism is bad.” It’s “Not thinking for yourself is bad.” It’s about being an individual and remaining true to yourself, even if it’s not what’s popular. Mary, the heroine of WOMEN’S STUDIES is a feminist as is her friend Beth. The difference between them and the ladies of Ross-Prentiss is that Mary and Beth believe in equality between women and men, not that women should annihilate men. I liken it to Palestinians who don’t want Israeli control of the West Bank, or Irish Nationalists in favor of Home Rule. Just because a few extremist assholes decide to blow themselves up in the name of a cause doesn’t mean the cause itself isn’t valid. The same thing is going on in WOMEN’S STUDIES. Just because there are misguided extremist feminists in the film, that doesn’t mean I’m saying EVERY feminist is that way.To me, while also being a comment on men’s fear of the emerging feminist changes of the sixties and seventies, THE STEPFORD WIVES is also about being an individual. What I find to be the worst thing about the housecleaning sexbots in the film is that they’re all the same. Katherine Ross’s character is bright, funny, warm, and intelligent. Her robot version is just a copy of a copy. The girls of Ross-Prentiss in WOMEN’S STUDIES are like that too. They think they’re gaining power, but what they’re actually doing is sacrificing their individualism. That kind of groupthink and cult mentality is dangerous, and unfortunately it seems to be becoming more pervasive in mainstream culture. You see it in everything from Evangelical Christianity to advertising.

AW: A lot of Feminist bloggers have been upset about your films premise. How do you respond to these criticisms? Talk a little about the response you get from men and women regarding your film?

LM: Having not been able to see the movie, I can understand the negative reaction to an extent. These feminist bloggers are writing about the struggles of women’s equality every day. They’re working hard to dispel the unfortunately still popular notion that women are somehow inferior to men. I’m sure they see the trailer for WOMEN’S STUDIES and go “Great. Another stupid horror film perpetuating a stereotype.” I hope they’ll take a look at the movie once it’s available and judge it on it’s own merits. On the scary flip side are those men who make comments on the trailer like “This is what feminism is!” and “Feminists are evil.” It shows just how far we haven’t been able to come. If I have any frustration with the criticism, it’s that as of this writing (November 2009) the movie isn’t readily available for audiences to see and draw their own conclusion. It’s only screened publicly once and has only been reviewed by a handful of people. The reviews run the gamut from “I’d like to see more background on the school’s philosophy” to “NOT ENOUGH TITS!” It’s not a film for everybody. That said, I’d like for people to have the chance to watch it and make their own judgments.

AW: I read you once did some self-publishing. Since I make a feminist (non man hating) horror zine I am always interested in peoples forays into publishing. Did you do a comic? Is that correct?

LM: Yeah, I tried my hand at self-publishing a comic book I wrote back in the late 90s. STRANGLING DESDEMONA was an action/hit man story that, like WOMEN’S STUDIES, dealt with cults. It was based off one of my early screenplays. Unfortunately, Diamond Distributors pretty much has a monopoly on comic book distribution. As I’m sure you know, trying to self-distribute a comic book or zine is extremely hard. A lack of resources forced me to give it up. However, I certainly don’t regret the experience in the least. It taught me a lot about “art as commerce” as well running a business. It also paved the way for my eventual journey into filmmaking.

AW: Where is Women’s Studies at right now in terms of release? How can people get a copy?

LM: The road to distribution for WOMEN’S STUDIES has been long and tumultuous. In October of 2008, we rendered the services of a sales agent who quickly got us a direct-to-DVD distribution deal. However, due to the economic climate, they sat on it giving us a vague “Fall 2009″ release promise. As we got into the summer of ’09, it become clear that they had lost interest in Women’s Studies. The distribution company had a couple low budget horror titles with no marquee stars bomb, and decided they didn’t want to release WOMEN’S STUDIES. At that point, we were stuck waiting out various contracts. In October 2009, we finally got the full rights to our movie back. At the time of this writing (November 2009), we have a handful of distributors looking at the film. I’m very hopeful about it getting released early next year.

AW: You also said in an interview that you had read Carol Clovers book: Men, Women, and Chainsaws. That book had a huge impact on me. What did you think of her theories? Was it a book that had any influence on you in terms of writing WS?

LM: Clover’s book is absolutely fantastic, particularly her “Her Body, Herself” essay in which she formulates her theory of the “Final Girl.” I think it’s a wonderful and spot-on analysis of gender roles within the slasher film. For me, the emphasis on the individualism of the final girl is especially noteworthy; how she’s a little bit different from the other girls in the film. She’s a little smarter, more introspective, a little more quirky. It certainly informed that earliest draft of WOMEN’S STUDIES.

AW: THANKS SO MUCH LONNIE!!!
LM: THANK YOU, HANNAH!

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