High heels can be dangerous under the wrong hands. Last week I saw a transvestite throw one of her heels at her boyfriend and hit him in the face. He started to cry and that's when I decided to leave.
This is the end of a long story. I was casting for The Wave Pictures Video and wanted to feature a group of local transvestites to lip-synch part of the song. The entire vid was shot in Downtown Guatemala City. This is a strange and beautiful part of the world where economic and cultural phenomenons give life to the bizarre. Like a Jodorowsky film.
It must have been 8:30 AM and the transvestite was coming home from work. She was pretty big and wore high high heels. I was standing on the corner of 4th Ave and 16th St. when I saw her zig-zag her way across the street towards me. For the next 5 minutes she tried to convince me to party with her... I tried to convince her to be in the music video. No one made any progress and I began to wonder what I looked like in a heated conversation with a transvestite at 8:35 AM. We moved inside a coffee shop around the corner.
She was still trying to sweet-talk me into going with her when we sat down at the table. Realizing that this might take a while, I asked for two coffees. Bad timing again, when a little guy (who I soon find out is her boyfriend), storms in. He was hysterical. Apparently she hadn't been home for a few days and he was really upset. They started screaming at each other and I began to get pulled into the argument. I swiftly removed myself from the situation and made my way to the cashier. As I'm paying, I hear the discussion getting more agitated. Then suddenly there's a small pause, a loud thump and when I turn around, the boyfriend is crying. One of her heels is on the floor across the coffee shop.
Needless to say I couldn't get her to do the video. I did, however, witness a strangely entertaining scene... which was enough for me. The human condition and every-day life. This, personally, is what I love about pre-production: access.