Times Square

with Robin Johnson, Trini Alvarado, Tim Curry
Directed by Alan Moyle
Written by Robert Stigwood
(RSO, 1981)
by J. Lianna Ness

Although this film was released theatrically in 1981, it’s hasn’t quite reached cult-level status, even with a soundtrack that features cool “new wave” bands such as XTC, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Ramones, and the Pretenders, among others (hey, 15 years ago they were the “alternative”). Trini Alvarado stars as Pamela Pearl, the daughter of a famous local politician who thinks his daughter is crazy and admits her to a psychiatric hospital. There she meets Nicki Morotta (Robin Johnson), a rebellious, homeless girl. Although they come from completely different worlds, Nicki and Pam’s angst, alienation and frustration bond them together and they escape from the hospital in a stolen ambulance and hide out in an abandoned warehouse together. The newsworthy story of Pamela’s disappearance arouses the interest of a local DJ (Tim Curry) who fervently follows it, giving updates on sightings of “The Sleaze Sisters” when Nicki and Pamela don garbage bags (“If they make you feel like garbage, put your body in a garbage bag!”) and start dropping televisions off rooftops as a socio-political statement against the false images they portray and the mind-numbing complacency they represent. Much like …The Fabulous Stains, it shows how the media is quick to exploit a trend when a new one comes along, capture its poignant moments of blood and tears, but loses interest when the ratings falter. Tacky but fun, this film’s fairly solid plot line explores friendship and stereotypes.