Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
American independent film is launched into the mainstream by Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape, starring James Spader as an impotent man who gets off on filming women talking about sex. Videotape also plays a role in a Spader film released almost simultaneously, Bad Influence, in which he plays a meek yuppie at the mercy of alpha male Rob Lowe – who was trying to rehabilitate his career after a tape leaked shot by the actor and documenting his real-life threesomes — one with a 16 year-old girl. We close the first half of this season talking about Lowe, Spader and how camcorder mediation of sex changed pop culture forever.
Andie MacDowell in Sex, Lies and Videotape, 1989
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe
Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind
The Sex Education of James Spader by Trip Gabriel. GQ, October 1990
Saturday Night Live, March 17, 1990
A Dance of Sex and Love, Through a Lens Darkly by Caryn James, New York Times, Aug. 4, 1989
Truth or Consequences, Interview w/ Steven Soderbergh by Harlan Jacobson, Film Comment, July-August 1989
“I Don’t Care If It Never Shows in a Theater”: Steven Soderbergh on sex, lies, and videotape, 4K HDR and the Studio System by Jim Hemphill Filmmaker Magazine, July 20, 2018
Andie MacDowell Remembers How ‘Sex, Lies & Videotape’ Changed Her Career by Diane Garrett, Variety, May 14, 2019
Trading In One's Innocence, Willingly by Vincent Canby, NYTimes, March 9, 1990
Film Is Close To Real Life For Rob Lowe by Bob Strauss Los Angeles Daily News via the Roanoake Times, March 9, 1990
Bad Influence, Roger Ebert March 09, 1990
Bad Influence by Rita Kempley, Washington Post, March 10, 1990
Bad Influence by Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, March 16, 1990
Rob Bares All, Cover & Story, People Magazine, March 19, 1990
Now, Slyly, Comes The Yuppie Devil by Janet Maslin, NYTimes, Sunday, March 25, 1990
Life Lessons from Rob Lowe, Interview Magazine revisits March 1990 cover story with Rob Lowe, Photographed by Wayne Maser
Why Rob Lowe Calls His 1988 Sex Tape Scandal 'the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me' by Natalie Stone, People Magazine, October 21, 2019
“Sex, Lies and Videotape” by Jim Jerome, US Magazine, August 7, 1989
X Film Rating Dropped and Replaced by NC-17 : Movies: Designation would bar children under 17. Move expected to clear the way for strong adult themes by David J. Fox, LA Times, Sept. 27, 1990
How Snow White and Some Coconuts Killed 1989's Oscars by Stuart Heritage Feb 18, 2019
Sex, Lies, and Videotape by Peter Travers, Rolling StoneWhat ‘Brat Pack’ Rob Lowe Asks by Bob Thomas, Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1986
Hollywood’s Brat Pack by David Blum, New York Magazine, Sept 2, 2008
Romeo and Juliet, US Magazine, Dec, 29, 1986
Just For Variety Variety, April 19, 1988
Rob Lowe: The Heartthrob Kid, US Magazine, April 4, 1988
Rob Lowe Tapes: At Long Last, Sexess!” by Henry Sheehan, Los Angeles Reader, July 28, 1989
Sex, Lowe, and Videotape by Elvis Mitchell Village Voice, July 4, 1989
The Movies, Newsweek, August 14, 1989
A Directors’ Psyche, Split Into Four by Amy Nicholson, NY Times, August 25, 2019
Appeals Board Upholds 'Angel Heart' X Rating, New York Times, Feb. 21, 1987
Sex Lies and Videotape” by Kerry Doole, Music Express, October 1989
Ace of Spader by Dennis Hensley Detour Magazine, September 1996
Candid Camera: Sex, Lies and Videotape Director Faces Reality” by Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune, August 6, 1989
When Humor Meets Heartbreak, TIME, July 31, 1989
Steven Soderbergh, After The Sex And Lies by Martha Sherrill, Washington Post, August 11, 1989
Now, Voyeur, New York Mag, August 7, 1989
The Truth About Sex, Lies by Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, August 4, 1989
A Video Romp in the Buff Gives Heartbreaker Rob Lowe a Little Too Much Southern Exposure by Steve Dougherty and Joyce Leviton, June 05, 1989
Revisiting the Sex, the Lies and the Videotape” by Ella Taylor, LA Weekly, January 16, 2009
Spader Breaks Out of the Mold with Sex, Lies Daniel Cerone, LA Times, August 9, 1989
Prepped For Stardom by David Pinchbeck, Sept 1990
The Trouble with Jimmy by Stephanie Mansfield, Vogue, November 1990
James Spader’s Image Has Changed, Interview Magazine, Sheila Benson, April 1993
Bad Guy Makes Good, Esquire, Sept 1989
James Spader Made Easy by Jerry Lazar Playboy, April 1990
Please note: as an Amazon Associate Karina earns from qualifying purchases. #ad
James Spader in Sex, Lies and Videotape, 1989
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
"Rumoi Night" - Kokura Station
"Even Dreams of Beaches” - Resolute
"Vik Fence Haflak" - The Fence
"JoDon" - Orange Cat
"Four Cluster" - Fornax
"The Kishner Method” - Kajubaa
"Pxl Eventuat” - The Fence
"Kamilah” - Sunflower
“Gemeni City” - Kajubaa
"Pxl Htra” - The Fence
"Trek VX” - Limoncello
"Kind of Regret” - Synapse
"Still Night” -Pglet
"Danse Morialta” - Kevin MacLeod
"Readers Do You Read" - Chris Zabriskie
Rob Lowe, c. 1980s
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated, and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
