Odd bloke, odd couple
Film
Published 03/08/2012
by David Lamble
http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=979While Marie Losier's provocative and intimate new documentary The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, observing her title characters' bid to become a single "pan-individual," stands on its own as a singular piece of filmmaking, it helps to know the back story of its surviving subject, Genesis P-Orridge. Born Neil Andrew Megson in a 1950 Great Britain still suffering the privations of wartime rationing, this son of a traveling salesman would recall for an adult biographer (Simon Ford, Wreckers of Civilization) memories of his mom guiding him to school through a lush forest, memories that he would later revise to hint at life's cruelties.
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After making his mark with avant-garde bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, and adopting the moniker Genesis P-Orridge, Megson would embark on life as a transgender rebel, meeting his soulmate while sleeping in the basement of a dominatrix. Genesis employs the royal "we" as part of his bargain with Lady Jaye.
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We Two Are One
Marie Losier documents the mystical pandrogyny of Genesis and Lady Jaye
Published: Wednesday, March 7, 2012 12:44 PM CST
BY GARY M. KRAMER
http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2012/03/07/gay_city_news/arts/doc4f57a8a12e96d348024837.txtThe Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye" is a beguiling documentary about the relationship between musician and performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and the love of his life, the late Lady Jaye.
As if creating a mix-tape, filmmaker Marie Losier produces an extremely intimate portrait of the artists by selecting highlights from Genesis' childhood, concerts by his band Psychic TV, and his everyday life with Lady Jaye. Much of the film is focused on Genesis and Lady Jaye's Pandrogyne Project, in which the couple underwent surgeries to more closely resemble each other.
