The Politics of Fur

This dark satire takes as its subject the excesses of Una (Selverstone), a Los Angeles music producer whose decadent lifestyle represents the epitome of success. Rich, elegantly clad and well connected, her existence consists of faking warmth over the phone and keeping her mother where she belongs, forever hanging on line two. 'I make people,' she explains. 'I buy them, mould them and sell them.' The film exploits all the motifs of contemporary LA culture, but avoids any hint of naturalism. It is a theatrical, marvellously brittle exploration of 'style' and the conceit of studied knowingness. It takes us into a post-gay world where (post-hedonism) 'all the club kids are in recovery'. The heart of the gay 'lifestyle' project is revealed here as rotten to the core and Una's eventual meltdown is really a blessing in disguise.