American Taboo (1983)

Some films leave me just, I dunno, sad or really stewing about what they have to say. To say this film left me with complicated feelings is an understatement. Today, this subject matter, especially in America, is a huge no-no. Age-gap relationships are very topical today, quite polarizing. To say the YouTube algorithm throws up videos about this subject aplenty is also an understatement. So I don’t think we ever got a specific age for Nicole Harrison’s Lisa (I read the actress was 20 at the time; I’m not exactly sure how she came in contact with those who made this student film), but it indicates she was a teenager with an absent father and mother who is “a dancer” we never see throughout the entirety of the running time. For all I know, that scene where Jay Horenstein’s photography studio employee, Paul, visits a strip club, the dancer on the stage could have been Lisa’s mother. We just never really know. 

Lisa wants a trip to school after visiting Paul’s home to sell him chocolate, encouraging him to take a trip to the beach. Paul even forgoes work, Lisa forgoes school, and the two spend the entire day together. This part of the film was like a travelog for me since I’ll never see Portland, Oregon. There was even a lighthouse, an old fort, coastal jaunt, and cafe talk. A lot of this section of their relationship focuses on his photography, and just the two getting to know each other. Paul’s lonely, but his boss’ wife doesn’t shy away from revealing sexual interest in him. He’s just not interested, but Lisa awakens something dormant in him.

Okay, I never felt – and I could be wrong, I won’t deny that – the film condones or says it was okay for the two to eventually have sex. Their encounter the first time is not romantic, and the minimalist score makes it feel sordid and wrong. Lisa even cries after it's over. Later, she fakes a story about being locked out of her house just to see him, asking to come in. She tells him he is not the first she’s had sex with. And the character of Lisa is written much more mature than typical of the age. Besides some defiant behavior on the beach while posing at the nose of a rusty shipwreck, not wanting to leave, and points where their dialogue reminds us of her age; she actually seems more “together” than Paul. Paul’s house is a mess once the light turns on at the end. Clothes scattered, dishes all over the place, just a house in disarray. And we see him realizing (and regretting) what he had done, coming to terms with it. I thought the film would show Paul eventually selling his house (he had an offer from his realtor but turned it down) and moving on to sort of get away. Instead, they have sex some more and the film evocatively, through inserted shots coinciding with him looking out a window after a rain, conveys an intimate, nowhere near as primal experience.

I wasn’t expecting the film to leave us wondering what would happen with these two. The music, what little there is, paints their relationship with potential. But I just don’t see how this could possibly continue. They look at each other very affectionately. I didn’t see any signs they would stop. 

I had never even heard of Visual Vengeance until they were mentioned on physical media YouTubers I follow. And I never would have even heard of this film unless Amazon Prime recommended it to me. I believe a good majority of people would wish this remained buried in obscurity, its subject matter too repulsive and creepy to ever find an audience today. It isn’t like on Letterboxd this has a lot of reviews, so it might remain mostly obscure. It is not of particularly good quality, neither on Tubi or Prime. It’s murky but very well made. But its pacing will absolutely drive folks nuts, if the subject matter isn’t enough to keep most away. I think it will be a curiosity that might lure some to it, but I feel rather confident “American Taboo” will continue to remain hidden within the vast libraries of streaming services and physical media catalogs.