I didn't closely follow the case of Heidi Fleiss in the local media here in Los Angeles. There was something that seemed so "on the nose" about it all. It was so Hollywood. So tawdry and sensationalistic and somehow, so unsurprising. I never imagined Heidi Fleiss to be a degenerate nor did I think she was any kind of persecuted heroine. I certainly never imagined that my biggest impression of her would be that she was an empowered entrepreneur who just could not stop creating, and perhaps still cannot, though she is no longer in California. She just has to innovate and sell. The service she sells just happens to be sex.
Even today, Fleiss is still trying to get an all male "Stud Farm" going in a little town called Crystal, Nevada (just 45 minutes from Las Vegas). As of the film's premiere last week at the L.A. Film Festival Heidi had encountered oppostion from local officials and townspeople but had not given up her dream of creating a place where women could go to rent some high end beefcake and have a good time.
Fleiss is a ball of energy - a free thinker, a rabid "type-A" capitalist and in a sad way, a bit of a loner. She only wants the chance to create something from nothing, and to make a buck. But along the way she is forced to serve jail time (though she won't really talk about prison to us), becomes estranged from her personal assistant, and then loses an elderly friend to an untimely death. From the deceased friend Fleiss inherents a large group of tropical birds with which she has become infatuated. The birds seem to symbolize her own need to nurture something beautiful and rare. Fleiss is a wounded and misunderstood creature.
The problem with The Would-Be Madam of Crystal is that Heidi Fleiss is interesting to watch for a while (kind of like a car accident) but she is also a bit of a mess and unfortunately so is the movie. It's not badly made. It just doesn't quite know how to contain Fleiss' special madness on film (or tape) and make any sense out of it. All the film does is show Fleiss to us. Just when we feel we might be about to see a showdown between Fleiss and the townspeople of Crystal, the film ends. There is no real resolution. This isn't really the filmmakers' fault. They did the best they could with the footage they had. Apparently there was a falling out between Fleiss and the film's creators well before the premiere. One wonders when during the original filming this occured and how it might have affected the final product.
I'm also not sure what the film wants us to think or feel about Fleiss. The whole thing is so full of passive adoration for her wild exploits. Don't her personality and lifestyle virtually cry out for some kind of commentary though? Maybe that's not the objective thing to do but how can you look at all that plastic surgery and inner turmoil and not wonder whether all of us are better off than her? How can you not feel that somehow she represents everything most common folk feel is wrong with Hollywood. I've known people like Fleiss, people who just can't stop. They often make great capitalists but sometimes they burn out as well. Sometimes it is better not to hitch your wagon to a shooting star if that star is falling, and on fire. Most people will stop and look at the star and say "how cool". But some people know that it is better to drive past a car accident without looking, than to stop and gawk.