Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Moreover, beauty should not be limited to what glamour magazines and Hollywood tell us. With the vision that beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes, colors, pierced, tattooed, blue hair or blonde, SuicideGirls was born some 15 years ago. A website that centers around pin-up style photography of women from all walks of life, SuicideGirls in a sense pioneered their own subculture.
Paving the way for women all over the world to feel beautiful and unique within themselves, SuicideGirls remains one of the top alternative model websites in the world. Expanding their reach, they have even launched a SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque Tour over the years, one which returns in 2018 for a lengthy 3 month run across the USA. Recently we caught up with the mastermind/founder of SuicideGirls, Missy Suicide, to talk her inspiration for launching the site, changing the stereotype of what is beautiful, their latest burlesque tour, plus much more.
CrypticRock.com – SuicideGirls has been established for over 15 years now. In that time it has become a leading site for Alternative models. First tell us, what inspired the concept behind Suicide Girls?
Missy Suicide – The concept is we celebrate all types of beauty, the things that make us unique and make us beauty.
CrypticRock.com – Yes, and the site has done a nice job of bringing that forward through the years. Like any successful company, SuicideGirls has seen tremendous growth throughout the years. Are you often humbled to see how far things have come through the years?
Missy Suicide – Yes! I could never have imagined how big it has gotten and how the world has changed really. When we first started there was no social media, so convincing people to share their thoughts and connect with people online was a difficult, uphill battle. Celebrating girls who didn’t look like supermodels of the day – girls with piercings, tattoos, of all ethnicities, shapes/sizes, and celebrated their unique beauty – it’s amazing to see how much more accepted those ladies are these days. We are international: we have models from every continent including Antarctica. It’s crazy to me that women around the world have been affected by what we have done and their confidence has been lifted!
CrypticRock.com – It is a wonderful thing for sure. As you said, a lot of things have changed with the internet. Our society has changed too. There is this stereotypical image of what is called beautiful. It is often an impossible image to meet, what is dubbed beautiful by Hollywood. That in mind, do you believe we have made good strides at squashing that stereotypical idea of beauty?
Missy Suicide – I feel like we still have got a ways to go, but I feel certainly in our community there are places where people can go to be appreciated and feel beautiful. That gives everybody confidence; you don’t need to be accepted by everyone, you just need a contingence of people to appreciate you and you gain confidence from that. I feel we still have a long way to go, but the internet is a great place to find your people, to find your group, your tribe, or whatever you want to call it.
CrypticRock.com – That is a positive thing about the internet: you have the potential to connect with people you would not have otherwise. Like Antarctica! You have expanded beyond the website with a product line and also a SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque Tour. The 2018 tour kicks off March 1st and runs through May. What can those looking to attend expect this go-around?
Missy Suicide – The tour has evolved everytime! We have been doing it for a number of years now. We take the classic, sexy spirit of burlesque but we put an updated, modern twist on it. It is a Pop Culture theme, so each of the numbers reflect current Pop Culture tastes. This year we have so many amazing, talented dancers, it’s incredible. We have always found amazing girls, but this year it has exploded with ladies! We have so many talented singers this tour; previous years we only had one sung number, this year we have several. You are going to be able to see the girls dancing, contouring, singing; it is a really sexy, fun, unique show. Hopefully you will be able to check all the references and make your inner-nerd explode with glee.
CrypticRock.com – Very cool! With the tour set to kick off, what are some of the things you have learned from previous runs to continue to improve the shows?
Missy Suicide – Oh my gosh, year after year we have learned so much, it’s crazy. From the logistics from touring, trying to figure out where the bus stops every year, and the driver needs x-number of hours to sleep, etc., to the actual show itself. I feel like we have the right mix of Pop Culture references, performance numbers, and audience participation. The host has been a huge beneficial addition to the show, having someone come out and host every once in awhile. Some of the shows will have a little bit of stand-up comedy thrown in there. It has really evolved over the years and it just keeps getting better and better!
CrypticRock.com – Much like the website and community has evolved throughout the years. You need to keep evolving in this ever-changing world to remain successful.
Missy Suicide – Release early and revise often! (Laughs)
CrypticRock.com – Exactly! As the creator of SuicideGirls, what are some of your artistic inspirations?
Missy Suicide – My initial artistic inspiration was Bunny Yeager’s photographs of Bettie Page. Bettie Page had obviously been photographed about a zillion times, but the photographs Bunny Yeager took of her were striking to me. They were 3 seconds or a 1/2 second before the other male photographers snapped their lens, when she was in the height of her laugh or when she was getting ready to pose. There was something about the female gaze and that beautiful, natural exchange where she looked like she was enjoying herself, having fun, and not like she was just putting on an act. That is what initially inspired me to start SuicideGirls. If she could be confident, comfortable with her body and be enjoying herself, there is something to that. Why are we told our bodies are something we should be ashamed of? We should be inspired by them.
I am also very inspired by Man Ray. His photos and composition of images were amazing. Also, Cartier-Bresson. The way he would pose an image and snap at just the right time – where everything was playing off each other – how he framed out the world was really inspiring.
CrypticRock.com – Those are a nice range of inspirations. You are right too: why should we be ashamed of our bodies? This seems to be a dilemma in American culture. In European culture there is not as much of a fear of the human body, it is more open and celebrated. We have a lot of hypocrisies in America – we say one thing and do another.
Missy Suicide – It’s true! We definitely have some leftover puritanical hang-ups about our bodies.
CrypticRock.com – Very true. Last question. We also cover Horror and Sci-Fi films on CrypticRock. If you are a fan of either or both genres, what are some of your favorites and why?
Missy Suicide – I am a huge Horror fan! My favorite Horror film of all time is Salem’s Lot (1979). My favorite Sci-Fi film – I love Blade Runner (1982). The director’s cut of that movie was actually my very first date movie, so that version has a soft spot in my heart. I love A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and those big, scary ’80s/’90s Horror movies. I love the jump-scares, those are my favorites. I love Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the classic films with Bela Lugosi. The Insidious movies are pretty good too. I find the Blumhouse movies are pretty exciting; I find they are pushing the genre.
I didn’t get to see the new Insidious: The Last Key, but I saw the previous ones. I find when Blumhouse comes out with a new movie, I am excited to see it; even if it isn’t the best movie, they put their own twist on the genre. They released Get Out (2017) which was amazing; they did all the Insidious, Paranormal Activity films, Happy Death Day (2017), Get Out, and all kind of genre-pushing films. I really feel like that they are doing great things in the Horror genre.
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