The Story of Montgomery Clift's Face

robert mcfate has an

art show at

thunder-sky, inc.

this gallery

bill and i started

and we're shutting down

this year

ironically

during

the plague

but beyond that

robert just needed to have this art show -- he'd been thinking about it

hell for a long time

and that's why we opened the gallery in the

first place

so any which way he installed the show

took reservations

to see it

due to covid-19 shit

and tonight he asked bill and me

to do a zoom

to talk about the works in it

he assigned me

this piece (below)

liz taylor in

raintree county

glossy and gigantic on a drive-in

screen

and i didn't actually

know what to say

until

we all started talking

about liz's fake southern-belle

accent

and the story of montgomery clift's

face

which got ripped to shreds

in a drunk-driving accident

during the shooting of

raintree

and they took some time off

to give monty time to heal

but even with extensive cosmetics

you can tell

he has been through

hell and he ain't ever

going to be ok

and so he's in the movie before and after

right?

handsome into gargoyle

sometimes

within the same shot

kind of a joke

um

kind of not

and yet liz

salvages his dignity through her

eyes

monty was her

best friend on earth

and through some kind of beautiful

fag-hag magic

and grace

she carries us past

our own meanness

in that movie

she dares us to

laugh

because her love

protects

her love

shields

and that's southern somehow

pretending not to see

gnarled flesh

and sadness

pretending

who you love

is who you love

no matter what

they look like

no matter what

they do

and that's kind of

everything

in a way

isn't it?