Andy Warhol's America bombs on the BBC

by Gary Comenas

to Andy Warhol News 2022

The three part documentary on Andy Warhol that was broadcast in January 2022 on BBC2, titled Andy Warhol's America, did not fare well, ratings-wise.

According to Broadcast magazine, it was the "last-placed PSB show in the slot." It got 520,000 viewers for its first episode but had fallen to an average of 350,00 across the three parts - 1.3% of viewers. The third and final episode only had 230,000 viewers. (Alex Farber, "Andy Warhol's America ends quietly," Broadcast, 21 January 2022)

Although the initial concept of the documentary may have been interesting - the comparison of some of Warhol's paintings to the events portrayed on canvas - it strayed away from that concept so often that it was difficult to understand what its ultimate aim was.

Did it have something to do with Andy Warhol's book, America? Was it meant to be a biography or the artist or an examination of American history through Warhol's paintings?

Most of the biographical details in the first episode had already been explored elsewhere in more detail - in printed biographies, other documentaries or on this site (see the main timeline, the Pre-Pop section or the oral history, From Nowhere to Up There.)

The interviewees chosen for the documentary were the usual assortment of Warhol biographers and colleagues but there were some strange omissions and additions. It was lovely seeing Abigail Rosen's smiling face in episode two (I had interviewed her in 2007) and thank god people like Gerard Malanga, David Dalton and Joey Freeman were included.

Sadly, there was no mention of the Factory 'foreman,' Billy Name, (r.i.p. my friend), apart from a Screen Test image that floated by at one point.

It may be that the director, Francis Whately, wanted to concentrate on the Factoryites who are still living but why not interview Viva then, or Mary Woronov or Joe Dallesandro?

There was a short interview with Bob Colacello, but what about Vincent Fremont?

Strangely, the cabaret entertainer, Penny Arcade, is interviewed throughout the documentary even though she wasn't part of Warhol's original Factory, never appeared in a film directed by Andy Warhol, and is not mentioned in Warhol biographies or the Diaries.

Penny Arcade is captioned "Warhol Superstar," but given that she only appeared in Women in Revolt (directed by Paul Morrissey) for five minutes or so, I couldn't help but wonder who at the BBC came up with that caption and why? Did anyone from the BBC bother to watch Women in Revolt?

How could someone be a "Warhol superstar" without having appeared in a film directed by Andy Warhol?

Warhol is credited as producer of the film in IMDB, but there is also an associate producer (Jed Johnson) and executive producer (Paul Morrissey) listed.

As I note in my Women in Revolt essay, "The assignation of "producer" in regard to a film does not necessarily imply a creative role. For instance, Warhol is credited as the "producer" of another Morrissey film, Flesh, even though he was recovering from the gun wounds inflicted by Valerie Solanas when it was being made, and was never involved in the filming." (See Women in Revolt.)

Likewise, "I wouldn't refer to a Godard film, say Breathless, as a 'de Beauregard film' (the name of the producer)" or one of the actors in that film as a 'de Beauregard star.' They would be a Godard star. (see Women in Revolt.)

I almost lost interest when Penny popped up as a "Warhol superstar." If the director of the documentary could make that much of a mistake, I wondered how much he actually knew about Andy Warhol before making the documentary. Penny Arcade promotes herself on social media as a "Warhol superstar," but doesn't have much of a presence in the world of Warhol elsewhere. Have you ever read a book on Warhol or the Factory in which she is mentioned?

Penny may have other talents but by captioning her as a "Warhol superstar" the BBC is helping her to "sell" her cabaret act. The audience thinks they are paying to see a "Warhol superstar" when she does one of her pub gigs.

Even worse, Penny Arcade has a reputation for being involved with "gofundme" campaigns of a dubious nature. At the moment she is running a campaign for a photographer friend, Laura Rubin, who was also a supporter of Donald Trump and has expressed racist views in emails she (Laura) sent me.

For instance, in July 2016, Laura Rubin wrote, "i sent one of his ['Milo's'] breitbart articals last month, w/yes a photo of a roof w/falling gays. even if you didnt see it, dont play dumb. its a subject which is off limits for you. if you are ok w/londonstan thats fine. many of us dont want it in that in the US. milo commutes between both places. since there will be a 500% increase in mideastern young muslim men (hillary's plan), theres reason for some of my friends to worry.” [Her grammar, not mine]

Milo refers to a far-right Trump supporter who was banned on Twitter. Laura still supports Trump and Penny still supports Laura.

Penny Arcade, as a "Warhol superstar," has raised over $70,000.00 for Laura to help pay her medical bills, even though they have socialised medicine in Mexico, where Laura lives, similar to the system here in the U.K.

Laura's "gofundme" campaign is called "Help Laura Survive," where, in addition to donating toward her medical bills, you can also buy prints of her work.

I corresponded with Laura Rubin for over twenty years. My impression was that she wasn't in particular hardship - I'd like to see the medical bills that the fund allegedly paid for.

When you click on "Donate" you receive the message, "Your donation will be in support of Penny Arcade." Somebody needs to look into this further. Is it a scam?

In regard to the other interviewees in the documentary - the ones who had experienced the actual events conveyed in the paintings - they provided interesting commentary until they started saying why Warhol painted this or that. How would they know? It's doubtful that they knew enough about Warhol, the artist, to know why he chose a particular subject to paint.

For instance, a couple of interviewees gave the impression that Warhol's Race Riots and Death and Destruction paintings were done as money-making ventures when, in fact, they did not sell at the time. Despite the lack of sales, Warhol continued with the series, just as any other artist would who was trying to express a concept, a truth or an aesthetic idea.

Warhol may have been called a "Sphinx without a secret" by Truman Capote, but maybe his "secret" was that he was actually an artist - a 'real artist' - and not just a media personality.

The best episode was the third one, which went into detail about subject matter of one of the subjects of his Ladies and Gentlemen series, Wilhelmina Ross, and her sad ending, and also gave us an interview with the nephew of someone who was on the plane that crashed at Orly which was the subject of Warhol's 129 Die in Jet!

In general, however, the documentary was a bit like "Andy Warhol lite" - more style than substance - at least in regard to the first two episodes.

Gary Comenas (Feb. 2022, updated November 2023)