« I said it couldn't get any worse | Main | Reveille »
May 25, 2008
Meet Mrs Eiffel
Eiffel, that's right, as in... Eiffel Tower...
On first meeting, Erika La Tour Eiffel appears extraordinarily ordinary. An ex-US Army soldier, the 36-year-old lives in San Francisco. She is also a former world champion in archery – propelled to success, she believes, by her love for Lance, a bow. She now claims to be married to the Eiffel Tower, following a ceremony with friends last year in Paris, at which she promised eternal love to the iron monument and changed her name legally to reflect the bond. "There is a huge problem with being in love with a public object," she says sadly. "The issue of intimacy – or rather lack of it – is forever present."
Oh, but there's more...
Emma (not her real name), 43, the only British member of the community, suffers from Asperger syndrome – a condition which seems to be shared by around half of OS people. Asperger sufferers often have difficulties forming relationships with other people, and Emma's fixations are radios and hifis. When I met her, she was in love with a hi-fi system which she called Jake. Jake, she says, is "solid, reliable and beautiful". She repairs "him" when he goes wrong, and "makes love" to him on average twice a day. "This is the way I communicate with him."
Aside from her electricals, Emma leads a solitary existence. "I would like to meet more people and to have friends," she says, "but I just think it is too difficult now. I am scared they will reject me."
there's lots more...
Amy Wolfe is a confident 32-year-old American who also lives in New York State. She too has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and has been in relationships with models of spaceships, the Twin Towers, a church organ and a banister, though her main lover – since OS people believe in polygamy – is a fairground ride called 1001 Nacht, located at Knoebels, an amusement park in New York State.
When we filmed her at Knoebels visiting 1001 Nacht, we witnessed Wolfe kissing, caressing and talking to the austere, crane-like machine, and I began to feel both uncomfortable and a little frightened. Wolfe truly believes the machine talks back to her. As I watched, I wondered not for the first time whether I was crossing the line from a documentary film-maker to a voyeur. Should I have left her alone? "No, no – show our love for the objects," Wolfe insisted. "Give us our voice. People must understand we are not fetishists."
Posted by LindaSoG at May 25, 2008 05:42 PM
Comments
that leaves me speechless.
Posted by: Rene at May 25, 2008 06:25 PM
The world grows ever stranger.
Its scary to think people like this are walking amongst us.
Posted by: carlaJ at May 26, 2008 08:08 AM
.......scarier yet is that they vote!
Posted by: Paul at May 27, 2008 08:57 PM
Perfect example cases for a voter qualification test... Wow. Just wow.
Posted by: Defiant_Infidel at May 30, 2008 07:07 PM