Spheeris Wants to Get the ‘Metal’ Out

If there were ever a perfect theme song for the heavy-metal universe, it would be: “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World.”

So it’s especially startling to find Penelope Spheeris, one of Hollywood’s most uncompromising female directors, at the helm of “The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.”

The new documentary, opening Friday, offers interviews with metal kingpins (Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Alice Cooper), aspiring headbangers and a flock of gaudily decorated fans--plus performance footage of Megadeth, Faster Pussycat and several local bands.

The movie is so funny and insightful that it’s a test of will not to divulge certain memorable moments--suffice to say that seeing ditzy Ozzy Osbourne cook breakfast or hear the poofy members of Poison debate IQ levels are the sort of scenes that belong in any Rock Comedy Hall of Fame.

Still, Spheeris acknowledged that she was occasionally tested by the metal stars’ caveman-fraternity attitudes. “I did feel like Rodney Dangerfield sometimes--if I’d been a man I would’ve gotten more respect,” said the 42-year-old film maker who launched her career as a director with a similar 1980 documentary about the early L.A. punk scene.

“I had a few problems with Lemmy from Motorhead. When I was interviewing him, he wanted me to go on camera with him and when I refused, he got mad and said, ‘If you don’t like your job, why don’t you go to work at a dry cleaners!’ ”

Filming here on location at such headbanger hang-outs as Gazzari’s, the Cathouse and the Cave, Spheeris witnessed prime examples of the metal scene’s ingrained male chauvinism.

“It’s amazing to see guys in clubs when that quintessential blonde with big breasts who looks a little stupid walks by,” she said. “The guys just drop everything, as if to say, ‘OK, here it is!’

“The metal kids have been raised on TV commercials that sell everything with sex. And it becomes a crazy cycle, because the guys’ actions reinforce that behavior. It’s like--’if you’re stupid and you’re a bimbo, it turns me on.’ So girls act like bimbos.

“It was a real dilemma for me as a woman film maker. I finally found some smart girls to give the other side. But it wasn’t easy. They hadn’t come to our first few interview sessions, probably because they were too smart to come down!”

Still, Spheeris is enough of a fan to understand the sex appeal of the metal scene. “I was a little weak in the knees when I went to interview Aerosmith--I mean they’re so damn cute!”

(For the record, Spheeris said the only people who refused to be in the film were Guns ‘n Roses, Motley Crue and Tipper Gore, whom Spheeris wanted to interview with W.A.S.P. singer Blackie Lawless.)

The film’s strength is that Spheeris somehow persuaded these notoriously inarticulate rock goofballs to reveal their hidden fears and sensitivities. Her interview with W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes, who bobs on a swimming-pool float, chugging a bottle of vodka, seems to offer a chilling demonstration of stardom gone sour.

“What really shocked me was that the minute the camera came on, people became more honest, not less,” she explained. “My job is to be personal, to find those striking moments and put it up on screen. You can’t edit out stuff because it’s unsettling. What am I supposed to do--lock it away somewhere where no one can see it? To me, the truth is always interesting.”