Ada Calhoun interviews Rob Perri, director of the short film I'm Keith
Hernandez, an “extremely
unauthorized documentary/satire [that is] a love letter to Keith and
his undeniable sex appeal, an alpha-male cockiness seemingly out of date, but,
as Perri argues, ripe for a comeback.”
The film plays as a kind of manifesto for a return to that
'80s idea of male sexuality. There was this way of being a sexy man in 1986
that doesn't apply now.
Right. I think that has a lot to do with the Magnum, P.I. moustache. You had this burly guy and women were going crazy
for that. Now, guys look like girls. They have petite features and they're all
skinny, and most of these guy models are gay.
When
you grew a mustache during the filming of this movie, how did it change your
dating life?
It was really interesting. I attracted a lot of
older women. Girls would start to make fun of me at first, but then I would
project this confidence, like, "You're just a child and you don't
understand." They would immediately switch and find that compelling.
