As documentary titles go, “Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story” probably deserves some kind of award. As saucy, warm and uninhibited as its subject, Jyllian Gunther and Stephanie Schwam’s exuberant profile of Byrd, a female pioneer in bringing risqué programming to American television, has a ramshackle charm and a nostalgic heart.
Both are evoked repeatedly in the movie’s juxtaposition of Byrd’s personal reminiscences and clips from her extensive back catalog. From 1977 to 1998, television viewers in New York City could tune in to “The Robin Byrd Show,” a sex-positive, freewheeling public access party on late-night cable. Invariably attired in her signature black crochet bikini and milk-white manicure, Byrd, a self-described “orgy queen” (she has appeared in more than a dozen pornographic movies, including “Debbie Does Dallas”), wrangled performances and interviews from porn stars and artists like Candida Royalle and Annie Sprinkle.
More kitschy than carnal, the shows were fueled by a goofy exhibitionism and a winning enthusiasm for a wide variety of sexual orientations. Yet what began as a simple celebration of fun and physical pleasure grew more political when, in the 1980s, Byrd responded to the Reagan Administration’s silence on H.I.V./AIDS by repeatedly promoting safe sex and welcoming her gay fans to her call-in segments. And when furious conservatives tried to shut her down, she won a lawsuit against the cable company that wanted to scramble her show.
Now a contented septuagenarian, Byrd remains recognizable behind her shaggy blonde bangs and infectious good humor. Watched fondly by Shelly Byrd, her husband since 1974, this unlikely First Amendment warrior recalls a difficult childhood and ponders her legacy. Moving between her cluttered Manhattan apartment and her beloved home on Fire Island, Byrd struggles with the decision to release her more than six hundred tapes (“my babies”) and other memorabilia to an eager archivist. That she has not already done so is surprising.
Assembled with love (Sarah Jessica Parker is among its producers) and an admirable economy, “Bang My Box” is sprinkled with snappy, candid commentary from the likes of Sandra Bernhard and the journalist Michael Musto. The result is a frisky callback to a time when shows like Byrd’s were not really about fornication. What they were broadcasting was freedom.
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 19 minutes. Watch on HBO Max.
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