Summer 1988: David creates the film “Beautiful People” starring Jesse Hultberg which David pitches as “seeing drag queens as true revolutionaries who fuck with visual codes of gender.” Hultberg, whose relationship with David had soured after his departure from their band 3 Teens Kill 4 recalls:
“David and I decided to make Beautiful People hoping to patch up our strained friendship…It worked like a charm. I had recently left the band and had been performing at the annual Wigstock Drag Festival. One year, I performed as Melanie Safka. Beautiful People was filmed in NYC and in Rockland County, New York, where I grew up. When David finally edited the film down to 30 minutes we screened it at LaMama Theatre for the “One night Stand” series. We did a live sound performance from the sound booth. We chanted and grunted and made lots of noise with toys, as was our way, and chose a few songs, one of which was Melanie’s “Beautiful People.” It stuck as the title. I believe David filmed me writing this title in red gloves with red lipstick but it seems that footage is lost. 3 teens Kill 4 reunited in 2011 for a 3-night performance with numerous guests. The show was called “In Peace and War, 3 Teens Kill 4.” I chose this event to re-edit “Beautiful People” down to 7 minutes and add a song by 3 Teens Kill 4 called “Special Reserve”.”