From KCRW in Santa Monica, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to the treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell and Los Angeles at KCRW. You can hear the show at KCRW.

My guest director, John Cameron Mitchell, has followed his film, Hedvig and the Angry Hitch with Shortbus, which many of us think is a vehicle for the special kids, the special needs kids.

And it has a very different meaning for Mr. Mitchell.

Welcome back.

Thanks for doing the show again, John.

Thank you.

Glad to be back.

I've got to ask you to explain the title.

There's a salon, like an artistic salon at the center of this film, and it's called Shortbuss.

Justin Bond, who is known to some people as Kiki in the cabaret group, Kiki and Herb,

describes a place as sort of like this island of broken toys.

You know, there was the long yellow school bus for these, you know, cool people or the people who could fit in.

And then there was the short bus for people with special needs and, you know, who really were told, we're told they didn't measure up.

And all the characters in the film in some way are damaged.

But they're all on the bus together and they're going, you know, somewhere.

And that's the name of the salon.

So they just take that as, they appropriate a negative term and make it positive.

Which is something you like to do anyway.

At least take something that sounds negative and turn it on its ear.

I guess one of the things that, and that sort of need to sort of, let's say rebuke convention is a big part of it.

There's a big sex scene in the movie that involves one of the characters

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