Original subtitles

(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)

DURING THE INVESTIGATION OF THIS SERIES RICARDO FORT'S INTIMATE DIARY WAS FOUND

NOBODY KNEW ABOUT ITS EXISTENCE

"One day my mother asked me what was wrong with love,

"what was wrong with girls.

"I answered that I liked boys. And she, who wanted to help me,

"suggested that I go to a psychologist to clarify my ideas.

"I was seventeen years old and had never been with a man or a woman.

"My analyst recommended that I tried with a woman first.

"According to him, there was a law of the first impression

"that said that your sexual debut was going to mark your life.

"And so it was...

"but for the other side."

COMMANDER FORT

2. FREE

(PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

RICARDO: (OVER TAPE) Ever since I was a child, I have always dreamed of it

or I thought that my life would be like that.

I was going to have a lot of success, very big like that,

and suddenly, I was going to die.

Then they were going to make a movie about my life and blah blah blah.

I DID IT MY WAY

(CROWD CHEERING)

PABLO: The first time I saw Ricardo Fort was in a club.

He wasn't famous yet, although in the gay scene

we all knew who he was.

Since that night, every time I ran into him he was different.

He never went unnoticed.

When he was in his most mediatic moment, I was going through the door of a theater

and he suddenly appeared, with his bodyguards and his entourage.

He was wearing a long white floor-length coat.

My impression was that I was facing a superstar, he looked like Madonna.

Since then, I ask myself the same question.

How did Ricardo get to be like this?

(PIANO MUSIC FADES)

PABLO: What I never imagined, is that so many years later

I was going to read his intimate diary in a series about his life.

"For the first time, I was facing a gay man.

"I couldn't miss the opportunity.

"I asked him to go to the bedroom and we started having sex.

"I must say that I did not like it

"and that I left that apartment crying with joy...

R.F. DIARY READING

"...because I thought that, finally, I did not like men.

"What I didn't understand is that what I hadn't liked was that man."

That thing about "that man,"

I don't know if it's a joke, if I have to make it funny, in general...

No, don't think about that.

Place yourself in the context, it's not you today.

It's 1988, you're 20 years old, you're hot.

JOSÉ MARÍA MUSCARI THEATER DIRECTOR

Your old man just told you that you disgust him,

your brothers tell you to keep trying with women.

It's like you don't know where to place yourself,

you don't know what you like, you understand?

What you have to do is have fun.

Let's... Let's do something. I'm going to put this on you

and bet on the side of fun.

-(IN ENGLISH) Okay. -(IN SPANISH) Raise the tone, let's see...

"I had formed a very large group of friends

"and at the carnival, we all dressed up as women,

"and who did I dress up as? Madonna, of course."

Hey, keep going… it's good.

PABLO: "We went to a costume competition at Bunker, the disco."

R.F. DIARY READING

PABLO: "I sat up all night fanning myself so my makeup wouldn't run.

"The DJ played the song 'Vogue'

"and I knew the whole choreo, the disco collapsed.

"Of course, how could faggots not hate me?

"I was the prettiest, with a good body, with money and on top of that,

"I had the luxury of dressing up as a diva. It was too much for them.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING)

"I asked my father for 250,000 dollars,

"which was what I planned to spend on remodeling an empty factory

-"that he had bought." -(CROWD CHEERING)

PABLO: "I made floors, walls, decoration, bars, wood.

"In the end, I spent three million dollars but the disco turned out spectacular."

PABLO: "So they began to talk about me as a businessman.

"I started with the casting of bartenders and security staff."

FROM CHOCOLATE TO DISCO

PABLO: "I did that myself, of course. I chose the prettiest men.

"That's when I realized that nobody is 100 percent heterosexual.

"The disco went on for a year and a half until my father

"made my mother president of the company, and that ruined everything.

"A 65-year-old woman doesn't know how to run a gay disco.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC FADES)

"Seeing my mother counting the money in the disco at seven in the morning,

"and talking to people who were not so good,

"I made the decision to close the club.

"I decided to go to Miami with 4,000 dollars in my pocket."

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(UPBEAT MUSIC FADES)

PABLO: "When I arrived in the United States

"I was almost 21 years old and I was so hot."

R.F. DIARY READING

"It was like landing in a paradise of beautiful men.

"At that time I met Gabriel, a Scorpio, like me.

"The guy had the gift of the gab.

"It was the most tortuous relationship I had.

"We were always fighting and then jumping into bed.

"But he was the only man who knew how to control me

and he knew how to tell me 'no.'

"He was my passport to freedom."

GABRIEL: I met Ricardo on a trip I made to Argentina for work...

GABRIEL RYDS R. F. EX-BOYFRIEND

...and we had an incredible, magical connection

At that time, he was a minor

and needed parental authorization to travel.

Dealing with the Iron Lady, as I called her, was not an easy task.

And her first reaction when I told her that Ricardo

was coming to live in the United States with me was,

"No, he's not going anywhere."

I told him, "Well, in a couple of months you'll be of age."

And finally, she ended up signing up.

When he arrived in the United States, he was not the eccentric millionaire

that everyone knew.

He was an ordinary guy who was willing to follow his dreams

and work like any other person.

But always with the idea of progressing professionally

in the entertainment industry.

As a Scorpio, he was an extremely sexual guy.

He was the most beautiful boy in Argentina.

(ENGINE REVS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

GABRIEL: We had a very intense relationship.

Of course, there are things that, out of respect and moral code,

will die with me.

In Ricky's case, there was a combo of ambition, need to escape

and liberation.

At that time, the gay issue was not as open an issue as it is today,

and it was treated with much more discretion.

Ricardo was more daring, which generated a certain short-circuit,

mainly with his father.

I think this is an additional reason why he decided to emigrate.

Ricky wanted to sing, it was his goal, it was his obsession and I supported him.

They are your fans!

And finally his mother, who had several contacts in the industry,

got him some meetings with important representatives...

but it was not easy for Ricky to get in.

He wanted to become famous immediately.

-I go to the gym every day. -CARMEN: Every day?

-Yes. -CARMEN: What about your hair?

-I use a lot of gel. -CARMEN: Can I touch?

They want to touch.

-Yes. -Touch him!

No, no.

If I see a muscular, dark-haired guy, I'm leaving!

(WOMEN LAUGH)

Tell us. Do you work in Miami?

I went to Miami three years ago, to make a record,

with some companies that we are still talking to.

So, the next time I come here, I hope to have my material

-already finished. -CARMEN: Are you working

-on your CD? -Yes.

-When will it come out? -We're talking to labels

to see who we'll sign with, and when we have the CD done,

I'll come here to promote it.

CARMEN: Can you tell us how old you are?

Twenty-five.

Twenty-five years! And a wonderful career.

I'm starting, so I hope that with your help, I'll have success.

Yes, of course. Thanks.

-RICARDO: Thanks. -Thank you.

Let's go to a break with this beauty. I want you to see him!

See this face. Come here, Coco. Come here.

Show me your muscles. Show me, come here.

He has muscles too.

-Let's compare them. -(UPBEAT SPANISH MUSIC PLAYING)

-(WOMEN CHEERING) -CARMEN: Muscles... Let's go to a break.

We will be right back.

R.F. DIARY READING

PABLO: "They offered me a contract with Sony Music.

"Four months without doing anything and then I, like a fool,

"got angry and asked them to cancel the contract."

(MUSIC CUTS OFF)

My name is Tony Rodríguez,

I am 48 years old, I am 5'5" tall and I am from Buenos Aires.

JOSÉ: Good.

And tell me why you think you're a good fit for this play.

I want to stay because I look a lot like him

and because my life was very similar to his.

I went to look for my...

to succeed abroad as an actor, and then I returned to the country.

So, it seems to me that there are quite a few similarities with him.

JOSÉ: How are you similar to Ricardo?

I have had my chin done, I have collagen in my cheekbones

and I have had two nose jobs.

JOSÉ: I'll show you a picture

and I'd like you to pretend you are Ricardo

for the camera. Let's see.

What was Ricardo thinking?

Ricardo was thinking of one day, going back to Buenos Aires,

how he longed for so much, doing theater, singing

and also having freedom,

both financially and mentally, and that was what he was thinking about.

JOSÉ: The dream of... of every artist,

it's having something of what Ricardo was, right?

Having that... It was like a...

like a fantasy of at least one minute of his life...

Of being who he was, right?

To have some of what he had.

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(KEYPAD BEEPS)

JAMES: (IN ENGLISH) Miami is an amazing city,

like none other in the world.

It's like a star with a thousand points of light.

And there's a place for everyone.

JAMES DAVIES AKA ELAINE LANCASTER R. F. FRIEND

JAMES: In the early mid to '90s, Miami beach was known,

as "Sodom by the sea."

It's where gay men came who were positive, with HIV,

or full-blown AIDS,

to live out their remaining days with no limitations.

And some lived and some did not.

But everybody had a good time along the way.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

JAMES: That's why in the early ‘90s, there was an explosion of excess and fun.

(CROWD CHEERING)

JAMES: Everybody went to Kremlin or Warsow,

or 1235, which was Paragon.

Flam Slam, Ultimate Level,

-and of course Twist and Score. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

JAMES: But everywhere everyone went, they all had one thing in common,

They lived like there was no tomorrow.

And for some they were right.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

I met Ricardo in 1992.

Well, I think it was 1992.

It's hard to remember anything from that time period.

But I do know that he was one of the most beautiful men, I'd ever seen.

And he was one of the most fascinating people

and I knew he would be a part of my life.

And over the years his body transformed.

And his face slightly transformed.

But, he was a perfectionist, and he ultimately got what he was seeking,

which I believe, was physical perfection.

He was a very beautiful man.

(TENSE MUSIC FADES)

CO-HOST: (IN SPANISH) Ricardo Fort!

-(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING) -(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

Here comes Ricardo Fort! He's coming this way!

-Ricardo, how are you? -Fine.

-Where are you from? -Argentina, Buenos Aires.

TV SHOW HOSTED BY PAUL BOUCHE

Put on the microphone, because they won't hear you.

I have been living here in Miami for four years.

Four years in Miami? When we received your material,

all the models on the show, all the producers stood in a corner

and I saw them like that, turning the pages.

We're going to show some of the pages.

-Some exotic photos. -"Some exotic photos"?

So, for the benefit,

because we don't do this show for ourselves,

we do it so that the people at home feel good.

For the benefit of the public that is watching us,

in addition to your talented voice,

I want you to do this interview shirtless. What do you think about that, girls?

-(LAUGHS) -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)

Do you want it or not, girls? There, yes. Yes, yes.

The interview has to be shirtless, Don't fall over with emotion. Let's see.

-Are you shy? -No.

Are you embarrassed?

-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -No, not at all.

Okay, then. There you have a little music in the background.

Pay attention to what... Oh! Look at him, man, how humble!

-Turn, turn, turn. There you go. -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)

-PAUL: Look at that! -(EXCITING MUSIC PLAYING)

Wow, look at that. Grab this.

It's the first time I've been on TV naked.

First time you got naked on television? Don't worry.

There are people who do it and get paid quite well.

-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -Let me show you

the photos we have here, because, in addition to being a singer,

you are a model.

This is one of the modeling photos that you have here

and I want to show you many others there are...

For example, this photo. You were never naked on TV,

but in pictures you like to do it.

RICARDO: Yes.

-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -PAUL: There's the other photo.

Tell me one thing, how did you start your artistic quest?

Not just photography, but music.

All my life, I always wanted to be a singer.

The modeling thing was something I did when I arrived in Miami four years ago.

But my life is singing, and well, that's what I'm doing now, right?

And in Argentina, did you practice at some point

or you never tried to be a singer?

No. I tried there, but I thought Miami was the best place to launch my career,

so that's why I came here.

The other day, we were discussing in production,

about what is more important to become successful.

If it is more important to be handsome or if it is important to have talent?

Tell me, what is the most important thing to succeed in music?

You can be handsome, but you have to have talent too to back...

How do you say it?

-PAUL: Support? -Yeah, to support it...

But if you're just a nice face...

If you don't have talent to support that, it doesn't work.

And I want you to tell me about the tattoo you have here today...

This is a scorpion, I don't know if you can see it there.

A scorpion, see if you can see it.

-There it is. -RICARDO: There.

Because I'm a Scorpio.

PAUL: And on the other side, what do you have?

This is... It's two tattoos in one. It used to be a circle...

Did you have the name of an ex-girlfriend tattooed and had to take it off?

-(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -Yes, no... I have that here in...

No way! Do you want him to show you?

-No, no. No way! -(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)

(ELECTRICITY BUZZING)

Are we going to try the surgery scene?

PABLO: Okay, what is not very clear to me is how to handle the marker issue.

Come here.

Yes, you.

Take off your shirt.

Yes.

R.F. DIARY READING

PABLO: "At that time, I decided to venture into surgery to achieve a perfect body.

"I paid for the first operations with my health insurance

"and they caused me several disasters.

"It's amazing how a person can change if you give them a good body."

(INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING)

DAVID: (IN ENGLISH) I've been photographing male models

for more than fifty years.

At first, my interests were art and anatomy.

I always felt an extreme fascination for bodies and faces.

I think I became a photographer because it let me mix both universes.

DAVID VANCE PHOTOGRAPHER

It seems like in the late ‘80s there was a tendency

towards a change in the aesthetic of the male body.

More towards a body that's built and more masculine, more muscular.

As opposed to soft and feminine.

And attitudes, faces, stronger expression.

I don't know who it was but somebody told me...

"You have to photograph this guy, he's spectacular."

And that's how I met Richard.

I didn't really know what to expect.

He was alone, he didn't have a group with him or anything and...

Well, you know, looking at him you'd think he would be stuck up but,

he was very warm and very.... very sweet.

A very humble person.

The rumor was that he was all fake.

And it really bothered him.

With me, he was just very sincere and honest.

We talked about these things, he told me...

that he would wake up in the middle at night and...

and inject a growth hormone to make his skin look softer.

I guess it worked because his skin was really amazing.

I have to say that Richard, really was his own creation.

He did all these things because that's how he wanted to look.

He was like walking art, the problem was maintaining it.

(INSPIRING MUSIC FADES)

DR. OMAR: (IN SPANISH) Ricardo was super demanding with aesthetics.

VOICE OF DR. OMAR LEBUS PLASTIC SURGEON

DR. OMAR: Super detailed and perfectionist.

He was constantly looking for fashion and that is why he underwent

so many surgeries. We performed a liposuction

to define the abdominal six pack, define the pecs well, define deltoids.

He had placed calf prosthesis that we later removed.

He had had three nose surgeries.

The application of botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid was a constant,

thus he achieved a super masculine image, defining the mandibular contour.

He had a chin prosthesis placed.

He also used growth hormone to soften the skin for a long time.

Ricardo knew what he wanted.

My name is Pablo Ugolini, I am 41 years old and I'm 5'11" tall.

Mom, you cut off all the electricity... But, get your hand out of there,

the knife...

You're going to be electrocuted, mom.

(SINGS, IN ENGLISH) Miami

I know you want me You know I want you

I know you want me You know I want you

(IN ENGLISH) One, two, three, four (IN SPANISH) One, two, three, four

(INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING)

GIORGIO: I met Ricardo in the '90s.

We had very good vibes,

and from that moment on we never stopped seeing each other.

Even today, incredible as it may seem, when I walk down Lincoln Road

I still get stopped for photos.

They confuse me a lot with Ricardo.

GIORGIO MIRANDA R. F. FRIEND

I like that Ricardo is still alive in me.

What we loved most in the world was singing.

When I get together with my friends to sing, I think of Ricardo.

Why couldn't he pursue his true passion?

Because I can assure you that all he wanted was to be a singer.

(INSPIRING MUSIC FADES)

RICARDO FORT "YOU WON'T COME BACK"

(WIND WHOOSHING)

(ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Why do I have to carry this cross This melancholy?

I try to forget you, but it's obvious That you still hurt me

And I find it hard to accept it

And my empty room is witness and proof

That you won't come back

I know

No, you won't come back

Yesterday was a goodbye

No, you won't come back

How can I know if it was my fault?

Come back

I try to escape

JOSÉ: Butterflies.

RICARDO: But memories...

Chains.

PABLO: Chains, wings, everything.

RICARDO: (SINGS) It is difficult for me to accept it

But the calendar reminds me daily

That you will not return

No, you will not return

"After much thought, I decided that the life of an artist was not for me,

-"the loneliness felt is terrible." -(ROMANTIC MUSIC FADES)

"I felt that it was the ideal time to be a father.

R.F. DIARY READING

"I was the first Argentinian to look for surrogacy."

DR. FERNANDO AKERMAN FERTILITY & IVF CENTER OF MIAMI

DR. FERNANDO: Surrogacy is a medical procedure

in which a couple, a single man

or woman who are unable to carry a pregnancy, use this technology.

An embryo is transferred to the uterus of a woman

who is the surrogate.

They can choose the characteristics of the egg or sperm donor,

such as height, weight, hair color, eye color, skin color, race.

In the embryo, when a biopsy is done, you can choose the sex,

but I cannot define what height or eye color it will have once it is born.

PABLO: "I had to travel urgently to the United States

"because they were premature.

"Later I was criticized for choosing this method,

"but I look at my children...

R.F. DIARY READING

"...and see the happiest and most beautiful children in the world."

PABLO VERXELITAKI: My name is Pablo Verxelitaki,

I am 30 years old, 6'2" tall and I am from Tucumán.

If you had to say how you are most like Ricardo...

Aesthetically, I feel that we look alike in the chin, in the eyes and mouth.

JOSÉ: And in personality?

And in personality, that he was super authentic,

and that he was going after a dream, and that nothing stopped him.

He wasn't afraid of what they would say, I loved that

because he had really been criticized a lot and so have I, but I don't care.

If I go for something, that's it.

I had an aesthetic that many people did not like,

and when I saw Ricardo, I felt identified in that sense.

Of course, as if someone appeared and legitimized who you were.

Exactly.

What do people say, that you look like him?

Do they tell you that?

People tend to ridicule, especially Ricardo too,

on television even,

though we all loved him, some hated him, what do I know?

They always tend to ridicule him.

And the same thing happens to me. The surgeries...

I don't know,

when you're different, they tend to ridicule you.

I'd like Ricardo to be seen as I see him.

More human.

When I saw him, I saw a beautiful man, a father,

an intelligent guy, who knew how to handle the media.

I didn't see the ridiculousness that some showed.

Pablo, look. Here we have a coat rack that has real clothes from Ricardo

that I would like you to choose.

Which one would you like to wear?

Are you moved?

PABLO VERXELITAKI: Yes of course. I mean, besides being my idol...

(SMACKS LIPS)

I don't know how to explain it to you, but I had moments when I felt alone

in the world and I felt identified.

I don't know... I'm crying now.

JOSÉ: What do you think Ricardo would think of you?

No, I don't know what he would think... I guess I would be a fan for him.

If I had the opportunity, I would tell him that I felt alone

or attacked, and that I felt identified, really...

-JOSÉ: His coat looks good on you. -Thanks.

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(SNIFFLES)

PABLO: How did Ricardo get to be like this?

I'm not a sociologist, or a psychologist, or anything,

but my conclusion is that when a person connects with popular sentiment,

beyond the enormous differences they have with the rest of mortals,

beyond being rich, it is beautiful, that it is eccentric.

It is because there is something in which people can reflect.

It's like a visible crack,

like a glass, which you don't know when it's going to break....

Ricardo Fort was a character made almost entirely

of synthetic substances,

but he had that.

A guy who went back into the closet to be accepted.

A guy who spent his life paying people to go to his parties.

To laugh at his jokes.

And it doesn't matter if you don't have money,

if you don't know Miami or if you are never going to be famous.

That desperation to be loved can be understood by anyone.

What would have happened to Ricardo Fort if he had been born thirty years later?

Would he have hidden his sexuality to be famous?

Would his dreams be the same?

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC CONTINUES)

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC FADES)