RICHMOND, Va.-
With their skin painted bright red, spray-on hair and oversized fake teeth, the Virginia men looked a little like teenagers from Pluto–but the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles issued them driver’s licenses all the same.
But after videos of the prank gained notoriety on the Internet, it was the DMV’s turn to be red-faced, and has ordered the men to pose for new license photos or lose their driving privileges.
Posted on Youtube.com, the video features scenes of Will Carsola spray-painting his face and neck bright red and Dave Stewart painting the top of his head black and sticking a row of fake buckteeth in his mouth in an Asian caricature. They each enter the DMV office and return with real licenses with photos of their new likenesses.
In another video, a shaved-headed Carsola comes out of the DMV with a photo of his eyes crossed, and another friend obtains a license after spray-painting on a thick, black beard and monobrow.
“We were like, ‘There’s no way this is going to work,'” Stewart said. “Even when I did the kung-fu guy, it surprised me how little they laughed. Will had red skin and they didn’t even tell him to come back when it was normal.”
The independent filmmakers, both 27, did the pranks as part of a new movie, “and it escalated from there,” Stewart said. The men have agreed to get new licenses.
DMV spokesman Bill Foy said their action wasn’t illegal, because they didn’t obscure their appearance with hats or sunglasses, but they did abuse the system.
“Using a disguise while obtaining a driver’s license is not a joke,” he said.
The state agency will consider tightening its rules regarding customers suspected of being in disguise or distorting their appearance, but Foy said it’s walking a fine line to have DMV employees determine whether a customer “looks right.”
“Would we ever ask a cancer patient why her wig doesn’t look right, or ask a teen with severe acne if that’s the way he wants to look?” Foy said.
Stewart said it was obvious that the oversized plastic teeth and spray-painted face weren’t physical disfigurements, and speculated that apathetic DMV workers probably just didn’t feel like questioning their appearance.
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On the Net:
“Getting over on the DMV”:
