The Year That Was: 1991

Dye Harder

Were they real — or were they fakeroo? Turns out some of this year's more vivid tattoos — including the crucifix and other designs on Robert De Niro in Cape Fear and the killer bees on the Marines in Dogfight — were bogus, designed and applied by Temptu Inc., a makeup studio that's specialized in ersatz skulls and serpents for years. With regular touch-ups, they last about a week. Among the faux hearts and flowers on-screen in 1991: William Sadler's full-body tattoos in Rush, Kate Nelligan's lightning bolt in Frankie & Johnny, Viggo Mortensen's scorpion in The Indian Runner, and Veronica Webb's ''Daddy's Girl'' heart in Jungle Fever. One of the few true tattoos belonged to Julia Roberts in Dying Young: The Chinese ''strength of heart'' symbol on her shoulder blade matched the one ex-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland has on his arm. Too bad it didn't wear off in a week.

Was It Something I Said?

Okay, last time: This is your foot. This is your mouth. This is your foot in your mouth. Any questions?

Feet of Clay
The audience woof-woofed through the roof when an HIV-positive Magic Johnson proclaimed on The Arsenio Hall Show that he was ''far from being a homosexual.'' As if being ''close to being a homosexual'' would have made Magic any less woof-worthy.

Feet of Fey
Holly Dunn set feminism back pre-Ms. with her song ''Maybe I Mean Yes'': ''Nothing's worth having if it ain't a little hard to get...When I say no, I mean maybe, or maybe I mean yes.'' Criticized for encouraging date rape, Dunn asked radio stations to pull the single off the air.

Feet of No Way
In a song called ''Black Korea'' on his new album Death Certificate, rapper Ice Cube referred to the ''chop suey a--'' of a Korean deli owner and threatened: ''So pay respect to the black fist/Or we'll burn your store right down to a crisp.'' Island Records responded to complaints of racism by removing the song from the British edition of the album.

Bleech and Blue

Thanks, but we'll skip the video: Lead singer Perry Farrell commemorated the final performance of his band, Jane's Addiction, last Sept. 26 by performing naked onstage. Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose hasn't done the Nude Thing — but he did jump into a St. Louis audience and start a riot on July 2 when he saw someone in the crowd photographing his performance. And count us out next time GG Allin and his band the Murder Junkies come to town: In Orlando last month he defecated onstage, hurled bits at the audience, and got arrested. Ewwwwww! Make sure all employees wash hands before leaving the stage.

Papal Bull
Was Miramax Films going to let a few advertising departments ruin the August release of their inflammatorily titled satire The Pope Must Die? Fat chance! When CBS, NBC, and several newspapers refused to run previews and ads for Pope, Miramax announced that in certain markets the film's title would be shortened to The Pope Must... Later, the company added a bizarre variation: Beginning Sept. 13, the film was advertised as The Pope Must Diet. Despite heavy news coverage of the title changes, the film grossed only a slim $555,668.

Reporting and writing by: Tim Appelo, Giselle Benatar, Meredith Berkman, David Browne, Jess Cagle, Dave DiMartino, Juliann Garey, Melina Gerosa, Mark Harris, Tina Jordan, Kate Meyers, Suelain Moy, and Benajmin Svetkey