4/25/2024 0 Comments Divine drag queen pink flamingos![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() and one of the funniest." Funny enough to be included in the Museum of Modern Art's Bicentennial Salute to American Film Comedy.ĭubbed the Pope of Trash by no less than William Burroughs, Waters has earned a few other titles as well: the Prince of Puke, the Baron of Bad Taste, the Rapscallion of Repulsion, the Godfather of Gross. pure pathology." Even Fran Lebowitz, writing in Interview, called it "one of the sickest movies ever made. Small wonder Newsday described "Pink Flamingos" as going "past angst, past shock, past entertainment. Waters originally called the film "an exercise in poor taste," and he clearly worked up a sweat making it. It revolves around a gross-out battle for the title of Filthiest People Alive, pitting trailer-dwelling tabloid queen Babs Johnson (Divine) and her peculiar family (feeble, egg-obsessed Mama Edie, bestiality-prone delinquent son Crackers and voyeuristic companion Cotton) against Connie and Raymond Marble, who kidnap female hitchhikers, chain them in their suburban cellar, impregnate them and sell the babies to lesbian couples. "Pink Flamingos" is likely to provoke concurrent waves of nostalgia and revulsion. The original Variety review is now the centerpiece of the anniversary poster. It helped launch New Line Cinema as one of the most successful independent distributors, turned Divine into a cult star and set standards of poor taste that few filmmakers have ever managed to lower. Though he is proud of his closer-to-the-mainstream films "Hairspray," "Cry-Baby" and "Serial Mom," Waters clearly has special affection for the film that put him in the public eye and helped establish the midnight-movie industry. "Twenty-five years ago, Slumdance might have accepted it," he says brightly. Having recently returned from Sundance, where "Pink Flamingos" was honored, Waters mulls over his notorious film's prospects had the independent film festival been in existence in 1972. The notorious final scene, shot in a single take, shows 300-pound drag queen Divine following a dog and sampling its brand-new droppings to the tune of "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window." For starters: rape, murder, incest, cannibalism, cop-killing, bestiality, necrophilia, sadism, masochism and coprophagy ("critics wrote reviews with medical dictionaries so they could get it in," Waters notes). In awarding "Pink Flamingos" its normally dreaded NC-17 rating, the MPAA noted that it contained "extreme perversities shown in an explicit way." Were the film to be shown on television - that's never happened in the United States, even on cable - it would certainly wreak havoc on content-based ratings. "Talk about an endless screening! It's as rude as it ever was, maybe ruder because of the political correctness issue." "I loved the idea of the ratings board having to sit down to watch it," writer-director Waters says with a wicked smile. "Pink Flamingos" was released before the MPAA's ratings code came into effect, but for the 25th anniversary edition, which opens Friday at the Key, New Line actually asked for an NC-17. Twenty-five years later, the ratings board of the Motion Picture Association of America agrees. ![]() Variety called "Pink Flamingos," John Waters's 1972 trash comedy classic, "one of the most vile, stupid and repulsive films ever made." Revenge of the Gross-Out King! John Waters's 'Pink Flamingos' Enjoys a 25th-Year Revival Such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste." - John Waters Of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. "To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. : Revenge of the Gross-Out King! John Waters's 'Pink Flamingos' Enjoys a 25th-Year Revival ![]()
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