John Waters Overview

"To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about," flamboyant filmmaker John Waters has said. "If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Just check out the infamous scene in the cult classic "Pink... [more]

"To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about," flamboyant filmmaker John Waters has said. "If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation." Just check out the infamous scene in the cult classic "Pink Flamingos" (1972), in which a 300-pound transvestite cheerfully eats dog shit, and you'll see how serious Waters really is about disgusting viewers in the name of art. Waters' best-known early works, financed by means of shoplifting, are trash epics depicting a world full of violence and sick humor. Along with "Pink Flamingos," the early films "Female Trouble" (1974) and "Desperate Living" (1977) are outrageous freak shows in which bizarre characters are presented as vulgar and funny -- but never pathetic. Though Waters has claimed that "I pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value," his films manage to convey a sort of twisted morality. Waters is the champion of the underdog. Mocking what he loves, he is never mean-spirited, and the harshest punishment in his films is reserved for the judgmental. Waters urges his audiences to jump right into his happily depraved world. "Polyester" (1981) was the world's first movie "filmed entirely in Odorama" -- numbered scratch-and-sniff cards were issued at the theater, to be smelled when the appropriate number appeared in the corner of the screen. Later films have benefited from bigger budgets and better production values, as well as effective casting. In "Serial Mom" (1994), Kathleen Turner plays a suburban housewife who happens to be a mass murderer, killing anyone who stands in the way of her tidy domestic routine. In "Pecker" (1998), a young sandwich shop employee (played by Edward Furlong) inadvertently gains fame and fortune by photographing his bizarre family and friends. Waters himself has called it "a feel-good movie for lunatics," which just might include all of us. [show less]