John Waters is America

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the films Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, Polyester, and Hairspray. 

To celebrate Pride, I have been diving into the unique filmography of John Waters. If you have heard anything about his films, it’s probably that they are disgusting, irreverent, and vulgar. And while he would likely pride himself on those reviews, I believe that the meaning of his films get lost in the shock. 

Waters, a gay man who grew up in a Catholic family in Baltimore, Maryland, was “raised in the tyranny of good taste,” as he puts it. Inspired by trashy B-movies and his friends that were down to make anything, he set out to make a name for himself in the film world, much to the detriment of viewer’s stomachs.

After the Stonewall riots in 1969, LGBTQ+ people became a hot topic and many Americans were starting to question the ‘morality’ of being anything other than straight. The same year as the release of Waters’ film Multiple Maniacs (1970), a poll showed that only 1% of Americans believed homosexuals were helpful to society, meanwhile 63% believed that they were harmful. Waters and his fellow Dreamlander team (the nickname for the consistent cast and crew of Waters’ early films) took that perception and played up being the monsters society made them out to be. This mindset led to the string of in-your-face nasty films that they eventually became adored for.

One of the notable aspects of the majority of Waters’ films is the consistent casting of one of his real life best friends, Harris Glenn Milstead. Milstead is widely known for his drag character Divine, who is the main character in several films and shorts. This was a huge step toward progress and added to the shock factor of Waters’ filmography. While the characters Divine played went by she/her pronouns, Waters has stated that Divine “did not want to be a woman… he wanted to be Godzilla.” They were a trailblazer duo that brought drag to the big screen and opened up audiences to a new form of art – a form of art that is still fighting for respect in current times.

Multiple Maniacs was Waters’ second go at a feature film. It follows Divine and other members of the Cavalcade of Perversion as they rob and murder anyone who dares to view their freak show. The film is an absolute fever dream – a descriptor I rarely ever use. Divine has sex with rosary beads in a church (intercut with scenes of the Stations of the Cross), meets the infant of Prague in the streets of Baltimore, cannibalizes her enemies, completely totals a car with a bat, and gets chased through the streets by the National Guard in a Godzilla-like fashion. Not to mention a traumatizing encounter with a lobster. If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. The chaos and shock work together to create an odd narrative that gives voice to the societal outcasts of the 1960s.

Pink Flamingos (1972), often considered the most vulgar Dreamlander film, once again follows main character Divine as she defends her title of “Filthiest Person Alive” from schemers Connie and Raymond. The film was partly inspired by the Manson family, who Waters’ has referred to as “the real life filthiest people alive.” After attending their trials just months before filming began, he got the idea to create a film that brought excessive filth to the screen and pushed boundaries of what was permitted to be shown in theaters. To say he achieved his goal would be an understatement. 

The film includes murder, sex, certainly animal rights violations, and the eating of dog feces. The goal was to offend as many people as possible under the impression that controversy sells. Instead of going into filming with a completed script, Waters formed the narrative as production went along, allowing any last minute goosebump-inducing atrocities the team could come up with to be added to the story. Though I personally would never watch it again, I am left with no choice but to appreciate the commitment to the filth. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for you), I’m not going to get into the specifics in this post because any single scene causes a stain on the brain, intentionally so. It is an experience that one must go in blind to, so I will leave you with your own choice to divulge or not. The entire film can be summed up in one line from the main character, Divine, when asked about their political beliefs: “Kill everyone now. Condone first degree murder. Advocate cannibalism. Eat shit. Filth are my politics. Filth is my life.”

Polyester (1981) marked a shift in style for Waters as he began aiming for mainstream success. This entry in his filmography found a new way to mock American culture by taking aim at the films that were popular in the 50s and 60s. The notable influences are Douglas Sirk’s melodramas about the struggles of motherhood and the difficulties that come with raising a family. Instead of focusing on just one of the issues of marriage, children, or community, Polyester includes them all, which creates a hilariously horrible life for Francine Fishpaw, portrayed by Divine. Also included is the revolutionary “Odorama” technology, a scratch and sniff card that comes in the case when you buy the film, allowing the viewers to experience the horrible smells with the characters on-screen. 

Francine’s life is in shambles when she finds out her husband, Elmer, is cheating with a younger woman, her teenage daughter, Lu-Lu, gets news that she pregnant, her son, Dexter, is wanted by police for his fetish of stomping on women’s feet, and the neighborhood is upset with them all because her husband owns an adult movie theater. Somehow these stories are all woven together as Francine, who becomes an alcoholic to cope, pulls her life together to save her family. Though the film is highly satirical and should be considered an all-timer with the likes of Airplane! (1980) and Scary Movie (2000), Waters masterfully works in legitimate critiques of political attitudes at the time. In one sequence, Lu-Lu visits an abortion clinic, but is dissuaded by a group of anti-abortion picketers who yell in her face and physically hit her “on behalf of God.” She is then kidnapped by nuns and brought to a Catholic unwed mothers’ home where they essentially force abortions on the inhabitants despite being “against it” in theory. This falls in line with a deeply held belief of Waters: if you want to change someone’s mind, make them laugh. These scenes are all wildly over-acted and dramatized, leaving the viewer with no choice but to laugh regardless of where you stand on the issue. He puts a mirror into the face of America and, hopefully, prompts conversations about the issues he cares about. It is hard not to describe this film, along with most of this filmography, as one massive prank.

After all these films, Waters takes on the biggest challenge of his career – creating a movie made for children. Hairspray (1988), set in the 1960s, follows Tracy Turnblad, who uses her influence to integrate the Corny Collins Show, a daily after school special where teens get to show off their dance moves. This is by far the most popular entry in Waters’ filmography, leading to a Tony award winning musical in 2002, a musical film in 2007, and another film in 2016 that was performed live and starred Maddie Baillio, Harvey Fierstein, Kristen Chenoweth, Ariana Grande, and Jennifer Hudson. 

The feel-good story clearly resonates with audiences, but it has also sparked criticism over the years due to an outdated plot. Tracy, a white teenager, champions integration, but at times the film exhibits a white savior attitude. While people of color are only allowed on the set of the Corny Collin’s Show during their monthly “Negro Day” show, Tracy and her friends spend time in the Motormouth Record Shop, and form close bonds with the black teenagers that hang out there and dance. This opens their eyes to how much better music and dancing are when people of all cultures are invited to the party. By the end of the film, Tracy wins the Miss Auto Show 1963 pageant and the Corny Collins Show becomes officially integrated. 

While watching this film, I became fascinated by the ways that it has aged poorly and what that says about the progress we have had as a society since its release. In 1988, this film was considered to be incredibly progressive and prompted audiences to reflect on a very critical time in American history. It felt, to me, like a time machine set simultaneously to the 60s and the 80s. The film truly encapsulates what one should expect of a John Waters project – a deep conversation about American politics and culture hidden in a humorous, campy plot. Throughout the different iterations of Hairspray the story has been reworked to match what society deems as appropriate representation for the characters it champions. The Broadway musical adaptation expands on storylines and includes full songs about the struggles of the black characters, allowing a nonwhite perspective in the plot. At the end of the 2007 film, Inez, a young black girl, is brought on stage to dance and wins the Miss Auto Show 1963 pageant instead of Tracy. Hairspray has become a living piece of art that shifts and grows with the audience that has adored it for nearly forty years.

John Waters, to put it plainly, made a career out of trolling America, but in doing so created a legacy of radically pushing boundaries in film, theater, and society. The way that he captures societal conversations gives viewers a peek into American culture in the 50s-80s. Through his brilliant, multifaceted writing we can fully understand not only how much things have changed, but also how much they’ve unfortunately stayed the same.

-Cody