GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

MAY 16, 1997

Evenings Out

'The sickest movie ever made'

Divine, the Egg Lady and the famous final scene return to offend a new generation as Pink Flamingos is re-released

by Tim Nasson

Fifty-year-old gay film director John Waters, the demented mind behind such cult classics as Pink Flamingos and Polyester, knew from a very young age where his career was headed.

"From the age of six, when my parents took me to the Howdy Doody show, I always knew I wanted to be in show business," Waters said.

At twelve, he was doing three puppet shows a week, earning $20 per show, and subscribing to Variety.

After a couple of years of being an entrepreneur, Waters said he "wanted to be cool and was too embarrassed to continue doing the shows."

He was, as he put it, well on his way to "clawing my way to the bottom."

His most talked-about film, Pink Flamingos, was originally released twenty-five years ago. On June 6 the film will be re-released in

'My favorite review said it went beyond humor to pure pathology. That always tickled me.

theaters across the country for all who loved it a quarter of a century ago, and for those not old enough to have been simultaneously entertained and disgusted by it when it was originally released.

Often called "the granddaddy of midnight movies," Pink Flamingos is considered one of the most revolting, and funniest, films ever made. One critic said that, “like a septic tank explosion, it has to be seen to be believed." A reviewer from the Philadelphia Daily News wrote, "May God forgive its makers for concocting such a vulgar, offensive mess! And may audiences the world over be forever grateful.”

"My favorite review said it went beyond humor to pure pathology," Waters recalled. "That always tickled me."

Pink Flamingos is the story of two families competing for the title, 'The Filthiest People Alive.' Divine, as Babs Johnson, current holder of the title, lives in a pink and gray trailer with her mental mother Edie, delinquent son Crackers (Danny Mills), and traveling companion Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce).

Across town live Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary), proprietors of an illegal adoption ring. They kidnap young girls, impregnate them and sell the babies to lesbian couples in order to finance their other business ventures: pornography shops and an elementary school heroin ring.

The competition begins and the 'filth' never lets up.

As a result of some stomach-churning scenes, the re-release version has been slapped with the dreaded NC-17 rating—a rating given to less than a dozen films since its inception seven years ago.

What could possibly be in a 25-year-old

film that cost only pennies to make that could so offend critics and the public alike? Well how about, for starters, a scene in which 300pound drag queen Divine eats dog shit.

That scene is probably one of the most questioned in motion picture history as to its authenticity. Does Divine actually pick up a piece of steaming canine excrement and eat it?

"Did you see a cut in the frame while watching the film?" asks Waters. "It was the cheapest-in both senses of the word-special effect in motion picture history. Forget about Twister and Independence Day. Will people still be talking about their special effects in twenty-five years?" he laughs. “To me, it just proved what a dedicated actor [Divine] was."

Many of Waters' films star two of his favorite characters, drag queen extraordinare Divine, and Edith Massey. The two combine to create a special, albeit offensive, magic.

One of the reasons Waters decided to bring Pink Flamingos back was as a way to pay tribute to his friends, now both deceased.

"Both Divine and Massey are gone, and this was the only way I could work with them again," he said.

In addition to restoring the film to its lowbudget glory, Waters has added thirteen minutes of previously unseen footage that has been in his attic for years. One of the scenes includes Edie "The Egg Lady" (Massey) telling sex stories to her eggs-you have to see it to believe it. There is also a semi-nude scene between Divine and Cotton.

Waters found his most revered actor, Divine, in his own Baltimore ("Bawlamer") neighborhood. “Divine was an only child and not like anything you could ever imagine. He never went out of the house until he was seventeen, because ofhis self-consciousness. I knew that he was the perfect person, however, to play certain roles that I had in mind, and I was right."

Divine forbade her parents to see Pink Flamingos when it was originally released, and since she has passed away, Waters is going to make sure they don't see the new and improved version.

When asked why Divine's parents have never seen the film, Waters said, “Would you want your parents to see you dressed in drag, blowing someone and eating dog shit?"

Waters still keeps his main residence in Baltimore, the setting for all of his films from Pink Flamingos to Hairspray, his 1988 film starring the then chunkier Rikki Lake, and current U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono.

"I am glad that Pink Flamingos is resurfacing after all these years for a number of reasons," Waters said. "Mainly though, I think crazy people need nostalgia too-like 'That was the first time I got beat up by a date for bringing them to this film,' or 'That was the first movie I blew someone at." "Also though, it is a great opportunity for young people to see the film as it was intended; amidst a large group, on a big screen."

"The shared lunacy of going to see Pink Flamingos at midnight with a bunch of people who have seen it 15 times has sort of gone out of fashion," said Robert Shaye, founder of New Line Cinema, the film's distributor. "I hope the re-release reminds people of the joy

John Waters

of the communal experience."

Divine

"I never thought I would survive twenty-five years in this industry, let alone Pink Flamingos itself," he adds.

Waters admits that he is proud of this film. "Three generations later it still has the power to make people nervous," he said. "It's a little terrorist bomb, which is how I always wanted this movie to be."

Nexton Waters' agenda is a film called Pecker. "I really don't have much to say about it. It is still in the planning stages. I have a lot of people in mind for the film. People I think

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would be perfect for it, yet they don't even know I am interested in them yet so I can't really mention names." Will Pecker most resemble Pink Flamingos or the more tame Hairspray? Who knows? For now however, all can wallow in the joyous filth of Divine and friends in a most satisfying trip to the cinema. One word of advice, though. Don't buy too much popcorn, because you won't feel much like

eating once the film starts.

Tim Nasson is a syndicated writer whose autobiographical novel The Truth will be released soon. He can be reached at TNasson@aol.com