Synopses & Reviews
John Waters, a singular talent and perhaps America's most successful cult filmmaker, became a house-hold name in 2003 with the runaway success of his Broadway musical Hairspray. Nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, Hairspray won eight, sweeping the main musical categories with best musical, best actor, best actress, and best direction. Like Mel Brooks before him (their careers bear striking parallels), Waters has taken his place squarely in mainstream American culture. Waters first made his mark through his films, and he's written and directed twelve of them, including Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Hairspray, Cecil B. Demented, and the fall '04 release A Dirty Shame. His fan base is rabid and loyal. Readers familiar only with Waters's movies may be surprised at just how extraordinary a prose writer he is: he's as gifted in his scene descriptions and dialogue (in Trash Trio) and as a memoirist (in Shock Value) as he is a director. Here are three of the filthiest--and yet, in their own way, sweetest--screenplays ever written: Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, and Flamingos Forever. Intermixed with the scripts are dozens of classic stills from the films. In Pink Flamingos, Water's muse and leading lady, Divine, a 300-pound cross-dresser who could turn your stomach in one scene and break your heart in the next, competes with her family for the title of filthiest people alive--as readers will see, it's really anyone's game. Desperate Living is a perverse fairy tale featuring gun-toting lesbians, leather-clad castle guards, and a repulsive queen who has her own daughter gang-raped among other atrocities. Flamingos Forever is the unproduced sequel to Pink Flamingos, set fifteen years after theoriginal, when the rivalry for filthiest people alive is revived; it was never filmed, Waters tells us, because by the time it was written, too many of the original cast had died--this book is the only chance for Waters's fans to read it. To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. Thus begins John Water's autobiography. And what a story it is. Opening with his upbringing in Baltimore (Charm City as dubbed by the tourist board; the hairdo capital of the world as dubbed by Waters), it covers his friendship with his muse and leading lady, Divine, detailed accounts of how Waters made his first movies, stories of the circle of friends/actors he used in these films, and finally the sort-of fame he achieves in America. Complementing the text are dozens of fabulous old photographs of Waters and crew. Here is a true love letter from a legendary filmmaker to his friends, family, and fans.
Synopsis
To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. Thus begins John Waters's autobiography. And what a story it is. Opening with his upbringing in Baltimore ("Charm City" as dubbed by the tourist board; the "hairdo capital of the world" as dubbed by Waters), it covers his friendship with his muse and leading lady, Divine, detailed accounts of how Waters made his first movies, stories of the circle of friends/actors he used in these films, and finally the "sort-of fame" he achieves in America. Complementing the text are dozens of fabulous old photographs of Waters and crew. Here is a true love letter from a legendary filmmaker to his friends, family, and fans.