It's almost 30 years later and John Waters still makes me cringe when the magnificent, larger-than-life transvestite, Divine, eats the fresh piddle of doggie doo off of the sidewalk, then smiles into the camera flashing that sharky grin of his. Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty for an actor! Talk about cinema verité at its very finest!
This was Waters' seventh film shot in his native Baltimore, with those miles of woods just outside of bland suburbia. All about the shock value, Pink Flamingos was his first big hit earning successful midnight screenings and notoriety for its unashamed willingness to plunge the depths of bad taste.
Incest ("Suck my dick, momma!"), dominatrix sex scenes, an illegal adoption ring complete with caged women in the basement during their pregnancies, cannibalism and a bizarre egg fetish are only the tip of the iceberg. What makes it all so cheerfully engaging are the larger than life performances from actors who are hardly professional but compulsively watchable, especially Waters' superstar, the irrepressible Divine.
"Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!"
--Divine, Pink Flamingos
Divine proclaims himself to be "the filthiest person alive," evident in his daily routine driving around the backroads of Baltimore flipping off potential riders, going into the deli and sneaking raw meat out of the store between his privates, and several of the atrocities listed earlier in this review. This is the stuff of dirty comic books, seedy sideshow halls and peepshows.
Like a carnival geek show, Divine (the actor) will go to any length in order to earn this title -- and he remains charismatic because of that devil-may-care grin, those sparkling eyes, that graceful bulk packed into tight Salvation Army dresses, those vivid triangles of arched eyebrows and vivid purple makeup. He looks the part. As to whether it is courageous or simply stupid to jump through the hoops John Waters provides (like eating dog poop), one simply marvels that such outrageous camp hijinks were captured on film, documentary style.
Divine's brain damaged mom (gap toothed, gravelly voiced, hugely overweight Edith Massey) sits in a crib seemingly only in a bra and panties, munching on hard-boiled eggs all the livelong day. Her son (Danny Mills) has sex with chickens before killing and eating 'em, much to the disgust of animal rights activists nationwide upon the film's release.
There's a new sheriff in town! Actually, it's a pair of competitors for the title of "Filthiest People Alive." Squaresville suburbanites Connie Marble (Mink Stole, under a frightful bright red wig with glasses that resemble some sort of Praying Mantis) and her hubbie, Raymond (blue haired David Lochary, who even has a spiraling moustache to twirl) mail Divine a brown turd and a challenge proclaiming themselves the new "Filthiest People Alive." This couple runs the baby ring in their basement dungeon. Nyah hah hah.
Divine won't let this slide. He vows brutal, bloody revenge! Of course, this is after he throws an elaborate party which involves a man stripping himself naked and opening and closing his butthole to the amusement of the crowd. Priorities, y'see.
"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. But one must remember that there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste."
--John Waters
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