John Waters thinks mainstream Hollywood films are just as shocking as his gross-out cult classics.
John Waters thinks mainstream Hollywood films are just as shocking as his gross-out cult classics
The groundbreaking 77-year-old director made his name with the 1972 black comedy ‘Pink Flamingos’ that famously featured the late drag queen Divine eating real dog faeces.
He told Variety about how he believes even mainstream Hollywood films have become as shocking as his old work: “That was stunt work! Eating s*** was the ultimate stunt work. It was about showing things that Hollywood wouldn’t show, and that’s no longer the case.
“Now they’ll show anything. Even Steven Spielberg. The opening of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is Herschell Gordon Lewis – I mean, full gore.”
John added he thinks the trans representation is one of the few taboos left that is now being explored.
He said when asked what he thought the next generation can do to shock people: “The whole trans/nonbinary thing gets on everyone’s nerves, left and right. Now they have come up with a new way to make both sides nervous.
“The edge has always been: How far can we go to be funny? Lenny Bruce started that… (he) went to jail for saying ‘F***,’ and now ‘F***’ is on television. Is it refreshing to anybody that the censors are now left-wing rather than right?”
John, whose other movie hits include ‘Serial Mom’ starring Kathleen Turner as a killer housewife, packed ‘Pink Flamingos’ with scenes about exhibitionism, voyeurism, sodomy, gluttony, vomiting, rape, incest and murder as well as animal cruelty, cannibalism, castration, foot fetishism and finally scatology.
He said: “I don’t regret any film I ever made. I’ve controlled it enough. I’m just really lucky to get to do it. No matter what the subject matter of your film is… it can be a great experience.
“I haven’t changed. It’s the culture that’s come around. To watch ‘Pink Flamingos’ now is worse because of political correctness.
“You can’t say ‘fat’ anymore. You can’t do anything.
“But I don’t want to retire. I’m busier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
Tagged in Kathleen Turner Stephen Spielberg