Indie Hero John Waters to Speak

Indie Hero John Waters to Speak

by Arik Treston with Lisa Hummel

John Waters has always defied Hollywood conventions. Though the years have taken him far from his days growing up in Baltimore, Waters has never left that region, especially when speaking cinematically. Setting his movies there and working within his own inner circle of influence, Waters has kept his vision real and has created a freedom within he can work how he chooses.

As a young homosexual living in Baltimore in the ’50s, Waters discovered and thrived in the underground lifestyle, where he made life-long friends, most notably the cross-dressing actor Divine, who acted in many of his films (and who died in 1988). Soon after meeting Divine, Waters began his journey into cinema, making short films throughout the 1960s and eventually gaining notoriety with some of his early films, including Pink Flamingos (1972) and Polyester (1981). In 1988, Waters’ works gained new life and a new audience with his crossover hit Hairspray. In the years since then, his love of all things tacky (including using unusual actors like Traci Lords or Patti Hearst in many of his films) and a string of well-casted quirky looks on life has attracted him a huge cult following. In the late ’80s and early 1990s, Waters released a series of films, including Cry-Baby, the Johnny Depp/Ricki Lake ’50s parody; Serial Mom, the 1994 flick that turned Kathleen Turner into a sweet as pie multiple murderer; and Pecker, the Eddie Furlong-art world film that was released in 1998. Waters released his most recent film, Cecil B. DeMented, in the summer of last year. Along with a cast of Waters’ favorites — including Hearst and Lake — the film starred Melanie Griffith as a famous and spoiled Hollywood actress who was kidnapped by a guerrilla-filmmaking group railing against the corporate studio system and its crop of fluff releases.

The grandfather of gross-out films — see the current crop of Waters-like movies hitting the theaters, American Pie, Road Trip, and Freddie Got Fingered, among them — the director has passed the torch to a new generation of filth purveyors. Perhaps best known for his gross humor — there is the infamous film scene in Pink Flamingos when Divine actually eats real dog poop — his works also explore the fringes of society and its institutions. While he has said he prides himself on the fact that his films have “no socially redeeming value,” it is obvious that they have struck a chord with many a viewers — even if bathroom humor is what kept them watching. “If you can make someone laugh who’s dead set again you,” said Waters, “that’s the first step to winning them over to your side.”

In that spirit, then, John Waters will be at Whitaker Center in Harrisburg on May 26 as part of the Third Annual Artsfest Filmfest. Sponsored by Filmspeak.com and Movieate.org, the Filmfest is held each year to draw attention to independent film. And who better to draw attention to independent film than the master himself, according to Filmspeak’s Todd Shill. “We had such a big jump in attendance [at the Filmfest] from the first year to the second year that we wanted to sort of take the film festival to a whole new level this year …and John Waters instantly came to mind,” Shill said. “He’s pretty local, he’s from Baltimore, and I think he’s the most well-known independent film director. Whether you like his film or hate his films, I think he has always stood for the principals behind independent film, which is make the films that you want to make regardless of what Hollywood thinks and regardless of what the critics think.”

“Through the years he has always made the films that he wanted to make, his films are loved and hated by a lot of people, they’re always creative, and they always create controversy,” continued Shill. “And with trying to open the Midtown Cinema, then who better than John Waters to introduce independent film to conservative Harrisburg?”

John Waters will speak at Whitaker Center on May 26 at 4 p.m. Waters will meet with fans and sign autographs at a reception immediately following the event. Tickets for the “Shock Value” lecture are $16, $37.50 for the reception, or $50 for admission to both. For tickets and information, call 214-ARTS or visit filmspeak.com or movieate.org.