Pink Flamingos is the flick that put John Waters on the map. Previous to this, he made multiple maniacs, a wonderful purging of religion. This is a squalid little tale of jealous people, people who are sure that they are the filthiest people alive. There are others who would usurp their title. A battle of filth ensues and no viewer is left hanging after the final salvo is fired. This film definitely comes to a conclusion.
Divine stars as Babs Johnson, a trailer denizen with a fabulous sense of flair. She lives with Miss Cotton (Mary Vivian Pierce), Mama Edie (Edith Massey), and her deranged son Crackers (Danny Mills). They lead a less than idyllic life but are blissfully unaware of any shortcomings. Hell, this family has it all! Retardation, poverty, corpulence, perversions...sounds like every family we know intimately!
Enter into this arrangement Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary) "two jealous perverts" who are aware of Divines' reputation as "The Filthiest Person Alive" and who are hell bent for leather to seize her title. Through more vicious local gossip, they acquire the address and fire the opening shot in this war of filth by sending a turd in the mail. This does not sit well with Divines' brood and an escalating battle follows. The devil is in the details here, and to describe what goes on would not only strain credulity, it would be criminal not to let the viewer discover it for himself.
This is a visceral experience, and by sitting through repeated viewing, one can be made whole. Waters tells us all we need to know about the human condition. In his world, loyalty is prized more than obedience. That is exactly why I'm so pissed off that A DIRTY SHAME has been in release for three weeks and has not yet made it to a screen in my stinkin' backwoods town.
It seems that Mr. Waters is up to old tricks. He accepted a NC- 17 rating for his new film, A dirty shame, rather than trim his vision to meet the small minds that censor our life. Give him the Congressional Medal of Honor for this. He's fighting for our freedom in a very real sense. God Bless!
