John Waters explains why Johnny Depp “invented grunge”
In 1972, John Waters released Pink Flamingos, a shocking dark comedy designed as “an exercise in poor taste”. The movie features Waters’ close collaborator and muse, Divine, who stars as a criminal, Babs Johnson, known as “the filthiest person alive”. With transgressive and hard-to-stomach themes such as incest, rape, the consumption of dog faeces and castration, Pink Flamingos is not for the faint of heart.
The movie is still banned in several parts of the world, cementing Waters’ reputation as one of the most controversial filmmakers of his generation. With Divine and his cast of Dreamlanders, Waters made several low-budget, sensationalistic and camp works of art, building a dedicated cult following in the process.
However, as his career progressed, Waters was given the chance to work with a bigger budget and well-established stars, although he has never abandoned his Dreamlanders. In 1988, he rose to widespread mainstream attention with Hairspray, which has since been transformed into a hit musical. The success of Hairspray led Waters to make Cry-Baby, which featured a large cast of recognisable names.
The musical comedy stars several iconic countercultural figures, such as Iggy Pop and Joe Dallesandro, alongside regular Waters collaborators like Ricki Lake and Mink Stole. Additionally, Cry-Baby features several actors who are now some of the biggest names in Hollywood – Willem Dafoe and Johnny Depp.
The latter plays the titular character, a greaser who falls for a square named Allison. Unashamedly kitschy and outrageous, Cry-Baby was one of Depp’s earliest roles, although, by this point, he was already a teen heartthrob. In Waters’ book Mr Know-It-All, he owes his break into Hollywood and financial success to Depp, stating that “his agreeing to star in Cry-Baby clinched the deal”.
“Johnny was at the height of his teen idol phase, starring in the original 21 Jump Street TV show. He hated being the Justin Bieber of his time and figured making a movie with me was a surefire way to haywire that image, and that’s exactly what he did by making fun of his ‘dreamboat’ status in Cry-Baby,” he wrote.
Into the 1990s, Depp’s style became more heavily associated with the grunge movement, blending casual, loosely worn checked shirts with leather or band T-shirts. He became a ’90s-style icon, although he was somewhat of a walking contradiction due to his innate prettiness contrasting his masculine, carefree outfits. He stood out compared to many of his contemporaries, and his interest in music also separated him from the crop – he even formed a band with members of Sex Pistols, Butthole Surfers and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
According to Waters, “Johnny invented grunge,” adding, “I don’t remember a movie star with that look before him.” While Depp didn’t actually invent the grunge look or sound, he certainly was one of the first stars to emerge with such a specific, anti-Hollywood look.
