John Waters names his favourite John Waters movies
“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,” writes John Waters in his book Shock Value. That pretty much sums up the filmmaker’s career: making good films that, to many, are in bad taste.
Certainly, many might argue that showing a drag queen eating dog shit is in bad taste, as is showing a sex scene in which chickens are crushed between two people’s bodies, but in Pink Flamingos, Waters did just that. The movie also depicts themes such as incest, sexual abuse, rape, cannibalism, castration, and murder, among other things, making it one of the most notorious movies of all time.
Waters’ output as a filmmaker has repulsed many while attracting a cult following of fans not averse to watching close-ups of a prolapsed anus or bizarre unsimulated sex scenes. Besides Pink Flamingos, Waters also made movies like Multiple Maniacs and Female Trouble during the 1970s, both of which are equally as unhinged and indulge in all things strange, camp, and taboo.
As Waters’ career progressed, he began working with independent companies like New Line Cinema, which allowed him to use bigger budgets and more established stars. The filmmaker made movies like Hairspray and Cry-Baby, both of which were popular, and while they were considerably more mainstream-friendly than his earlier work, they still contained his distinctive charm.
But what are Waters’ favourite movies he’s ever made? Could it be an early entry like Multiple Maniacs, featuring giant lobsters and rosary bead masturbation? Or perhaps the darkly humorous Serial Mom, featuring an Oscar-worthy performance from Kathleen Turner? It might be surprising to discover that Waters’ picks are actually the last two movies he’s made. He told Little White Lies, “Whenever I get asked this, I always pick ones the fewest people have seen, which probably may be Cecil B Demented or A Dirty Shame. I always pick one of them because it’s like your kid who has brain defects – you like them more.”
Cecil B Demented was released in 2000 and starred Melanie Griffith as an actor who gets caught up in a group of militant filmmakers after they kidnap her so they can make her appear in their movie. It’s a silly concept, but one that Waters executes well, with equal amounts of violence and humour, all combining to create a twisted love letter to cinema. While over-the-top and certainly not Waters’ greatest movie, Cecil B Demented is still a fun and ridiculous film that sees the terrorist filmmakers take aim at movies like Patch Adams and Forrest Gump.
Meanwhile, A Dirty Shame, Waters’ latest film to date (but hopefully not his last), is not half as mainstream-friendly as titles like Hairspray or even Pecker and Cecil B Demented, with the filmmaker seemingly taking more inspiration from his earlier work. While it features stars like Tracey Ullman, Selma Blair, and Johnny Knoxville, it isn’t afraid to be taboo, with the plot following a bunch of sex addicts with very strange fetishes. Sadly, the movie didn’t do well at the box office, but luckily, it holds a very dear place in Waters’ heart.
