John Waters on why Quentin Tarantino will always be original: “The real thing”
If there’s one person you should trust when it comes to cinema, it’s John Waters. You might raise an eyebrow at me, because sure, he’s made some films that you might deem as awful, but no one advocates for art as much as he does.
“Have faith in your own bad taste,” he says, reminding us that even some of the campiest and most ridiculous pieces of art have their merit if you approach them with intelligence. Good and bad art isn’t black and white, and with his own variety of odd cinematic gems, some of which are, in essence, just the product of incredibly stoned college dropouts, Waters has attracted a dedicated fanbase. People love his work because above anything, regardless of the sheer ridiculousness of it all, it’s authentic, and Waters’ art has a true purpose to it: an aim to disrupt normality and give visibility to the freaks and the sidelined.
The man has strange taste in film, though, you have to admit. Movies like the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton box office bomb Boom!, which is derided by some as one of the worst films ever made, gets pride of place in Waters’ DVD collection. He also loves movies like the gimmicky William Castle flick The Tingler, although these bizarre favourites sit alongside a deep appreciation for some undisputed classics, from The Wizard of Oz to Wanda.
What about more contemporary films? In an industry dominated by franchise flicks and boring blockbusters, the director is relieved when anyone makes a film that is actually original and creative. For that reason, he loves the work of Quentin Tarantino, deeming him “the real thing”.
Tarantino is one of modern Hollywood’s most popular filmmakers, although he has always divided fans with certain choices, whether that be referencing too many niche films or being heavy-handed with racial slurs. While he might not be perfect, his dedication to crafting stylised worlds that are unmistakable has established him as a key player in the industry, and he made history with the likes of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction back in the 1990s, proving that indie cinema had legs to stand on.
Discussing his appreciation for Tarantino’s originality, the Pink Flamingos director revealed his love for a film like Once Upon A Time in Hollywood that is “new and original and it works and it seems new”. He continued, “It’s not a sequel, and everybody does go to see it. So, yeah, I don’t think because something’s popular means it’s bad at all. You have other examples of these films, like with Tarantino’s film, that can still work in the box office…”
“No matter what you think, he’s the first voice ever that was developed from a video shop,” he noted, referencing Tarantino’s time working in Los Angeles’ Video Archives, which proved to be a defining time in his life. It was here that he got an education in every genre of movie he could get his hands on, spurring him on to start writing scripts, with Waters noting, “It’s a really really important voice and Quentin’s the real thing. Are you kidding? And everything he says he believes. Believe me”.
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