John Waters, from rebel to respectable
A TALK WITH THE MAN WHO WENT FROM REBEL TO RESPECTABILITY
John Waters — that playful potentate who picks treasures from the darkest corners American culture — is now a figure of honor, veneration and respectability. At 73, Baltimore’s favorite wayward son regularly receives accolades for his lifetime of devilish achievements in the fields of film, stage, literature and the visual arts.
“The irony of me being respectable now is delightful,” he says in a phone interview promoting his June 29 event at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford. Waters. “This Filthy World: An Evening with John Waters” includes a reception, his talk, a question-andanswer session and a screening of his 2000 film “Cecil B. Demented.”
There will also be a book signing of “Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder,” his new collection of advice-giving essays, with photographs, that suggests to readers how to tell someone you love them without emotional risk; how to avoid respectability and even how to cheat death itself.
“I don’t think I’ve changed,” says Waters with his sangfroid sage style. “If you really look at some of the first things I ever did they’re not different [than now.] Society is much more different.”
The attraction to his style and sensibility is as it’s ever been, he says. “Whether you're 16 or 80 the people who come to see me share a sense of humor, a sense of rebellion and a sense of not fitting in. My audience completely gets it.”
When asked about the current state in the culture of “trash,” — a term he embraced for decades — he bristles. “I don't use that word anymore. I use ‘filth.’ ”
So what does he think of the word “camp?”
“Camp, I guess, is something
that’s so bad that it’s good. But [President Trump] even ruined that. His decorations at the White House kind if look like Jeff Koons did it without irony or any knowledge of art history.”
But for the most part, he says the word “camp” is outdated. “I don’t know anyone who uses the word anymore. You’d have to be a 90-yearold gay man talking about Rita Hayworth at antique shop underneath a Tiffany lampshade.”
Waters says he just wants to bring his audiences into a world in which “to discover things that might make you uncomfortable and see how far you can go with humor. I’m just trying to get people to understand it’s all just human behavior.”
He says over the years his sense of outrageousness has become coopted.
“Now Hollywood makes big-budget, gross-out movies that aren’t funny and that I don’t like. Often when critics say it’s ‘a John Watersesque movie,’ I usually hate that movie because [the filmmakers] are trying too hard and they don’t like what they’re making fun of. I do like what I’m making fun of.
Besides his new book and frequent touring on the lecture/standup circuit, there’s efforts to turn his 1998 film “Pecker” into a musical, possibly following in the Broadway footsteps of the hit “Hairspray” rather than the non-hit “Cry-Baby.” A workshop reading was held recently in New York.
“Of all my movies, I didn’t think ‘Pecker’ would necessarily ‘sing,’ but you never know. I’m for each one [of the movies] being turned into something else. We’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, he’ll no doubt continue to receive honors for his 55-year career, which began with the 1964 film short “Hag in a Black Leather Jacket.” Early career films included “Pink Flamingos,” “Female Trouble” and “Desperate Living,” followed by higher-profile movies such as “Hairspray,” “Polyester” and “Serial Mom.” His last film, “A Dirty Shame,” was released in 2004 and was not well received.
In recent years — and still looking like Steve Buscemi’s bachelor uncle — he’s shifted to acting, speaking tours and writing, with two of his books — “Role Models” and “Carsick” — making The New York Times best-seller lists. His photographs and artwork and curated shows have been exhibited throughout the world.
His movie archives are at the Wesleyan University in Middletown, along with collections from Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, Martin Scorsese, Ingrid Bergman and Clint Eastwood.
“I got a medal from the French which I’m wearing at this moment,” he says. “No, just kidding.” He was kidding about wearing it, but he actually did become an officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) last year, an honor awarded to artists “who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.”
“The one I was really the most excited about is the lifetime achievement award I got from the Writers Guild and that was really exciting to me because that is what I am mostly: a writer. No matter what genre I’m telling stories in, they’re always written and that’s the part I enjoy the most. I’m thrilled I got the awards. It just adds more irony in a life of ironies.”
“IF YOU REALLY LOOK AT SOME OF THE FIRST THINGS I EVER DID THEY’RE NOT DIFFERENT. SOCIETY IS MUCH MORE DIFFERENT.”