Drag queens eating dog shit isn't your bag? Seeing a live chicken sex ring too intense for you? Well perhaps the early Waters film are not in your cards. As time went on, Waters toned himself down. Though still a far cry from mainstream, the middle years are the closest he ever got. These are the years he picked up a more mainstream audience, and received the critical acclaim that he so deserved.

POLYESTER

Waters' first (and last) attempt as a soap opera brought about the hysterically funny, Polyester. Revered by many as John Waters' funniest flick, this film is my personal favorite of his. Why, do you ask? It is perhaps John Waters' best piece of satirical writing to date.

First of all, this is the first Waters' flick where we see Divine in a vulnerable position. While many Waters' fans did not take to this new side of Divine, I feel that it shows Divine's acting prowess. Francine Fishpaw (Divine) is an unhappy housewife who has to contend with her cheating husband, her "loose" daughter, and her son who has a very unhealthy fetish for women's shoes. Soon Francine begins a love affair with Todd Tomorrow (played to the "T" by Tab Hunter). Of course, Todd proves not to be as sweet and charming as he seems, and a hysterical climax ensues. Edith Massey is hysterically mis-cast as Francine's debutante friend. All in all, the casting couldn't possibly be any better.

This film was done on a shoestring budget, but is absolutely wonderful. Almost the entire movie takes place inside the Fishpaw household which is a perfect slice of suburban Baltimore. The film is written like a "slice-of-life soap opera" and deals hysterically with many controversial issues (abortion being the most prominent). This movie could very easily be a disaster if it didn't have the Waters' touch of satire. The film plays in a very dead-pan "you're not suppose to know its humor until you laugh at it" way, which is very difficult to pull off. Add the controversial aspects into it, and you move the difficulty level to "near impossible." However, John Waters has the ability to straddle the line between hysterical and "too over the top" just perfectly. Even at its most controversial, John Waters deals just a little bit of humor to remind the audience not to take the film too seriously. If you ever need to take a satirical writing course, don't. Watch this film instead.

This film was filmed in "Odorama" which is John's take on the William Castle gimmicks. Basically everyone was given a scratch and sniff card upon and entering, and when a number flashed on the screen, you were to scratch the corresponding number on your card. Of course, being John Waters, the majority of the smells were not pleasant at all, and the theater ended up smelling like sitting in an outhouse on a 100 degree day while eating head cheese after not showering for 3 weeks. Also, it's probably best to leave your Odorama card outside overnight before bringing it into your house because the scent tends to linger in your house for at least a millennium (as I painfully realized).

Most cult movie films fans will find this movie enjoyable. Waters' fans will rank it as one of his best. Satire fans will call John Waters a genius. If you get the opportunity, view it in a theater with full Odorama effects. This movie "stinks," and that's a good thing.

Probably the only John Waters movie that has a relatively mainstream audience, Hairspray is hair-hopping good fun. Upbeat, political, and positively hysterical, this is the one John Waters movie that's safe to take the kids to. Though the trashy John Waters is near and dear to my dark heart, this film is the John Waters movie I've seen the most and ranks right up there as one of the top three Waters flicks of all time.

The movie is based on a Baltimore-based "American Bandstand" type show in the 60's. Ricki Lake plays the pleasantly plump Tracy Turnblad who wins a part on the show (to her arch nemesis, Amber's, displeasure). As Tracy soon discovers, the show has a very highly racist side as it will not allow blacks to be regulars on the show. Tracy, along with her new hottie, Link, rebel against the show and hilarious (and heart-warming) mayhem ensues.

The film is incredibly fresh, even today. Though it deals with serious issues (racism, prejudice toward interracial couples, etc.), it remains a light movie without lightening these issues. This film really shows John Waters writing ability as the dialogue is absolutely fabulous. Much of the humor is verbal humor, unlike his normal situational humor (characters getting into humorous situations). This film came right after Polyester which was much darker. If you watch the two movies back to back, the difference is amazing. This is why John Waters still has a career today. He is one of the few writers/directors that can conform to the ever-changing tastes of his viewing public.

Love him or hate him, John Waters brings the best out of his actors. Ricki Lake was positively charming as the optimistic Tracy Turnblad. Divine (everyone's favorite 300- pound drag queen) was hysterically realistic both as Tracy's mom and as the grumpy head of the television network. Sonny Bono and Debbie Harry were hysterical as Amber's parents. Even the bit players were absolutely hysterical. Not to mention, this is the only film John Waters' directed that he appears in.

Unless you are a true "early-Waters" purist, I can't imagine that you would not enjoy this movie. John Waters once said that "A PG rating in one of his films was the only shock left." I would tend to agree. This film is innocent and pure, but still not losing any of the Waters' charm we've come to know through his notorious Pink Flamingoes. All in all, this isn't any less of a Waters film, in fact it's MORE of a Waters film. This film paved the way for his later "technically superior" work. If you are a fan of the later Waters flicks, see the one that started it all.

In 1990, John Waters put out the very first film since Divine, his popular female impersonator, passed away. It didn't go over too well with most of the diehard purists as they thought John was getting too goody-goody. While they were proven wrong later with Serial Mom and Cecil B. Demented, Cry-Baby still remains the most "forgotten" John Waters movie. Does it deserve to be? Not really.

There is little doubt that after the success of Hairspray, Waters wrote Cry-Baby to cater toward the new "mainstream" fans that he acquired. However, make no qualms about it. Cry-Baby is not mainstream. In fact, it makes fun of the "straights" and glorifies the delinquents (kind of like Female Trouble did). If anything, this is a prime parody of the movie Grease. While not as wickedly funny as John's other movies, it still never fails to amuse. The premise is very simple. Johnny Depp plays a "drape" that causes all the girls to go wild by shedding a single tear. He ends up falling in love with a beautiful "square," much to her uptight family's dismay. As you can imagine, chaos ensues.

Not John's best writing work, Cry-Baby relies on a lot of "square vs. drape" cliches to get its laughs. While it works, I also know John is capable of writing a wider variety of humor. However, what is lacking in the writing is made up with chemistry (somewhat, at least) The casting was a great choice (Johnny Depp as a teen delinquent was marvelous). The drape humor was very well done. The film is a very energetic flick and the music was wonderful. All in all, it's a pleasing experience. It just misses something. Most likely, that something was Divine.

Sadly, I can't really recommend this film to a lot of John Waters fans as they will find it forgettable and uninteresting compared to the much superior Hairspray. However, if you are solely a fan of later Waters work, you should enjoy this fun little romp of a movie. I'm a Waters progressionist. I realize that he can't do another Pink Flamingos and therefore I am a fan of his continuously changing work. If you're like me, you should enjoy this film too. Light and funny, my best recommendation would be to enjoy this film for exactly what it is.

Tune in to our next issue for the final installment!



Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.

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