crumbsroom wrote:
Pink Flamingos is a legitimate legend of a film but I hope Rock braces himself for his great weakness...shrillness.
As amazing as they are all, Divine and Mink Stole and Edith Massey can all be superhumanly irritating people...part of the films charm to be sure but an acquired taste
That's Edith Massey, alright, but I tend to think of shrill as sounding painfully high–pitched and loud (or oppressively vociferous with uncompromising political opinions) whereas I think of Mink and Divine as more in the low tenor/high baritone range, so I'm guessing the acting has something to do with the shrillness in this case? They can definitely dominate their scenes in a way I can see as feeling oppressive.
Yes, I agree, bracing one's self for Pink Flamingos is definitely good advice. I have a shrillness threshold as well. If anybody wants to torture me into false confessions, just play me some Spongebob and I'll confess to every merciless act of of wanton cruelty and injustice throughout human history. One episode should do. Possibly as little as five minutes of one episode. Crabby Patty indeed.
I agree Edith is an acquired taste, if such a thing can be acquired. I wouldn't know because I do have to brace myself for her. She's lovable, but how tolerable is another matter. I'm glad she's there, though. She's one of those human anomalies perfectly suitable for a John Waters production.
Divine is just one of those presences that will not be denied, and really does prove to be worthy of the lead role again and again. The core joke, to paraphrase Milstead (Divine), is the idea of a diva/starlet–type lead character being played by a fat bald man in drag.
What was roughest for me the first time I saw Pink Flamingos was something I don't think I've seen in any other Waters movie, at least not to this degree. Whereas all their scripts can be described as gloriously over–the–top, in Flamingos there are scenes in which the characters straight up soliloquize. Line after line of choice garbage poetry, equal parts imaginative and lousy, delivered in gushing melodramatic fashion, well–memorized or not, in one static wide shot, with one mic somewhere in the room. Those scenes felt unnecessarily long the first time I saw them, but I've come around.
My favorite John Waters movie, at least for the time being, is actually Multiple Maniacs, and I'm not just trying to be contrary or contending for World's Most Esoteric Hipster by naming one of the Dreamlanders' earliest and grungiest b&w efforts. It's just so... it earns its title. The prayer beads, the lobster, the Holst!
Anyway, yes, crumbsroom is right; bracing yourself for Pink Flamingos would be wise. One thing we can guarantee, though, you will not be bored.
Last edited by Rampop II (12/22/2022 12:22 am)