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Waters, John.
JOHN WATERS: PINK FLAMINGOS/FEMALE TROUBLE.
Hollywood, CA:
New Line Studios,
2001.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
Unpaginated.
As New.
Signed. The film director's two finest films in one double-disc set. The third volume in the John Waters Collection. Features John Waters's greatest discovery, Divine, the obese transvestite who shocked and appalled audiences onscreen long before transvestism (and obesity) became mainstream. In Divine's singular aesthetic, transvestism and obesity are homosexual styles of radical difference, an idea now familiar and therefore less shocking to many people, but still an acquired taste. Divine did not merely think of himself as beautiful. He redefined beauty altogether. Divine continues to shock and the pictures of him by such photographers as Peter Hujar, Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, Greg Gorman, and others probably made the divine Diana Vreeland turn pale, then smile with approbation (because Vreeland's ultimate interest was style, not beauty). "Pink Flamingos" made John Waters famous and made "bad taste" cool. Waters went on to direct classics such as "Hairspray", "Serial Mom", and "Pecker", but "Pink Flamingos" remains his touchstone. "Female Trouble" is its sequel, a fascinating tribute to the "good-girl-gone-bad" melodrama genre. Divine is at her most outrageous as teenage brat Dawn Davenport, who runs away from home to live a life of wanton hedonism. This is all because she didn't get cha-cha heels for Christmas. She is molested by a motorcycle thug (without much objection from her) and then turns herself into a fashion statement in an apocalyptic fashion show. If any of this now sounds like real life, it's because it is. Like many artists who think ahead of the curve, John Waters saw contemporary America for what it is long before America itself did. Waters has been a seminal influence on someone like the great Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, who is regarded as a national treasure in Spain and is taken seriously in Europe as well as apparently, in Hollywood, which has bestowed on him two consecutive Oscars, for "All About My Mother" and "Talk to Her", while ignoring Waters. The DVD also features a commentary track by John Waters-the-irrepressible-raconteur. A complete delight, this is a "must-have"set for John Waters collectors. This copy is boldly and beautifully signed in black marker on the cover by John Waters. This DVD is brand-new and is the only signed copy anywhere. A rare signed copy thus. One of the finest living American artist/film directors. A flawless copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JOHN WATERS TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0780634551. $85.00 |
