One Punk’s Guide to John Waters by Billups Allen

Originally appeared in Razorcake #117, Aug./Sept. 2020 Filmmaker John Waters, is a Baltimore native who uses the city and its residents as the backdrop for his transgressive comedy films. His film Pink Flamingos (1972) is tag-lined as “an exercise in poor taste.” Its offenses include rape, murder, incest, cannibalism, cop killing, bestiality, necrophilia, and sadism. And yes, as I mentioned, it’s a comedy. John Waters is a hero to the punk, unruly, and unclean struggling to remain relevant. He has a knack for daring you to root for unlikable characters. The headline is always that it’s better to die a freak than live a normal life. I’d rather see punks watching a lower quality Waters film than talking about sports. A bad John Waters film is better than a day of fishing.