There are some really strange filmmakers, and there are those who cause a lot of controversy.
Then there’s John Waters. He’s an extremely popular cult director and a well-known figure in the queer community. Ever since he became famous in the early 1970s, he has been challenging the usual ways of doing things and breaking down the barriers set by society. In the history of cinema, few scenes are as shocking and captivating as the one in Pink Flamingos where Divine eats dog faeces. This shows how far Waters is willing to go and how he fights against the very narrow ideas of what is considered good taste.
From when he was young, Waters knew he was different and wanted a life that was outside of what most people would call ‘normal’. Even outside of his work as a filmmaker, Waters’ personal experiences are just as wild. When he was young, he took a lot of drugs, like LSD and more. His only regret seems to be that he used to smoke cigarettes. He once supported the release of Leslie Van Houten, who was part of the Manson family. And he’s also involved in the art world. He’s a very talented photographer, and his work has been shown in galleries all over the world. He’s also an art collector, and he likes pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. In 2020, he gave more than 350 art pieces to the Baltimore Museum of Art. But he had one condition: they had to name a gender-neutral bathroom after him. John Waters is truly one of a kind.
In 2015, during an interview with The Guardian, a journalist was allowed to look at some of Waters’ artworks. The most noticeable ones were three pictures where he used Photoshop to make famous faces look like they had had bad plastic surgery. The three ‘victims’ were Waters himself, Justin Bieber, and the famous dog movie star Lassie. The poor dog’s face was completely changed in a very strange way by the director. Her face was stretched to be comically thin, her eyes were made smaller, her eyebrows were raised and curved, and her mouth looked like it was covered in really ugly black lipstick. If you like Lassie or any dogs, this picture might make you feel a bit sick.
When asked why he did this to a non-human, the so-called ‘Pope of Trash’ had a very simple answer. He said, “Old people and young people get plastic surgery. So what’s the next step? Pets.” In the description of the piece called ‘Reconstructed Lassie’ for the Marianne Boesky Gallery, Waters added, “There will be plastic surgery for pets. I’m sure it’s already happening. I keep reading that 12-year-old boys and girls are getting facelifts. So these things are happening. And all of these things aren’t really that strange.”
Even though his claim about children as young as 12 getting facelifts might seem hard to believe, Waters makes an interesting point with this picture and his whole collection. His three subjects – an old man, a teenager, and a dog – aren’t the usual people who would get plastic surgery. By making their faces look so grotesque on purpose, he wants to make adults think about themselves. If we don’t like the idea of a surgeon working on these groups of people, who some might see as ‘vulnerable’, then why are we okay with plastic surgery for others? As Waters said himself, “In Beverly Hills, some people would think that these strange looks are good. Their idea of what’s strange is different from ours.”
Given how his films always challenge people, it’s not surprising that his art is also very bold. We hope that he will keep questioning the things in life that he thinks don’t make sense, one Photoshopped dog at a time.
You Might Be Interested In:
