JOHN WATERS: THIS FILTHY WORLD

Jeff Garling, 2006
Starring: John Waters

I have a passionate love for John Waters, partially because I love all things filthy and trashy. He is certainly one of the finest smut peddlers in genre cinema from one of my favorites, Desperate Living, to the flawed, but still enjoyable Cecil B. Demented, and much in between. I spend a fair amount of time in Baltimore and recently had my first official John Waters sighting, predictably in a bar. I was too star struck to say anything, so I had to come home and watch John Waters: This Filthy World, which had been on my list for quite some time.

In 2006 he did a stand-up lecture tour about trash cinema that was filmed at the Harry De Jur Playhouse in New York. Though it sometimes gets labeled as a documentary, it is definitely a stand up act. It's essentially an excuse to watch the Pope of Trash blab on for an hour or so about a number of interesting topics. He's a great public speaker and is sassy, funny, and risque. He has a great way of telling totally outrageous stories and making them seem like they are the most normal events in the world. He's never crass or profane just for the sake of it and also isn't desperate for shock value. There are likely to be plenty of taboos for a normal audience, but I just found it interesting and witty. The running time of 80 or so minutes flies by and my sole complaint is that it could have gone on longer. This will be of particular interest for genre film fans, John Waters-lovers or anyone interested in the history of underground cinema.

If you have no idea who John Waters is or what I'm talking about, you need to immediately go out and watch Pink Flamingos and read the Senses of Cinema article about him. Professionally speaking, if I could have a career that mirrored anyone's, it would probably be John Waters.

This Filthy World is streaming on Netflix right now or you could just buy it. I wish he would do a series of podcasts.



I would go on a date with him. Just sayin'.