The movie, which has been banned all around, is sometimes referred to as the most frightening and disgusting ever produced with real s*x sequences.
Under the direction of John Waters, *Pink Flamingos* is among the most well-known underground pictures in film history.
Originally shot in 1972, the picture did not find general release until 1989, when a distributor requested an official rating from the British Board of Picture Classification (BBFC). The BBFC decided to grant it an 18 rating only after that three minutes of material judged overly explicit be removed. One of the deleted sequences showed “chickens being roughly handled and killed during a bizarre s**ual assault on a woman,”
According to the BBFC’s website. Another had a close-up of a man stretching his anatomy to give the impression of it “singing.” For the movie to be legally displayed, numerous controversial scenes had to be trimmed.
Many viewers find the film so shocking that they automatically cover their eyes for large portions of its running length. Waters aimed for exactly this reaction. In his book * Shock Value*, he said, “To me, entertainment is all about lousy taste”. It’s like getting a standing ovation if someone passes out seeing one of my flicks.
Credit: New Line Cinema
Beyond its arresting appearance, “Pink Flamingos” is a societal critique with hints of the punk rock movement based on its anarchic attitude, rebellious style, and use of 1950s rockabilly music. Its thematic elements, which center on dysfunctional families, have those of famous 1970s horror films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “The Hills Have Eyes“. The movie even comes before the later media obsession with criminal glorification, a topic Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” (1994) investigates.
The unusual storyline revolves around Divine, a well-known drag act born Harris Glenn Milstead. Divine stars as a character also named Divine in the movie wearing a tight, sparkling gown, too much makeup, and a big backcombed hairdo. Called by the media “the filthiest person alive,” Divine buries herself under the alias Babs Johnson. She lives in a run-down caravan with her son, Danny Mills, her voyeuristic lover, Mary Vivian Pearce, and her crazy mother, Edith Massey, who suffers from a fixation with eggs.
Mink Stole and David Lochary’s opposing Connie and Raymond Marble are determined to be the “filthiest people alive.” Among their heinous deeds are kidnapping adolescent girls, confining them in their basement, making them pregnant, and selling their infants to l**bian couples. They also market medications to recent high school grads. The movie is essentially funny, even with these horrible crimes.
Though considered a classic cult favorite, *Pink Flamingos* was never meant for general popularity. Author of *G@y P**nography*, John Mercer, pointed out to the BBC, “This isn’t a failed movie that gained a camp following and then became popular.” Made by an outsider, it was about outsiders and displayed on the outskirts of film distribution and exhibition. That is the venerable definition of a cult movie.
Later, Waters worked on more conventional projects such as directing *Cry-Baby* (1990) starring Johnny Depp and *Hairspray*, which inspired a Broadway musical smash. But in the early 1970s, he worked on a significantly smaller budget, typically filming in Baltimore with friends called “the Dreamlanders.” Though several cast members had never acted, they embodied the rebellious attitude Waters sought to capture.
Mercer notes that the people in *Pink Flamingos* reflect “true outsiders who despise society’s conventions.” The movie had an instant impact on underground film. It became a staple of the “midnight movie” issues when it opened at New York’s Elgin Theatre. Night after night, audiences packed in, excited to see something different.
“This is a funfair movie,” Ian Hunter said. “A freak show in the long tradition of exploitation films dating back to the 1920s and 1930s”. Though well-known, *Pink Flamingos* is still illegal in some nations, including Austria and Switzerland. Its reputation comes from including incest, improper behavior, and even a scene with a severed pig’s head.
But its worst moment comes right at the film’s end. Waters remembered that this sequence came among his first ideas for *Pink Flamingos*. Aware he only had $10,000 to work with, he sought to create something viewers would not soon forget. “Something to leave them gassing in the aisles,” he remarked.
This last scene, in which Divine consumes actual dog poop on camera, has become legendary for its shock factor. Hunter says it’s a way to show one’s toughness.
Watch the trailer for Pink Flamingos below…
