Thursday

A Brief Evolutionary History of John Waters

“When I was a young, ‘art’ meant dirty.”—John Waters

John Waters is a man of many hats. Well, I have never seen John Waters in a hat, so perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that John Waters is a man of many coats. There is the special coat he used to steal records during his youth in Baltimore followed by the coat that he wore to flash Tracy Turnblatt in the insanely popular remake of his original film turned Broadway musical, and, the most recent, the fashion-forward and weathered denim coat he wore to lecture at Benaroya Hall in Seattle on Tuesday, June 3rd. The event was presented by Seattle Arts and Lectures along with the Seattle International Film Festival and was an interesting addition to SAL’s lineup of authors.

The coats may not be important. They are the least interesting of John Waters’ choices, but they are a good marker of moments that signal some very important steps in John Waters’ career. Perhaps they also help in explaining how John Waters managed to be an important, controversial Hollywood figure without succumbing to the mediocrity and untouchable attitude that too often seems to be on par with mainstream success. John Waters is simply who he has always been—the kid from Baltimore who likes to shake things up. When asked by the audience, “What about yourself do you think would surprise people?” Waters answered that he didn’t think that anything would surprise people. This seems true enough when listening to the man who spoke on Tuesday night. Continue…