Content Warning: This article features themes of a graphic nature, incest, bestiality, and homophobia. 

Film critics have, for a long time, dominated the cinematic landscape defining which films are worthwhile. The likes of Kermode or Ebert, have a level of authority on films that should not be ignored due to their expertise and level of study on the subject. Sometimes, however, critical titans such as these can be caught out on a film, not visualising its true potential for a variety of reasons.

John Waters’ Pink Flamingos (1972) is one such film.

The best way to describe Pink Flamingos is via its tagline- “An exercise in poor taste”. The film sees world-renowned criminal Divine (Divine) and her family fend off the Marbles (David Lochary and Mink Stole) as they attempt to take Divine’s title of “the filthiest person alive”. The film has numerous scenes that are utterly grotesque, arguably the most exemplary of which being Divine eating a dog’s fresh faeces off of the ground- a stunt performed with real faeces.

Known at the time for his work in the counterculture movement, Waters defines Pink Flamingos as being the start of his “Trash Trilogy”. And truly trash this film is, as Pink Flamingos is purposefully designed to be as repugnant as possible in every single regard. The film consistently features heavily grotesque imagery ranging from incest to bestiality, all in an attempt to offend as many people as possible with its mere existence. Despite this inherent obsceneness, integral to the film’s core, it is regarded still as a cult classic and a definitive film in the counterculture movement of cinema and as a piece of abject art.

Pink Flamingos is the ultimate ‘anti-critic’ movie. Many of those who have reviewed the film professionally have claimed to have a vitriolic hatred of it, or to have walked out of the cinema entirely. This, however, is the intention of Pink Flamingos. It is not designed to be viewed under a standard critical lens as it is not a standard cinematic experience. Pink Flamingos truly pushed the boundaries of censorship and what was acceptable in cinema, carving a place in the up-and-coming underground of transgressive cinema. In doing so it became an effective parody of what mainline cinema viewed its counterculture counterpart to be; crass, violent, and dangerous.

As bodaciously outrageous as the film is, however, the aspect that can be seen as most remarkable is its progressiveness in spite of its offensiveness. John Waters is forefront among the directors of Queer Cinema, and Pink Flamingos is no exception in its presentation of LGBTQ+ themes. The film is constantly mocking heteronormativity through its presentation of the Marbles, the undisputable villainous characters who keep slaves locked in their basement and are disgusted by the concept of those who are in the LGBTQ+ community. Moreover, through its presentation avidly being against a part of the norm, it presents the idea of being ‘normal’ (in the sense of the film – heteronormative) as being more disgusting than anything Divine could ever do.

Upon its release in 1972, Pink Flamingos came in the midst of the Gay Liberation movement, a time during which people of the LGBTQ+ community were fighting for their basic right to exist against the homophobia and cruel methods governments at the time. Therefore, Pink Flamingos starring a drag queen and cultural icon who proudly professes herself as a lesbian, and being directed by an openly gay man, is a film beloved by the community of the time. Its cult following was initially comprised of “downtown gay people, more of the hipper set” according to distributor Ben Barenholtz, the fans flocking to see and support the film in any cinemas that would show it against the waves of bans it saw.

When making the film, John Waters set out to make the filthiest movie ever made, and in every regard, he succeeded. The film is a landmark in the formation of transgressive cinema and has an influencing hand in many films in both the counterculture of cinema as well as much of New Queer Cinema. Ultimately, Pink Flamingos is a film that should be viewed (in however much can be personally stood) before personal judgement is parsed for its sheer outrageousness and odd charm.

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