Pink Flamingos, which airs Sept. 22, is the first installment of a special eight-week cult classics series at The Athena Cinema. Each movie will run on Thursdays at 7 p.m. For a full schedule, click here.
In my opening moments with the perpetual cringe-fest that is Pink Flamingos, a 1972 cult film by master purveyor of bad taste John Waters, I was thoroughly compelled by its unflinching exploration of extreme social taboos and unforgiving use of explicit language. There was no production value, no acting ability, nothing even remotely cinematic about this movie whose title originates from the popular trailer park lawn decor. As the old adage goes, one truly cannot look away from a train wreck in all its disastrous glory … right?
Wrong. Horribly, awfully, terribly wrong. The interesting idea of showing upsetting source material with a strangely casual and comedic spin, especially during a much more conservative time in American history, goes to a nauseous, vomit-inducing extreme. At several points, it began to feel like less of a movie and more like a series of illegal clips from the darkest ends of the internet; less like a social statement in the vein of A Clockwork Orange or Natural Born Killers, and more like a montage ripped straight from a 4chan thread. The very fact that this hot plate of unrelenting garbage is slapped with the label of a “cult classic” is a travesty within itself.
Beyond this film’s — or, more accurately, random shock value clips' — obsession with portraying literally unspeakable acts, the most godawful thing about this, well, godawful thing is that it lacked inspiration and effort as much as class and decency. A half-hearted attempt at a critical commentary on society’s love for disgusting shock material exists for about 15 minutes, but soon loses focus and is swept away in mindless stupidity.
In short, do not go see this film, period. Go see any of the other classics showing at The Athena this fall. If you’re looking for a darkly comedic look at violence and sex in the media, watch the aforementioned Kubrick and Oliver Stone classics. Or, actually, any other movie. God, anything else, please.
Disgraceful, asinine, pointless cringe (out of five).
