The first answer that probably came to your head is “I couldn’t care less what you watch”, but I’ll elaborate.
I’ve had Pink Flamingos in my Netflix queue for a while but always bumped it. I’ve never seen it, but I know its rep- it’s generally considered the most disgusting movie ever made, primarily for the scene in which Divine
eats an actual piece of dog feces
but I’ve also heard, even from people who were sickened by it, that it was brilliant and hysterical. I’m curious whether the majority of responding Dopers who’ve seen it think of it more as garbage or “avante garde must see”.
Well, I love Pink Flamingos–but I actually think the follow-up, Female Trouble, is a better film. Wittier, better-acted, and Divine is in every frame. Just as shocking, in different ways.
You will either love Pink Flamingos or hate it; unless, due to the Bawlmer accents, you don’t understand a single word. But yes, if you want to hold your head up among cult filmgoers, you do have to see it. Just beware the Singing Asshole–much more shocking than that infamous finale scene.
Pink Flamingos, far and away, still holds the crown for worst movie I’ve ever seen. It’s just so bad in every respect. Looks like it was shot with an 8mm camera, not even a camcorder. Divine is just… repulsive to look at. The singing asshole, the eating of dog crap, the snuff film wannabe scene, the rape of the lesbian prisoners. It’s all so incredibly terrible. And to top it all off the film just isn’t entertaining in any way. You are occasionally grossed out or offended, but mostly you are just plain bored out of your skull. The movie feels ten times longer that it should have any business being. There is no aspect I can think of in which Flamingos does not suck awfully. There is nothing even slightly redeeming about this film. If you went your whole life without seeing this film, you would have missed absolutely nothing. Hell, you might deserve a medal.
Still, I would tell you to sit through it, just once. So the next time you go to a movie with a group of friends, and it’s a bomb, and someone says it’s the worst movie ever… you can very certainly assure them that it still wasn’t nearly as bad as Pink Flamingos.
-Ben
Well, it’s definitely John Waters. I find that once one has seen it, there’s not much point in watching it again. It ain’t his best movie, although it may be his most infamous.
Still, one should be able to truthfully say one has seen it, if one is ever going to speak knowledgeably about bad movies…
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I have nothing but hate for Doom Generation, Happiness, and Your Friends and Neighbors, but if I try really hard, I can find something redeeming about each of those movies. There is NOTHING good about Pink Flamingos. Easily the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and very likely the worst movie ever made.
A coworker spent months trying to convince me to see this film. It was the above referenced Karaoke-From-Hell that made me say, “Okay, I’m willing to admit that I have to see this.”
“Ooma-mow-mow-mama-moo-moo-ma-mow…”
I’m not sure whether I regret it or not.
See it. It’s wretched, but a worthwhile wretched. As Eve and others have noted, it’s all about bragging rights. You don’t watch it so much as stomach it.
Well, I have to repeat, it’s all a matter of . . . Hmmm, “taste” doesn;lt quite seem the appropriate word.
I thoroughly enjoy the film and watch it every so often. Therev are, for me, some sterling moments and lines: “There are two kinds of people in this world, Miss Sandstone. My kind, and assholes.” “Oh, Babs, what if someday there are no more eggs?” “Oh my God almighty, someone has sent me a bowel movement!” “From now on, hon, it’s just you an’ me an’ Little Noodles.”
How can you not love Babs Johnson, her egg-obsessed mother, her demented son Crackers and her “travelling companion” Cotton?
I find Pink Flamingos to be a fun movie to watch for all the reasons Eve already mentioned. I also find that people who “get” John Waters tend to be a lot more incisive film fans than those who do not.
I do have to disagree with calling it the most disgusting film ever made–that title has to go to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo, adapted from a novel by the Marquis de Sade.
