Two days ago, March 7, marked the twenty-second anniversary of the death of the greatest performers to have ever lived. I'm talking about none other than Divine. I was only ten when Divine passed away from heart failure the night before she was supposed to appear on Married...With Children, but I would discover her about ten years later, when the BFF and I caught PINK FLAMINGOS at a midnight show at the old revival theatre where I worked. I was early into my weird movie watching quest. Not quite sure what I was seeing unfold (chicken fucking, poop eating, asshole singing), I was hooked. It's like a genre unto itself. I get the title of this blog from some of Divine's finest work in MULTIPLE MANIACS and I count FEMALE TROUBLE as one of the my favorite movies of all time. I think I've seen it more times than anything else. Divine's career is truly one of those things that reminds me to keep it weird and wonderful all the time. I love you, Divy.
I was actually wondering about whatever happened to her today at work... I wasn't even aware she'd died.
ReplyDeleteI've still not seen Polyester and I've had a copy sitting around gathering dust for far too long now... I think I'll try to give it a watch tomorrow.
Oh, POLYESTER! Hopefully, you have an Odorama card to go with it. John Waters' tribute to William Castle style gimmicks. It's a favorite, even though the pacing is a bit off. Gotta love Stiv Bators in it as well. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteDivine is what made the early John Waters stand out so much, while helping to bring Drag Queens into the public conciousness.
ReplyDeleteIt's intresting to think that Divine was also going to play the gay uncle on "Married with Children" which would have been the first gay character on a mainstream show.
I love the fact that with the odorama card your basically paying John Waters to sniff a fart.
I don't think you can watch Pink Flamingos and ever be the same again. I also miss the wonderful Edith Massey as well. It would have been awesome to see what those two would be doing in Waters' films now.
ReplyDelete(I do own an Odorama card!)
Oh Divine... I may be only 10 yr old girl but I still love your music!
ReplyDelete