An Evening with John Waters - A Film Screening of HAIRSPRAY with Live Commentary

 

Seeing the John Waters classic Hairspray in the theater is an event in and of itself, but audiences at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at the College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, IL, were treated to something even more special - a live commentary and post film Q&A with the legendary filmmaker himself, John Waters. As this was truly a one-of-a-kind treat to behold, I wanted to document the experience briefly on here and share some thoughts on both the film itself and the joy of seeing Waters talk about his work up close and personal.

John Waters has slowly but surely become a favorite filmmaker of mine, with his frequently crude yet hilarious approach to humor, his one-of-a-kind visions of Baltimore, and his ability to put his distinct twist on nearly every film genre out there. I first became aware of Waters due to the notoriety of Pink Flamingos and when I finally dug into his filmography I jumped right into the deep end, starting with Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. Beyond audacity and shock value, neither of those films fully clicked for me, and I wasn't sure if Waters was going to be a director I'd really enjoy, but over time he started growing on me, first with Hairspray and Cry-Baby, and then when I caught up with Polyester I was fully hooked. His brilliantly entertaining spoof of Sirk-style melodramas remains my favorite to this day (although I still have yet to see it in Odorama!) and I've loved catching up with other works from him like Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demented, Pecker, and Desperate Living (which I just wrote about in February's first-time watch post).

It's hard to think of a better gateway film into a director's filmography than Hairspray, which essentially contains all the key elements of John Waters' signature style while being wrapped up into a very accessible PG-rated package that has since been adapted into a successful musical and feature film remake (and I have memories of watching bits and pieces of that 2007 Adam Shankman version on a coach bus trip, so I suppose that technically was my first exposure to Waters' work). Given the way his '70s work plays out, it seems like an impossible task to create a "family-friendly" film that stays true to Waters' roots, yet somehow he pulled it off. Hairspray isn't my favorite Waters film, but it's an incredibly enjoyable and fun film to watch that genuinely feels life-affirming to me, and I'd never want to miss an opportunity to see it in a setting like this. While selecting Hairspray for this live commentary seemed like it was COD's choice (Waters alluded during the Q&A that if it was solely up to him he may have screened Cecil B. Demented or another of his lesser-seen gems), it's a choice that certainly makes a lot of sense, given the film's popularity and how it functions as an introduction to Waters' work.

Let's get on to the show! Pictures and videos were prohibited, but I managed to snag a quick pic before anything started of my view of the stage. I was seated in the very first row, which meant I had to crane my neck a little to see the film but I was literally just a few feet away from John Waters when he came out on stage. While he sat on the opposite side of where I was, it was still a surreal experience to be that close to a filmmaking legend...

The event started with a brief introduction from the COD professor who put the whole thing together, and she revealed this event came about after Waters invited her to his home in Baltimore for an interview for a previous project she was working on. Waters was then introduced to thunderous applause, sporting a stylish and colorful suit (I'd expect nothing less) and he took his seat and gave a brief introduction to the film, citing how likable it is (even people in Florida watch it!) and announced that he'd be talking over the movie giving commentary just like an annoying friend (lol). And with that, the film began.

This is not necessarily a critique, but I hope that everyone in the theater had seen Hairspray before, because as fun as this event was, I don't think it's a great way to watch the film for the first time. The audio of the film was lowered considerably such that Waters could talk over it, hence it was easy to miss large chunks of dialogue that may have been essential to follow everything going on. If anyone had a negative response to the event, I'd have to imagine this would be the reason - especially if they had somehow missed that Waters was doing a live commentary and had thought he would just be there for a post-film Q&A. Even for me - I'd only seen the film once before, and there were some sections I didn't recall as well as others, and I occasionally found it challenging to pay attention to the film while simultaneously responding to Waters' comments and the audience reaction. That's more on me than anything else, however, as Hairspray veterans certainly had no issue, and we were all there to hear what Waters had to say - I can revisit parts of the film where I didn't catch everything on my own time.

Throughout the film, Waters provided lots of interesting and frequently hilarious tidbits regarding the making of the movie. Some of my favorites included:

• Look at Link very closely when he first gets out of the car - John Waters gave him a very specific direction, which I'd rather not reveal here and just let you find out instead...
• We never see Tracy getting her first big hairdo - that scene was cut
• Jerry Stiller was a method actor and was constantly doing things like holding Divine's hand, which freaked out Divine a little
• The film was shot during a year when those 16-year locusts were out so the crew constantly had to deal with locusts flying into the camera while shooting.
• When shooting at the amusement park, only one small section of the park was closed off, meaning that numerous school groups were there just going on rides and probably wondering what on earth was going on with all those "race riots"
• There was a scene where real cockroaches were placed in Tracy's hair. Ricki Lake hasn't forgiven John Waters for that (and I don't blame her!). The scene ended up getting cut from the film.
• All the dances in the film were real dances - none were made up for the film.
• A lot of the film was rooted in autobiographical experiences and Waters brought up some moments where he was first really being exposed to Black culture as some key influential moments.

And maybe my favorite of the bunch:

• Waters started telling an anecdote about a camp he was at where someone was doing a very memorable version of whatever dance was onscreen at the time. A woman a few rows back of me screamed out "THAT WAS ME!!" and everyone laughed and applauded in amazement.

I didn't take notes or anything like that during the show, so I'm hoping that the next time I watch Hairspray some of those tidbits of info from Waters will come back to me as I'm watching each scene play out. It's clear that Waters is very proud of the film and greatly approves of both the musical and the 2007 film adaptation. He also acknowledged that it's dated and not everything in there holds up, which I think is certainly true.

The screening was followed by a brief Q&A which Waters himself moderated. (There was a bonus VIP event with further conversation with Waters that I did not attend). Some of the questions seemed a little obvious from my perspective - one person asked if it really was Divine playing 2 roles in the film, another just made the connection that Waters liked to set his films in Baltimore - but Waters played everything off cool and gave legitimate, unfiltered answers. He was not afraid to give a terse answer - someone asked if he owned a parrot, what line from Hairspray would he train the parrot to repeat back, and he responded "I would never own a parrot." The final question of the night was someone asking him to come to their comedy show, to which he promptly replied: "No!"

All in all, this was an extremely fun experience with a lively, engaged crowd and an amazing opportunity to hear one of our great American filmmakers talk candidly about his work. And while I wouldn't recommend this format to someone who has never seen the film being screened, if you are lucky enough to have John Waters provide a live commentary near you, I strongly recommend attending. Even if it's not your favorite Waters film or if you only have a passing connection to Waters or the film, it should still be an entertaining couple of hours filled with laughter and fascination.