John Waters: Pope of Trash

Book Cover Photo Courtesy of DelMonico Books/Academy Museum of Motion Pictures/D.A.P

Published by DelMonico Books/Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Edited with text by Jenny He and Dara Jaffe. Foreword by Jacqueline Stewart.

Text by Jeanine Basinger, B. Ruby Rich, David Simon, John Waters. Interview with Sean Baker, Debbie Harry, Barry Jenkins, Johnny Knoxville, Bruce LaBruce, Ricki Lake, Orville Peck, Iggy Pop, Cindy Sherman, Kathleen Turner, Christine Vachon, Edgar Wright.

Irreverent, heartfelt, shocking, and laugh-out-loud funny—a colorful celebration of the work of subversive auteur John Waters

Known for pushing the boundaries of good taste, John Waters (born 1946) has created a canon of high-shock-value, high-entertainment movies that have cemented his position as one of the most revered and subversive auteurs in American independent cinema. Featuring misfit muses, tributes to his hometown of Baltimore, and themes of fetish, obsession, and celebrity culture, his renegade films—including Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977), Hairspray (1988), Serial Mom (1994) and A Dirty Shame (2004)— are irreverent, laugh-out-loud comedies that lovingly draw inspiration from William Castle, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Russ Meyer, Andy Warhol and Pier Paolo Pasolini alike. John Waters:

 Susan Walsh, Divine, and Cookie Mueller on the set of Female Trouble (USA, 1974). © Dreamland Productions, photo Bruce Moore, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Channing Wilroy on the set of Pink Flamingos (USA, 1972). © Dreamland Productions, photo: Lawrence Irvine, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Danny Mills, John Waters, Edith Massey, and David Lochary on the set of Pink Flamingos (USA, 1972). © Dreamland Productions, photo Lawrence Irvine, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Jean Hill on the set of Desperate Living (USA, 1977). Photo: Bob Adams, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Mink Stole on the set of Female Trouble (USA, 1974). © Dreamland Productions, photo Bruce Moore, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Drawing for the Har-de Har Hut mural for Hairspray (USA, 1988). Courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives, Wesleyan University

Vincent Peranio, production design sketch for A Dirty Shame (USA, 2004). Vincent Peranio Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

David Lochary and Mink Stole on the set of Pink Flamingos (USA, 1972). © Dreamland Productions, photo: Lawrence Irvine, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Flyer for Multiple Maniacs (USA, 1970). Courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives, Wesleyan University

Odorama scratch-and-sniff card for Polyester (USA, 1981). Courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives, Wesleyan University

Edith Massey on the set of Desperate Living (USA, 1977). © Dreamland Productions, photo: Steve Yeager, courtesy Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, Debbie Harry, Divine, and Ricki Lake on the set of Hairspray (USA, 1988). © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., photo: Henny Garfunkel, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Prop obscene letter for Serial Mom (USA, 1994). Courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives, Wesleyan University

Divine in Pink Flamingos (USA, 1972). © Dreamland Productions, photo Lawrence Irvine, courtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Interior Images

Pope of Trash accompanies a landmark exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the first dedicated solely to Waters’ films. The book presents costumes, props, handwritten scripts, concept drawings, correspondence, promotional gimmicks, production photography, and other original materials from all of the filmmaker’s features and shorts. Spotlighting many of his longtime collaborators, it also features a new interview with Waters and texts by curators Jenny He and Dara Jaffe, film historian Jeanine Basinger, film critic and cultural theorist B. Ruby Rich, and author-writer-producer David Simon that explore how Waters’ movies have redefined the possibilities of independent cinema.

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