DOWN WITH PANTS!

I've read a bunch of reviews of the new John Water's NC-17 rated film A Dirty Shame that say it wasn't very shocking or that maybe society has out-crassed even John Waters. Both say it in a way that is very derogatory to the film. I didn't feel particularly shocked by the movie. Most of what could have been shocking wasn't, it's true, but my theory about this film isn't that Waters was trying to shock us. Quite the opposite in fact.

Waters, to me, showed that none of the sexual activity and weird fetishes are really that shocking to even myself, a relative prude when it come to sex. A top-shelfer? Heard of it. Cunnilingus bottom? Child's play. Exhibitionist with huge breasts? Please. None of it was shocking even to me.

I think Waters was showing us that we can't be shocked anymore because we are in a new sexual revolution era that has managed to see or hear of everything. He was showing us that we are all sexual deviants in our own way. We all at least show some traits of the characters in the film. We're not going to go out and have a huge orgy riot like in the movie but nonetheless it's all around us in quieter ways to the point where a film portraying it in very overt ways is no longer shocking.

Think about it, would John Waters, knowing his audience, really produce a movie where the most outlandish fetish is dirt worship? I think John Waters knows his people better than that. Farmer Bob from Podunk, Iowa isn't going to go see a John Waters movie. He might be completely shocked if he saw A Dirty Shame and then the movie would work from the shock-fest standpoint. But Waters knows that transvestites, lesbians, gays and other various liberals are his audience.. Most of these people would not be shocked at what's in this movie.

I guess all I'm saying is that people are seeing the movie all wrong. They are critiquing it based on the shock value of previous John Waters films. Here he has made one that's supposed to be shocking and yet isn't and they can't stand it. It's a very fun movie and entertaining, but shocking it was not and the many flaws of the film would be to heavy to make it stand up on it's own if it's just supposed to be a shock-fest.

But if Waters made this film tame on purpose to show that we aren't shocked anymore by deviant sexual behavior then it is a huge success. If he made it to shock critics and fans about how unschocking the behavior is, then it totally works. If you can't see that then I can understand how you would see it as a huge disappointment. As for me I came to my own conclusion about the film and really liked it giving it Two Pants Down!