POLYESTER (1981)
Divine stars as Francine Fishpaw, a frustrated housewife whose domestic life isn’t exactly what she imagined
Description
Camp icon Divine stars as Francine Fishpaw, a frustrated housewife whose domestic life isn’t exactly what she imagined. Her husband is a cheating louse, her daughter is heavily involved with bad boys, and her son is making local news as a notorious foot-stomper. As her husband exclaims, “Well this whole world stinks, so get used to it!” Coincidentally, Francine has a particularly perceptive sense of smell. (Upon the film’s release, writer/director John Waters revived the tradition of Odorama with scratch‘n’sniff cards—conjuring a film that asked the audience to stop and smell the roses…or gasoline…or flatulence.)
Francine seeks solace in her rags-to-riches friend Cuddles (Dreamland stalwart Edith Massey, in her final performance) and curious stranger Todd Tomorrow (a tabloid-ready Tab Hunter), yet spirals into alcoholism and the typical trappings of a suffocating suburban reality. This delirious melodrama is one of Waters’ finest achievements and a perfectly pungent parody of Douglas Sirk’s so-called “women’s pictures.”
This film is part of John Waters Threesome, a trio of films by the iconic queer filmmaker playing at BAM on Saturday October 12.
The in-person screening of this film will be followed by a Q&A*
Director
John Waters
Writer
John Waters
Cast
Divine, Tab Hunter, David Samson, Edith Massey, Mink Stole