Scrubbed any Interesting Toilets Lately?

Divorce! Abortion! Adultery! Alcoholism! Pornography! Christian fundamentalism! Foot fetishism! Filmed in Odorama and featuring the single greatest comedy double act in cinema history (Divine and Edith Massey) - Polyester has it all! John Water’s delirious 1981 black comedy Polyester was released on this day (29 May 1981). In terms of Waters’ filmography, Polyester comes after dystopian lesbian-punk nightmare Desperate Living (1977). There followed a lengthy gap until he made Hairspray in 1988. Polyester can be viewed as a transitional work between Waters’ ultra-raunchy earlier shockers and the relatively more polished and accessible bigger-budgeted films from Hairspray onward. Polyester was the first Waters film to receive an R rating (all his previous ones were slapped with an X). An affectionate parody of Douglas Sirk-style 1950s “women’s pictures”, Polyester sees 300-pound drag monster / leading lady Divine cast against type (and giving one of his definitive performances) in a rare sympathetic role, as long-suffering suburban housewife Francine Fishpaw. (“I’m a good Christian woman!” Francine wails at one point). Divine never “phoned-in” a performance in his life, but his depiction of Francine’s anguished descent into alcoholism and nervous collapse is an acting tour de force. Polyester is particularly notable for romantically partnering Divine with 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter (he also croons the theme tune!) and for being Massey’s final appearance (as cleaning lady-turned-debutante Cuddles Kovinsky) in a Waters movie. My favourite line: Francine’s shrewish mother La Rue (Joni Ruth White), struggling to make small talk with Cuddles, asks, “Scrubbed any interesting toilets lately?”