Controversial film director John Waters doesn’t find the drag queen story hour offensive, he finds it funny.
The director behind such cult classics as the X-rated “Pink Flamingos” and 1988’s “Hairspray” weighed in on conservative objections to the recent cultural trend of adults putting on drag shows for children, some that just There are small children.
In a recent interview with “The News and Observer,” Waters expressed his amusement with the idea.
Queen story hour for first-graders at Philadelphia school drags, parents outraged
Multi-talented actor-director John Waters weighs in on drag shows designed for child audiences.
(Reuters)
“I just see little Billy come home from school and dad says, ‘How was school today?'” Waters told the Raleigh, North Carolina, outlet. And he says ‘Oh, Little Miss Hotmess taught me how to do lower lashes!’ Take it girl!”
Waters, whose popular X-rated film featured a drag performer eating dog poop on camera, also spoke about conservatives banning books, and the culture of conservative outrage. Also talked about his own run-in that embraces the taboo side of things.
He told the outlet, “I made a career out of being banned. Nowadays if they ban a book, it’s the best thing that can happen, because bookstores have sections — right up front. , near the cash register – which says ‘forbidden books.'”
The director, dubbed the “Pope of Filth” by the Baltimore Sun early in his career, was clear about his interest in “extremism.” “I’m not saying I believe in all extremes, but I’m fascinated by them,” he said.
GOP bill would eliminate federally funded drag queen story hours, other sexually explicit programs for children
Drag queen “Pickle” reads from a book during the Drag Queen Story Hour program at the West Valley Regional Branch Library on July 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Drag Queen Story Hour is a program in which drag queens read stories to children in libraries, schools and bookstores in cities across the country. MassResistance, which has targeted several cities with drag queen story hour programs, uses aggressive techniques to disrupt and create controversy at city council meetings, pro-Trump protests and anti-LGBTQ demonstrations. Some far-right Christian groups support the organization, while the Southern Poverty Law Center considers them a hate group. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
(David McNew/Getty Images)
Referring to his new spoken word show “End of the World” — which is currently on tour — Waters added, “That’s what my new show is about, the culmination of things going wrong, and ‘what. Can anything go back to the way it was?”
Explaining how he avoided getting canceled despite his staggering filmography, the director claimed it was all about not taking himself too seriously. He said, “If you stick around long enough and you make fun of yourself and you’re not sentimental — which I don’t think I’ve ever been, I make fun of the things I love, and I I think that’s why I don’t really cancel.”
He also told the newspaper that his films are more than just being sleazy or embracing taboos, that they have an understandable morality. He said, “There are all kinds of universes, and each one has different rules, but each one has right and wrong.”
Rich Kuntz, also known as Gidget, reads to children during Drag Queen Story Hour on March 21, 2019.
((Sara Espedido/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images))
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