Restored by distributors Janus Films and The Criterion Collection, John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs follows the antics of performer Divine in one of his many collaborations with Waters, capitalizing on its purposeful (and successful) attempts at making uncomfortable the uptight, rapidly expanding, and decidedly hippie middle class of American society in the 1960s. Much like Waters’ other work, Multiple Maniacs confuses the audience in a way that throws into question the very foundations of how comedy is composed and projected to audiences. The Cavalcade of Perversion tests these foundations in a meta-narrative sort of way: perhaps some viewers take the offended reactions of its attendees as an example to follow in their own reactions to the film; or, maybe, their reactions are much too annoyingly sensitive to be taken seriously.
A “technically terrible” and unabashedly nasty film in Waters’ eyes – and he is quite proud to profess both claims – he elaborates on its grotesque narrative devices during an interview with film scholar Scott MacDonald: “[Multiple Maniacs’] “perversions” were all the standard, cliché things suburbanites were uptight about – drugs, homosexuality….it’s hardly threatening.” A parallel can be found – though not an entirely neat one, it suffices – with the debate on political correctness today, and the degree to which language can or should be reserved, or even censored. According to Multiple Maniacs, the impulse to withhold or protect certain populations from uncomfortable material is an arbitrary one. Violence can be manipulated for laughs, not despite its sacrilegious character in the eyes of offended patrons, but precisely because of their discomfort, in order to produce some kind of emotional response. The relative positivity or negativity of such reactions proves somewhat arbitrary as well – working through these emotions can, and should, produce something valuable: some lesson learned, some knowledge gained.
Multiple Maniacs
1970
dir. John Waters
91 min.
Screens Friday, 8/19, and Saturday, 8/20 @ Coolidge Corner Theatre – midnight!