Street roots., November 22, 2013, Image 1

NOVEMBER 22, 2013
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P H O T O BY G REG G O R M A N © 2 0 1 3
The trash-
master
him self chats
up the
season before
his one-man
Christmas
show in
Portland
BY SUE ZALOKAR
S T A F F W R IT E R
h a te v e r you know a b o u t Jo h n W aters, w h a t
you m ig h t n o t e x p e c t is th a t h e is o n e of
th e fu n n ie st p eo p le to have a c o n v ersatio n
w ith. H e is o pen, h o n e st, c o m p a ssio n a te and
e ffe rv e sc e n t e n th u s ia sm and cu rio sity tow ard
u n d e rsta n d in g th e h u m an condition.
H e w as b o rn in and c o n tin u e s to m ain tain a
re s id e n c e in B altim ore, M d. - th e se ttin g for m o st
all of his film s. As a tee n a g e r, W aters b eg an
m aking 8-m m u n d e rg ro u n d m ovies. W aters m ad e
his firs t film, an 8-m m s h o rt, “H ag in a Black
L e a th e r Ja c k e t” in 1964. O ver th e c o u rse of th e
n e x t d ecad e, h e w ould re le a s e a handful of
u n d e rg ro u n d film s th a t w ould c u lm in ate in 1972 in
th e c re a tio n of w h a t w ould arguably b e co m e th e
m o st “n o to rio u s” film in th e A m erican
in d e p e n d e n t cinem a, “P in k F lam in g o s.” In th e late
'8 0 s, W aters b u rs t into Hollywood, w ith h is first
box office su c ce ss, “H airsp ray .”
H e ta u g h t in th e p riso n sy ste m for m any y ears,
h e h a s w ritte n half a do zen bo o k s (w ith a new book
W
John Waters stars in A John Waters Christmas,
Dec. 6, at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. His new
book, “Carsick” will be published in June 2014.
full of
com ing o u t in J u n e 2014), h e h a s a c te d in and
d ire c te d n u m e ro u s film s, and h e h as b e e n traveling
w ith h is sp o k e n w o rd p e rfo rm a n c e s for d e cad es.
W aters will b rin g h is C h ristm a s show to th e
A laddin T h e a te r on D ec. 6 . 1 ask ed him w h a t
P o rtla n d e r’s can ex p ect.
J o h n W a te r s : H opefully th e y can e x p e c t a v ery
p re p a re d , w ell e d ite d kind of self-help g ro u p on
how you can g e t th ro u g h C h ristm a s — if you love it,
if you h a te it, if you d re a d it o r if you a re offended
by it politically, religiously.
S u e Z a lo k a r : With no shortage of dirty Santa
Claus, looking a t y o u rse lf in th e m irro r an d m aking
o u t w ith yourself, th is show is for you. I have a way
for e v ery kind of p e rs o n (to enjoy m y C h ristm a s
show ). If th e y th in k S a n ta ’s ero tic, if th e y th in k th e
elves a re tw inks, if th e y th in k th e y w a n t to d re ss
up as Jo se p h an d jo in a living nativity sc e n e (w hich
I ’m v e ry against). I talk ab o u t e v ery th in g
C h ristm as: m usic, fashion, everything!
S.Z .: What are your objections to a living nativity
scene?
J .W .: I find th e m v ery scary. I look a t th e m
beyond a D iane A rb u s p h o to . And I always th in k ,
well first of all, w h a t p a re n t w ould allow th e ir child
to b e baby J e su s w h e re th e re a re probably p e rv e rts
d re s se d up. A nd th e n th e re a re live m u les in th e re
th a t kick, and straw w ith p eo p le holding candles.
D idn’t you e v e r se e th e m ovie “S u san S lad e” w h ere
C onnie S te v e n s’ baby c a tc h e s on fire and Troy
D o n ah u e p u ts it out?
B u t I go look a t living nativities. I ’m o b se sse d by
comments, I ’m guessing.
J W .: If you a re sittin g th e r e d re s s e d as S an ta
(The artis t
form erly known
as) Johnny No
Bueno
Veering from the
learning cliff
Reversing the
unpopularity o f
S T E M in grade
schools
Talks poetry, streets
See WATERS, page 5
Susan Emmons
Portland’s housing
champion outlines
the answer to
homelessness
Page 8
Page 7
Page 3
■HMM —