By Noma Faingold

“Pope of Trash,” “Prince of Puke,” “People’s Pervert,” “King of Sleaze” and “Filth Elder” are all monikers apropos for prolific filmmaker, author, photographer, visual artist, provocateur and true original, John Waters, who turns 80 this month.

To be expected, the tireless self-promoter is celebrating the milestone with an eight-city spoken-word tour called, “Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80^th Birthday Celebration,” which includes two Bay Area stops, at Berkeley’s UC Theatre on April 11 at the Uptown Theatre in Napa on April 12.

So much has been said and written by him and about him. One could spend days on YouTube watching talk show appearances, interviews, book readings and other forms of self-promotion. What always comes through is his wicked wit and puckish charm. He has an arsenal of timeless and contemporary one-liners ready to go. 

His ultrathin, precise mustache is ubiquitous. His clothes, especially his sport coats in colorful prints, are often avant-garde, yet carry a carnival-like temperament. He told me nothing is custom and that he gets a lot of his wardrobe from San Francisco-based MAC (Modern Appealing Clothing), a carefully curated designer boutique and Commes des Garçons in New York. His personal style is dandyish but fun. 

“I’m not a fashion snob,” Waters said. “I like GAP boxers.”

I had loosely followed his career since discovering his outrageous cult films, like “Pink Flamingos” (1972), “Female Trouble” (1974), which pre-dated my college years. The films of Waters were definitely in the thick of midnight movie culture. 

His groundbreaking work has challenged societal norms with low-budget, guerrilla-style production, scatological humor and gender-bending characters for decades, as exemplified by the final scene in “Pink Flamingos.” Drag actor Divine, who was Waters’ longtime friend and muse, literally eats dog feces to defend her character’s title as “The Filthiest Person Alive.” Waters confirmed the prop was the real thing. 

While many cinema tastemakers may have been grossed out, “Pink Flamingos” was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry in 2021.

Waters is the subversive auteur of 16 films. His most mainstream hits being “Hairspray” (1988), “Cry-Baby” (1990) and his favorite, “Serial Mom” (1994).

On March 17, at the newly restored Castro Theatre, Frameline kicked off five decades of queer cinema to honor Waters in a sold-out event called, “Trash Talk with John Waters.” In addition to presenting him with the Frameline Award, the suburban satire “Serial Mom,” starring Kathleen Turner, was screened with live commentary provided by Waters.

“I’ve made every kind movie,” Waters said when I interviewed him. “Underground, independent, Hollywood then back to independent.”

The enthusiastic crowd was diverse, particularly in terms of age, gender and sexuality. There were people who weren’t even born when he made his last film, 2004’s “A Dirty Shame.” 

Armand McDuck, 72, was the first person in line in front of the theater. “I’m a big fan. I’ve seen a lot of his movies. ‘Serial Mom’ is my favorite,” he said. “What I admire about him is he goes to the extreme and that takes guts. We have to support people like him.”

Several fans wore themed costumes, including Joshua Schwartz, 58, who designed his whimsical ensemble with a with “Serial Mom” imagery. The Castro District resident has attended seven of nine Waters adult sleep-away camps, held on a long fall weekend in Connecticut. He’s going again this year. 

“A lot of it is John Waters-themed,” Schwartz said. “Dinners are related to the guest who is there for the day. When Debbie Harry (“Hairspray”) was a guest, there was a beehive contest with 450 very creative participants.”

Schwartz is devoted to Waters and his work. “He is one of the smartest, most well-read, funniest, insightful people that I have heard,” he said. “He has references for anything and everything, of which 20% I don’t even understand. I know a lot. But he knows more.”  

Waters is an important storyteller, no matter the medium. He writes every weekday morning for about three hours, using yellow legal pads. 

“It doesn’t matter how you do it. I like the physical manner of doing it,” he said. “It has worked for me. It’s not like I don’t use a computer for other things.”

In the afternoons, he works the business that is John Waters. This discipline has been in place for more than 50 years. 

“It wasn’t quite as defined when I was younger. I don’t smoke weed anymore,” he said. “I stopped taking drugs when I got success.”

He said he measured his success by “when I could finally live off the income I made from films.”

He has four residences. His primary is in Baltimore, where he grew up and filmed several of his movies. He has apartments in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood, in New York City and a summer home in Provincetown, Mass. 

“Every place looks exactly the same,” Waters said. “There’s lots of books, art and Oriental rugs.” 

There is also plenty of memorabilia, but nothing from his career. 

“I have a circle of friends in every city. I have the same life in every city,” he said.  

He travels often. Last year, he had 59 gigs. 

“Basically, I live in airports,” Waters said. 

He has a development deal. He’s had museum and gallery exhibitions for his photography, visual art and for his films. There are numerous author appearances, book readings, monologue performances and, of course, tributes. 

“All my films are playing better than when they were made,” Waters said. “I have more jobs than I ever had. Writing is my favorite job.”

When opportunities to direct movies faded, he pivoted to writing non-fiction and fictional books, like his first novel, “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance,” published in 2022, featuring a shockingly mean suitcase thief protagonist, Marsha Sprinkle, who has elitist materialistic standards. Fiercely comedic actress Aubrey Plaza was set to star in the movie adaptation, which seemed like perfect casting. But the financing fell through. 

“It’s an expensive movie to make,” Waters said. “The movie business that I know is over.”

Waters accepts that he may never get to make “Liarmouth” or any other film. 

“Hollywood has treated me fairly.”

He never went to film school. In fact, he thought high school was a waste of time. In kindergarten, his parents built him a little stage at the family home. 

“I put on endless self-indulgent shows,” he said.

At age 12, he was booking puppet shows at children’s parties. I expect that the content was twisted.

Waters started making films in high school. He learned everything by doing. He immersed himself in underground and exploitation films that he read about in the Village Voice, compelling him to make frequent visits to edgy New York movie houses. He was also influenced by Swedish master Ingmar Bergman, pop artist and avant-garde filmmaker Andy Warhol, award-winning playwright Edward Albee and the “Theater of the Absurd” movement of the 1950s-1960s. 

One of his favorite movies is “The Wizard of Oz.” He has said he wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).

“At the very beginning, my movies had the same kind of subject matter as later,” Waters said. “I was using ridiculous humor to make some kind of political point. If you do make a political point, humor is the best way to do it.” 

The musical comedy “Hairspray,” set in 1962 Baltimore, is the best example of planting statements about racism, fat discrimination and teenage rebellion without preaching. It stars Ricki Lake as Tracy Turnblad, a plus-size teen, who dreams of dancing on a segregated local TV dance show. Divine plays her mother, Edna Turnblad.

“It’s the most subversive movie I ever made.” Waters said. “A drag queen plays the mom role. The fat girl is the hero and does everything. Two men sing a love song to each other. The movie encourages your daughter to date a black guy, and no one seems to notice. It just snuck into Middle America like a trojan horse and stayed there. ‘Hairspray’ made me safe to like.”  

“Hairspray” later became an extremely popular and a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. In 2007, it was adapted into a movie musical, directed by Adam Shankman. It starred John Travolta (as Edna Turnblad), Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah and introduced Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad.

“The morals of my movies are the same,” he said. “Don’t judge other people until you know the whole story and mind your own business.” 

Waters has a myriad of plans for his 80^th year. They don’t actually differ much from all the other years he’s enjoyed in show business. 

“I want to just keep going and to make a living telling stories,” he said. “I look forward to the way I am accepted way more than I thought was possible.” 

“Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80^th Birthday Celebration,” his latest spoken-word tour, will show at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on April 11 at 8 p.m. (https://www.theuctheatre.org) and at Napa’s Uptown Theatre, April 12 at 8 p.m. (https://www.uptowntheatrenapa.com)

John Waters will host the annual punk music festival, Mosswood Meltdown, July 18-19, at Mosswood Park in Oakland, with headliners Iggy Pop and Bikini Kill. (https://www.mosswoodmeltdown.com)