After living in Baltimore for the past three years, I’ve come to appreciate much of the city’s culture, such as fresh seafood and crabcakes, Honfest, and, of course, John Waters.
Along with Gothic artiste Edgar Allan Poe, Waters is one of the premiere artistic/literary figures of Baltimore.
While Poe, of course, lived in a different time period and focused on darker, more morbid material, one can argue that Waters’ work is just as significant a contribution to Baltimorean culture.
He is the mastermind behind the disturbing and brilliant pieces, Hairspray (1988) — now popular Broadway musical — Pink Flamingos (1972), and Cry-Baby (1990) and he perpetuates the city’s bizarre and, at times, completely outlandish sense of humor through his eccentric and always outlandish films.
The idea of being able to meet him — the one and only “Prince of Puke” — and have him sign a copy of his new memoir, Role Models, was incredible.
The contents of Role Models are exactly that: ten portraits of individuals, ranging from Tennessee Williams to Catherine of Siena, to a lesbian stripper named Lady Zorro to Rei Kawakubo (founder of fashion house Commes de Garçons), who have both influenced and earned Waters’ respect from a distance, or as a close friend.
One of his more engaging essays is on ex-Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969, when she was only 19 years old.
Waters has publically advocated for Van Houten’s parole for years. In “Leslie,” he chronicles the evolution of their friendship and presents her in a humanistic light.
Here, we briefly glimpse into Waters’ account of a convicted felon and human being who committed horrible acts as a young, brainwashed girl and is now trying to repent and receive parole: “I find it very difficult to live with myself a great deal of the time. If you look at my file, there’s no violence. No violence.
That one night. That one night has just tormented me. I am not a person that corrects through violence. I don’t confront. And it has been really, really difficult to live with. And I hope that the family understands . . . ”
Van Houten has been denied parole at every hearing she has attended, with the next date set for 2013.
Essays such as “Leslie” are not intended to skew any reader’s perception of Waters’ subjects, but offer a semi-autobiographical narrative on some of the more important personas of Waters’ lifetime.
Role Models is available at the Hopkins Barnes and Noble bookstore where, if you wanted to stand in a line extending back to the children’s section, you could have him sign it.
The “Pope of Filth” himself was there to sign copies last Saturday, and, being the huge fan that I am, I arrived at the bookstore around 12:50 p.m., ten minutes before the signing was to start.
It was my first time attending a book signing of anyone. I took a copy and waited in line like everyone else, though my spot went all the way back to the sweatshirt section.
I rifled through the first chapter, on Johnny Mathis, but stopped once an employee told us that Waters had arrived and the signing would commence.
The line moved fairly quickly, so quickly that I didn’t have time to think of anything witty, spontaneous, or outrageous to say to him.
I couldn’t tell if he would think I was a smart aleck if I did make a comment, but I couldn’t risk being frowned upon by the “Pope of Filth” for my speechlessness.
This worry also ruled out asking him to sign my book with one of the 24 crayons I had in my purse.
The couple in front of me had an infant, and they all took lots of pictures on both a camera and an iPhone.
Why had I not remembered to bring my camera? But no matter, it was my turn now. I couldn’t think of anything interesting or even remotely memorable to say.
I forgot to ask him if he had been to or was going to go to Hampdenfest that day, and if he had, if he had seen the Toilet Races earlier that morning.
But I said nothing, except “My name is Whitney” and “Thank You”, and scampered off.
Celebrities, and underground celebrities, are exciting, even if we all try to play it cool in front of them.
I rushed meeting the “Pope of Trash” because of a lack of preparation, and was therefore anticlimactic. But did that really matter? Not really, because it was still awesome. I didn’t need to be memorable.
I suppose I just wanted an autograph. And his book, of course — I wanted the book too.
