Russell Albion Meyer (1922 - 2004)

an American motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer.

primarily known for writing/directing a series of successful low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humor and satire.

Sexploitation films - subgenre of exploitation films, independently produced, low budget, associated with the 1960s, generally exhibitied in urban grindhouse theatres.

Russ Meyer often mocked moral stereotypes and conservative American values. The majority of his films feature a narrator who gives the audience a "moral roadmap" of what they are watching.

John Waters is forever subverting stereotypes and poking fun at the Catholic faith. He challenges the ideology of a housewife through most of his films. Many of his films feature campy humour also.

Polyester (1981)

The protagonist of the film is a housewife, Francine Fishpaw (played by Divine). She is an upper middle class women who lives in suburban Baltimore. Her husband, Elmer owns an X-rated theater. Her children are Lu-Lu and Dexter. Lu-Lu is spoiled and slutty whereas Dexter is delinquent and sniffs glue. He gets pleasure from stomping on women's feet. Her mother, La Rue robs her, and also snorts cocaine. Her best friend, Cuddles Kovinsky is an independently wealthy, simple-minded woman. She is the world's oldest debutante. She was once her housekeeper, but she inherited a large sum of money from a very affluent family. This infuriates La Rue. Francine discovers that her husband is having an affair with his secretary, Sandra Sullivan. To add to her troubles her daughter becomes pregnant by her boyfriend Bobo. Dexter is also arrested at a supermarket for stomping on a woman's foot. She turns to alcoholism and depression. When Lu-Lu goes to a clinic for an abortion, she is harassed by people who are against abortions. Her mother calls an unwed mothers' home. Two nuns arrive to take Lu-Lu to take her to a Catholic home by locking her in the trunk of a car. On Halloween evening, Bobo and his friend come to shoot La Rue. She manages to retrieve the gun and shoots him dead. Lu-Lu comes home and discovers her boyfriend is dead. She tries to commit suicide by sticking her head in an oven. Francine comes homes, sees her daughter's attempt and faints. After this, Francine's life begins to change. Her son is released from jail no longer striving pleasure from foot stomping. Her daughter suffers a miscarriage from her suicide attempt. She sees the error of her ways, and Francine finally stands up to her mother. Todd Tomorrow walks into Francine's life and lifts her spirits. He soon proposes to her and she accepts. Her mother and Todd soon become romantically involved and the two of them plot to embezzle Francine's divorce settlement and drive her insane. Elmer and Sandra break into the house to kill Francine but Dexter steps on Sandra's foot and this results in her accidentally shooting Elmer. Cuddles and her German chauffeur/fiance Heintz arrive and strike La Rue and Todd with their limousine.

The film ends with a happy ending for Francine, her children, and Cuddles and Heintz.

This is one of many films by John Waters inspired by "women pictures".

Douglas Sirk (1900 - 1987)

A German film director best known for his work in Hollywood Melodramas in the 1950s.

Melodramas usually use theme-music to manipulate the audience's emotional response. His melodramas were generally very poorly received by reviewers despite the fact they were highly successful, commercially. As his films revolve around female and domestic issues they were considered unimportant.

His films were "women's pictures" (sub-genre of exploitation films). This genre is associated with women that are bored, unfulfilled, troubled. They are usually middle-aged suburban housewives. It is clear that his work and this genre interest and inspire John Waters. The characters in "women pictures" find their escape through a handsome, younger man.

Waters styled Polyester specifically after the work of Sirk, making use of similar lighting and editing techniques. He did this by using movie-making techniques from Sirk's era.

William Castle (1914 - 1977)

American film director, producer and actor. that used gimmicks to promote his films.

Macabre (1958)

A certificate for $1,000 life insurance policy was given to each customer in case they should die of fright during the film. Ushers dressed up surgical costumes as ambulances waited outside the theater.

Polyester (1981)

This film features a gimmick named "Odorama". This gimmick allowed the audience to smell what they saw on the screen through scratch and sniff cards.

Odorama

Waters used cards with spots numbered 1 to 10 were given to audience members before the show - very much similiar to how 3d glasses are distributed. When a number flashed on the screen, this indicated when the audience had to scratch and sniff the spot. Smells included the scent of flowers, pizza, glue, gas, grass and feces.
After sniffing the scent of the bouquet of flowers, a brief swap was made to old trainers. This juxtaposition resulted in a joke on the audience.

On the commentary track for the film, John Waters expressed his delight at having the film's audience "pay to smell shit". Brilliant.

This gimmick was deeply inspired by the 1960 William Castle film

Scent of Mystery

This film was, of course, developed with this crazy technique in mind. This obscure technique was created by Hans Laube. This was the one and only film that featured use of "Smell-O-Vision". This gimmick released 30 different smells into the theater seats when triggered by the film's soundtrack.

In 1960, the film opened in three theaters in NYC, LA and Chicago. At first it did not work properly, when the aromas were released they were released with a distracting hissing noise. Audience members situated in the balcony complained that the scents reached them after the action was shown on the screen. To add to this, some of the odors were too faint, causing audience members to sniff loudly in an attempt to catch the scent.

When technical adjustments were made by the manufacturers, it was too late. The film recieved many negative reviews and failed miserably.

The film aired once on MTV in the 1980s, in conjunction with a convenience store - much like the 3D Week on Channel 4 with Sainbury's.

Directors who influenced John Waters

Kroger Babb
William Castle
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Russ Meyer
Douglas Sirk

Change of direction.

Hypothesis: A close study into John Water's influences and how this is translated in his construction of his female characters.

Approach: How has John Water's influences translated in his construction of female characters?

Peggy Gravel

At the beginning of the film, two male characters are talking about her. We learn that she is a rich woman, and in the opening title sequence we see a maid hoovering next to a rather extravagant piece of furniture. They mention that fact that she has spent some time in mental home, and that it could be too soon to trust her in her natural habitat, meaning her own home - they speak about her like she is some sort of animal.



Just a few moments after, the audience soon see what the two men were talking about.

She is the perfect John Water's character, she is loud and shouts for no reason at children, In reality, she should know better as she is the adult. The children brake her window and she tells them off but then gets carried away. Peggy is over the top, and dramatic. She soon has a complete meltdown, moments before the two men discuss how she is prone to having breakdowns (hence her time in a mental institution).

She is not your everyday housewife. She is very emotional, and often gets upset. She has mini-breakdowns, if you like, throughout the film. (The best breakdown is when moments after her to do with the children, the phone rings...)

"Go home to your mother! Doesn't she ever watch you? Tell her this isn't some communist [1] daycare center! Tell your mother I hate her! Tell your mother I hate you!"

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[1] A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.