John Waters has always been the king of turning taboos into traditions, and he’s back to make your holiday season delightfully deranged. Sitting down with Kyle Meredith, the legendary filmmaker and provocateur shared his thoughts on everything from the joys of Christmas rebellion to why punks deserve a seat at the table of modern diversity.
Waters is fresh off a milestone year, having been honored with a massive exhibit at the Academy Museum. “Imagine the Academy giving me 11 rooms of stuff and a gift shop selling t-shirts that say, ‘He’ll Make You Sick,’” Waters laughs. “It just proves to anyone starting out: don’t listen when people say your work is terrible. Keep going. They’ll come around.”
That spirit of persistence is what fuels his annual Christmas tour, which has become an underground institution for decades. This year’s installment promises new material, including advice on “how to talk dirty with Christmas words” and plenty of his signature irreverence. “People fear Christmas,” Waters muses. “They love it, hate it, or have anxiety about it. My show covers all of that.”
But for all his subversive takes on the holidays, Waters still celebrates in his own way — like decorating the electric chair prop from Female Trouble instead of putting up a tree. “My nieces and nephews refuse to stay at my house,” he admits. “They say it’s too scary.”
The conversation turns to his spoken-word punk anthem, “Punk Rock Christmas,” and his hilariously obnoxious cover of the barking dogs’ Jingle Bells. “If you want your guests to leave, play that one,” Waters quips, though he insists there’s a method to his madness. “Rockwellian nostalgia and rebellion can coexist,” he explains. “Why not make toppling the Christmas tree a tradition?”
Waters doesn’t shy away from serious commentary, either. “Why aren’t punks part of the new diversity?” he asks pointedly. “We need a punk rock Met Gala, a punk rock first lady. Being punk doesn’t take money — it takes nerve.”
As ever, Waters walks the line between humor and high art. He calls his creations “branding with a wink,” pointing to his latest invention: the world’s first celebrity cumrag. “I don’t think there’s another one,” he says with a smirk. “It’s about putting out things no one else would dare to.”
With his Christmas tour kicking off and a wish for his Liarmouth adaptation to find funding, Waters shows no sign of slowing down. “You just keep going,” he says. “I hate people who say it was better when I was young. You’re just not paying attention.”
Thirty years after Serial Mom debuted, Waters calls it his best work. “It was before O.J., but it predicted so much,” he reflects. “I’m still right-wing about one thing, though — you can’t wear white shoes after Labor Day.”
And that’s the essence of John Waters: a provocateur with a traditional streak, forever finding the punk in the polite and the profound in the absurd.
Watch the interview above and then check out the trailer to Serial Mom below.
