John Waters describes “”A Dirty Shame”” as a “”sex education film””, but it’s more a Cinderella story crossed with a museum of sexual oddities. We do learn about a lot of fetishes and preferences that you won’t find catered to at your average adult bookstore, but you’ve already read about in Savage Love.
However, like most of the post-Hairspray films, “”A Dirty Shame”” carries the Waters message of self-love and self-acceptance – even if that self happens to be a serious pervert that makes mainstream society uncomfortable. First, a disclaimer: this isn’t a family film. It’s NC-17 because it’s about sex, has sexual language, sexual satire, with naked people and sex toys. Don’t take your little kids. Your teenagers will have a fine time, and probably explain what sploshing is to you, while you make icky faces.John Waters has had two distinct phases of his career. There are the early years, dedicated to shock-value: full frontal nudity, uglification, rats on a plate, and low production values. A 350 pound transvestite eating dog-poo as directorial vision. Then, there’s Hairspray, which you can see on Broadway as a family matinee, starring Harvey Firestein. Post-Hairspray films contain higher messages of love of family, multicultural tolerance, and artistic integrity.Like limburger cheese, caviar, and blood sausage, you either like old school John Waters, or you don’t. Morbidly obese women, puke eaters, shrimp jobs, and reflections on the lowest levels of humanity you can possibly imagine are not for everyone. “”A Dirty Shame”” takes us gloriously back to shock-value, NC-17 Waters. It’s nasty good fun, but in a good way – like corn dogs or raw oysters, if you like that sort of thing. “”A Dirty Shame”” tells the story of Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman) a cranky housework who would rather cook scrapple than have sex. Sylvia gets a concussion in a freak accident, is tended to by Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville), a towtruck driver with a tongue of fire. (Tongue of fire as in flames shooting off the end of his tongue. Waters’ art direction is this is comical and arresting) The concussion has caused a sexual awakening. Suddenly, everything is in sex-o-vision: the world is a giant come-on, and Sylvia likes it. Sylvia hadn’t noticed it before, but something funny had been going on in her neighborhood. All sorts of people had suffered head traumas, starting a little cult of fetish followers around Ray-Ray. Neighbors have started to talk at the Park N Pay about all the perverts running rampant, and have decided to start a counter Neuter movement. A Sharks vs. Jets style turf war is heating up, Neuters running a rally for decency, and perverts running amok to the battle cry of “”Let’s Go Sexing!””Waters true talent in this film is satire rather than shock. He gives us Jonathan Swift-strength satirical commentary on class issues, DC yuppies invading Baltimore, and our middlebrow Puritanism. Neuter Marge (Mink Stole) decides to start the Neuter movement because “”someone threw a [marital aid] down my wishing well!