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male speaker 1:ladies and gentlemen, give a big hand for john waters. male speaker 2: keep it going. the man came a long way. john waters: has anybodyin this room ever actually read from a book? i mean, it seems like atgoogle, everybody would read it, you know, on kindleand all that. ok.
male speaker 1: this isa relic from yesteryear. it's called a book. you open it up. there are pages-- very similarto the things that you scroll. john waters: i don't carehow anybody reads it, as long as they read it. male speaker 1: well, let's talka little bit about your book. this is called "carsick." two years ago, johndecided to hitchhike
across the country fromhis apartment in baltimore to his other apartmentin san francisco. and so basicallywhat you have is, you've got thisinto three parts. you've got "the bestthat could happen," which is a fictitious accountof the best possible outcome, which kind of, to me feltlike an x-rated "pee-wee's big adventure." john waters: that's a good one.
male speaker 1:and then you've got "the worst thatcould happen," which is kind of a very darkroad horror story. and then the third chapteris "the real thing," which is what actually happened. john waters: whichis optimistic. yeah. male speaker 1: yeah. john waters: compared.
male speaker 1: soi have to admit, i was kind of relieved bythe time i got to that part. john waters: myassistant said, i couldn't tell the differencebetween the good and the bad - they were all horrible to me. what you think is good-- male speaker 1: yeah,i was thinking that. i was like, the best outcomefelt like somebody else's worst outcome.
john waters: yeah, well. male speaker 1: so,did a lot of people try to talk you outof this adventure? john waters: as it got closer,all the people that work for me were horrified about it. yeah, and i was surprised. even my friendsthat are criminals tried to talk me out of it. i thought they'd be for it.
the younger the person, the morethey sort of liked the idea. and all the youngerthey were people that had never hitchhiked. because no one hitchhikes. the whole way across the countryi saw one other hitchhiker. and i told my driver,don't pick him up. i know, i know, butyou know, you've got to be selfish whenyou're hitchhiking. male speaker 1: well yeah,it's like, hitchhiking
is that even a thing anymore? john waters: i hada sign, always, and people thought i was sostupid of a homeless person that instead of standingat a red light and begging, i was down on the freeway. like, who could pull overand give you a quarter? when they see you with a signnow, that's what they think. they don't even knowabout hitchhiking. a child once-- this was anothertime i was hitchhiking when
i was, trainer wheels,you know, training to do this-- in provincetowna family picked me up and the little kid wasin the car staring at me. he said, dad, why isthis man in the car? why did you stop? who is he? it was really embarrassing,because they didn't even know what hitchhiking was. male speaker 2: it's like,when was his last film?
the kid. john waters: well, no, i don'tknow if they recognized me. i forget if theyasked me what i do. i never bring it up. male speaker 2: so youdid a series of training runs in provincetown. john waters: well, i usedto have hitchhiking dates. it was really a great come on. do you want to go hitchhikingwith me to the beach?
because this one beach,you have to have a sticker or live in that beach. and i didn't have one, sothe only way you could go was hitchhike. and it was a 15 mile ride. it was not that hardif you didn't make it. and in provincetown,to be honest. people did recognize me. so it was like hailinga limousine [inaudible].
but coming back wasn't. coming back wasn't. and i did hitchhikewith patty hearst once. and i always met theperson, get in the back. i get in the front. and the man was lookingover like he recognized me. and then he said,are you john waters? i said, yeah, andthat's patricia hearst. and he looked inthe rearview mirror.
and she said, he made me do it. [laughter] and later, her husbandwas really pissed off. he said, hasn't she hadenough trouble, john? and it's true. i said to her, look, but have i? no. male speaker 2: soas somebody who's done the whole gamut ofentertainment things--
books, movies, acting,voiceover, everything you can imagine,this guy's done it-- what was the impetusfor this type of book? john waters: an adventure. you know, my life. it was my mid-life crisis. i don't want to buy aconvertible i won't even get in a convertible at my age. but i needed an adventure.
my life was so planned,so controlled, so safe. can i give all that upand see what happens? and i did. and i always felt mystreet cred would go up. i was impressed--at 66 years old, i hitchhiked across the country. male speaker 1: yeah, come on! [applause] john waters: just bymyself, with no backup.
and there were horribledays, you know, when i'm sitting there,waiting 10 hours for a car. and it was so hot one day--i would call my assistant and whine all the time. just say, i have todrink my own urine, now. and stuff like that. because i wouldjust be stuck there. and i would run out of water. i didn't do that, but-- iwas like "pink flamingos."
i was living in campstation laboratories some days, whichwas really humbling. male speaker 1: well, you didn'ttell your mother before going, and then she found out later. is she shocked by anythingyou do at this point? john waters: well,my assistant susan said that she wasn't,because you beat her down into submission. but my mother always said thatshe wasn't shocked by something
until then i'd say,ok, well then, here. and then she'd say, why wouldyou do something like that? so that wasn't completely true. my mom, unfortunately,died this year. but she had a greatlife, and everything. but she did say stufflike, with my movies, what's this one about? and i'd say, sex addiction. she'd go, oh.
maybe we'll die first. the only good thing aboutmy mother passing away is that she won'tread this book. because there are parts in itthat would really kill her, right? male speaker 1:well, yeah, i mean this felt like this kindof goes back to your roots, your really trashy rootsespecially the first two novellas.
how do you-- john waters: well, i did thinkup the best and the worst. they are extreme, to me. male speaker 1: well,a lot of people, say some of the morehousewife type of characters that you met recognize you from,they know you from "hairspray." john waters: housewife is apolitically incorrect word. is there such a thingas a housewife anymore? like, sitting around,baking pies in an apron?
i don't even know about-- male speaker 1: allright, old broads. john waters: yeah-- no! working moms. no-- i don't know. but the people thatpicked me up in real life are the opposite ofthe first two chapters. they were probably fairlynormal but really sweet, really progressivein how they thought,
completely differentthan what-- i really hate that expression, "flyoverpeople," because these were what is snottily referred to. but to me, they weremore liberal and smart than a lot of peoplei know in manhattan and l.a. they wereopen to stuff. they just didn'tbullshit, you know? they hated freeloaders. that's the main thing.
and the most interesting thing--i don't think a gay person picked me up, which was--but the straight men, the straight men all talkedabout how much they love their wife and how smartshe was and everything. it gave heterosexualitysuch a good name. they have to feel goodabout themselves, too. male speaker 2: you want to--? we'll switch. john waters: so thatwas kind of amazing.
and so all the women iknow in new york say, i can never meet a straight man. go hitchhike on route 70. the problem is they'reall happily married. you have to move to the townearly and then find one first. male speaker 1: not to poketoo many holes in that, but do you think some of themwere like, i-- i'm married. i have a wife. john waters: no, no, no.
and the gay thing, one guywas a total republican, and he said to me, youknow, i'm for obama, now that he said hewas for gay marriage. when he said he was evolving,that was such bullshit. so [inaudible] not alwayspredictable about how they felt about stuff. male speaker 1: i guess ifthey're going to pick you up. if they're pickingup a hitchhiker, they're probablypretty open people.
john waters: i don't know. i got a ride in a90,000 pound truck, and i never felt gayerclimbing up those steps to get in that truck. i felt like a complete fool. you know, this is likea porn joke, right? the guy couldn'thave been nicer. he was great. it's what gay bearswish they were.
he was a straight bear. but he doesn't evenknow about bears. male speaker 1: can you explainfor some of the mainstream kind of straight people, thefascination with truckers? john waters: i-- ididn't say i had-- male speaker 2: no, not yours. male speaker 1: iread the first-- john waters: there'snot that many people you get a ride with.
oh, you mean the pornfantasy of truckers? well, truck stops. i wrote a greatbest-case scenario of an illegal truck stop. and i do have a real truckerfriend who's out of his mind. i'd be scared forhim to pick me up. he says he carries fakepiss for the drug tests. he dumps things on people'slawn if they weight too much. he picks up runaway girlsand has sex with them.
he jerks off in a sock. and he says, wantme to send it you? i said, no! i don't want youto send it to me. male speaker 1: all right. john waters: does that help? male speaker 1: i'm fascinated. male speaker 2:that's the real part. john waters: no, that's notthe real part-- in the book,
i don't have-- oh,the guy is real. the real trucker is real, yeah. god, no, yeah. the criminal one, yeah. male speaker 1: well, there'sa line early in the book, and you say this acouple times, where you believe in the basicgoodness in people. was that sort of likeyour thesis statement, or was that what you setout to prove, or was it--
john waters: that's aboutas spiritual as i get. i do believe in thebasic goodness of people. there are people that areborn wired wrong, though, yes. but i have faith in people. i taught in prison. i can get along withall kinds of people. i'm not scared of people. and i am a good listener. and people willtell me anything.
i mean, i've said this before. i get on an airplane and astranger will turn next to me and say, my entire familyfuck me in an easter basket on easter morning. why do they tell me that? because i'll understand. male speaker 1: imean, isn't it so much more interesting totalk to those people than, you know-- us?
john waters: no. no, because-- i never understandpeople say they're bored. well, walk outsideand look at people. i'm never bored. that's the one thing inever am, because i'm interested in human behavior. and the most that imade the movies about and that i wroteabout are people that think they're normalbut, to me, are really insane.
because most ofthe people i know in new york who thinkthey're insane are actually kind of normal. so it's always weirdhow people conceive of themselves andtheir own beliefs. male speaker 2: did you findany of that on the road-- people that were more-- werepeople more insane than you thought theywould be, or less? john waters: they were neither.
i don't know that ithought they'd be insane. the people were-- i didnot get a scary ride. i didn't even get onethat was a bad driver. i got 21 rides, it took. i got a coal miner-- male speaker 1: thatsounds surprisingly low. john waters: well, onebig character in the book, the karate kid-- male speaker 1: the corvette--
john waters: corvette kid. he was a republicanelected official in millersville, maryland. and he picked me upin the pouring rain when he was going to gethis lunch at the subway. he didn't know who i was,even after i told him. we just kept talking. he drove me all the way to ohio. his parents were,like, horrified.
where is he? and looked up john waters. it's not good if you google me. it's bad. friends with one of themanson family, you know? like, oh, great! my kid's with him. and then he went back. and then he kept textingme the whole time.
and then he said,i'm coming to get ya. and drove 48 hours straightat 80 miles an hour and caught up with me in denver. so he was great. we just had a-- male speaker 1: and youmet him in baltimore. john waters: i didn't meethim-- oh, afterwards i met him. but i didn't know him. male speaker 1: but that'swhere he first picked you up--
john waters: we metin millersville. it was the third ride. which is about an houroutside of baltimore. i didn't even knowwhat millersville was. male speaker 1: it kind ofreminded me of the scene in "the jerk" when youwere first getting started. i think with the firstguy took you, like, down the block or something. john waters: well,the first ride
was a great, african-americantracy turnblad kind of gal with her baby, going to daycare. and she said, i can'ttake you any further, because i have to go to work. but she was lovely. and it was pouring rain. that's the thing. i did a lot ofresearch to find out the most moderatetemperature on route 70,
which was this week in may,but the thing i didn't look up is, it rains every day. so the first two days,i stood there literally in pouring down rain. i thought, i'mgonna kill myself. what book is this? male speaker 1: so younever got sick or anything? male speaker 1: wow. john waters: well,i mean-- mentally.
male speaker 2: thathappened a long time ago. john waters: oh, car sick. my friend told methe other day-- male speaker 2: justlower it a little. john waters: ok. he said, you know, when i wasa child, i always got carsick. and you take thejacket off, look, and it's the colorof the exact medicine i had to take as a child.
i think that was accidental. male speaker 2: didyou learn about-- what did you learn to be thebest techniques to hitchhike? john waters: with thesign, humor didn't work. i had one that said,i'm not psycho. people laughed butthey didn't pick me up. "writing a book"really didn't work, because then they'dthink, about what? and they want theirown private life.
something that didn'twork if i was starting out in baltimore insteadof san francisco. it's like a joke. you had to have a possibleend, so "end of route 70," even though it was 2000 milesor something, at least meant, please, take me a longway, but it was possible. so it had to be. and at the end ofevery day, i always never wanted tohitchhike at night.
so the trick was whereyou get dropped off. so at the end ofevery day, i wanted a place that had a hotel. so i made this signthat said, "next motel." i felt like a hooker, so ijust changed it to "hotel" even though thereweren't any hotels. but it seemed much less tawdry. male speaker 1: in "thebest that could happen," you were immediately given--what was it-- $5 million
by a drug dealer to makeyour next film, "fruitcake." that's a movie that's-- john waters: thatis a movie i've been trying to makethat didn't get made. so who knows? maybe someone will read thebook and send me the check. they gave it to mein cash and said that i would never havenotes, not to worry. you know, it was like a joke ofthe best possible producer you
could ever get. "we reallydon't care if it makes money, but here." and they own a criminallycorrupt fedex office that only deals in their drugs. and the people thatwork there look like they escaped froma whole foods jail. you know that look. male speaker 1: are we evergoing to see that film? what's the state of low-budget,independent film right now?
john waters: oh, it's bad. i mean tv is better now. more people see it. so no, the independent filmworld that i know is no longer. they're looking forme when i was 20. they'd like me to make a filmwith the budget of "polyester," certainly. male speaker 1:which was how much? john waters: $300,000.
which today would beprobably $600,000. male speaker 1: would you everconsider doing a kickstarter? john waters: no, publicbegging, i can't, i can't. you know, i own-- male speaker 1:says the guy who-- john waters: i own three homes. no, but i own three homes. as much as i wanted togo to occupy baltimore, i can't be that hypocritical.
and i don't hate all rich. there's asshole poorpeople i know, too. there's good andbad in both, really. but i liked occupy baltimore. i get why they're goingthere, the same way i want to black panther riotsin the '60s-- to have sex, to take drugs. i understand thetribal fun of a riot. male speaker 2: in the fictionalpart, you witnessed-- sorry,
you referenced-- sorry, i justgot off a plane from russia, so i'm a little stupid. i'm also stupid in real life. but you reference thesoundtracks a lot. john waters: yeah, thebook has a playlist at the end, which you can goand look up online and play all the music. and it's-- oddly enough, allmusic about hitchhiking is country music.
almost all of it. except for the famous"hitchhike" song by marvin gaye. but i found some great ones,really obscure hitchhike records. i always have a soundtrackto everything i do. even when i'm walking down thestreet, kind of in my head, i need a soundtrack. male speaker 2: [singing] goingto google, going to google,
what the hell is this? john waters: is therea google dance yet? there should be. male speaker 2:oh, yeah, totally. nobody goes, but--everybody [inaudible] with their computer and works. male speaker 1: oh, you mean,like, a dance-- function or-- john waters: yeah,like the twist. male speaker 1:everybody's doing it.
you know, there's a gimmickdance, like the google. you should make one. no, that's the hacker. you know, i always thought,i want a hacker boyfriend because they're alwayshome up there in that room with the door closed, waitingto put the food outside while they're shuttingdown the government of foreign countries. male speaker 2:there's some people
doing a dance over there. you'll see everybodydoing that during the day. male speaker 1: it's avery anti-social dance. male speaker 2: what were peoplelistening to in their cars? john waters: almostnever was the radio on. when i hitchhiked, when youpick up-- they want to talk. so, i don't rememberever the radio being on on one carthat ever picked me up. with here we go magic, arock group that picked me up
that i did not know, and theyaccidentally picked me up, they played my mix tape. and they gave metheir tape, but i played that alonein the motel, we didn't play it in front of them. male speaker 1: werethey a good band? john waters: yeah,they are good, yeah. male speaker 1: ok, becausei was really liking them in the book and i waslike, it would be terrible
if they were-- john waters: well, iwouldn't have minded a ride with a terrible band, either. i would've gottenin, believe me. i wasn't, like, [inaudible],all right, let me hear a hit, first. no thanks. male speaker 1: oh,oh it's nickelback. keep driving.
spoiler alert-- in "theworst that could happen," you actually describe yourown death at the hands of a-- john waters: well, don'ttell them the whole thing. male speaker 1: ok, ok. can i tell-- john waters: well, ifyou think of the worst and you'rehitchhiking, obviously, you get killed, yeah. in las vegas.
male speaker 1: can itell them about the movie that's playing in hell? john waters: oh, no. male speaker 1: aww,all right, all right. john waters: but i doimagine the person that kills me-- always said thatmost serial killers, their type isn't a 66-year-oldfilm cult director. but in the book, there is one. who's only looking for that.
male speaker 1: is it, like,leonard maltin or something? john waters: [chuckles] no. male speaker 1: what's the mostshockingly mainstream thing that you're a fan of? i don't know. oh, um. hmm. male speaker 2: shoes john waters: 3d.
i'm for all 3d. i like 3d, but i wentto see things like, what was the one withthe big tits in-- male speaker 1: oh, "piranha?" john waters: "piranha 3dd,"that was what it was called. and i went, but lastnight of the run, and i was alone ina theater watching "piranha 3dd" with 3d glasseson, looking like such a fool. i was the only person in thetheater for the 10 o'clock show
the last day. but i didn't miss it. i'm also a big fan of all"final destination" movies. i love them. male speaker 1: oh,those are great, yeah. male speaker 2: arethere going to be any more hitchhikingadventures in your future? john waters: i hope not. if i miss a flight.
no, once i did it, idon't have to do it again. but you all should do it. you should try hitchhiking. i think it is alittle adventure, you can do it onyour summer vacation, and if you get murdered,it's not my fault. but you could get murderedin a care accident. i'm scared of staying at home. if you never goout either, that's
more dangerous than takinga chance hitchhiking. because nothing newwill ever happen to you. male speaker 1: do youthink if you had done-- would this have been easierto do in the '70s than now even if you weren't famous? john waters: in theold days, the problem was, there was somany hitchhikers. they were places-- new havenwas a famous place where there would be a hundredhitchhikers there.
so it was better for that. there was no competition. but the younger youare, the better chance you have a ride,certainly-- to get 'em. and i was in the one truck stop. i was talking tothe guy checking in, and i said that reallytruckers can't pick you up now, because they havetwo in the truck. and this trucker whowas standing behind me
said, if you had avagina, they would. oh. male speaker 1: oh, iwant to talk a little bit about the corvette kid. do you still keepin touch with him? john waters: i do. he came to my christmas party. he's looking great, yeah. male speaker 1: doeshe really, does he
look like justin bieber? john waters: no, but i'm afan of justin bieber's, too. even more so now. when he's bizzle. no, bizzle's gonnabe his rap name. that makes me really love him. bizzle. i wanna hear his rhymes. oh, my god.
i love it when he's black. male speaker 2: so justlooking at your body of work, it seems likeyou're always busy. are you thinking forwardto your next thing after you getthrough this huge-- john waters: yeah, i gotnext things, already. i'm booked for the next year. the spoken word showcalled "this filthy world" i do all over the world.
i have a christmas show, i'vegot 20 in december coming up. i'm having an art show atmarianne boesky gallery and one in london. i have anotherbig project that i can't announceyet that's coming. and maybe another one thati'm writing this summer. so, yeah, i got a job. male speaker 2: where do youfind the time for all this? john waters: that'sa good question.
i'm highly organized. male speaker 2: are you? john waters: yeah. monday to friday, i getup every morning at 6 am. i read all the newspapers. i still read newspapers. and then my job is everymorning to think up something fucked up, and i'vegotta sell it in the afternoon. monday to friday.
i drink one day a week. so i'm a workaholicfive, an alcoholic one, and the other day i take off. and my shrink says, thatsounds like a good plan to me. male speaker 1: is there onesort of guiding book or film that you are aiming towards,that sets the bar for you in everything you do? john waters: no, not really. because when igrew up, certainly
genet and tennessee williams andall those kind of people which i wrote about in my lastbook, "role models," all the people thatkind of gave me the, i don't know, the courage totry to do what i wanted to do. so no, i thinkthose kind of things happen to you when you're young. today, i lovemichel houellebecq. i love his novels. i'm reading this one fromnorway, the six volume
memoir, "my struggle,"which is great, by the way. so i like to read. yeah, that's what ido for relaxation. male speaker 2: do you writeyour books in the same way that you do your films? john waters: yeah,i write everything on a special kind of legal padwith big pens and scotch tape. and then my assistant puts it inthe computer, the first draft. and then i cut it up again.
yeah, i do it the same way. male speaker 1: in longhand. john waters: in longhand. that's amazing. it seems like there's alot of guys that do that. john waters: doesn'tmatter how you write it. you could use yourhead on a blackboard as a human typewriter. as long as you writeit, it doesn't matter.
nobody asks at the end,how did you do that book? never in my lifehas anybody that's ever paid me one penny everasked me if i went to school. male speaker 2: didyou go to school? i had trouble in school. but i was lucky, i didn'twant to be a doctor. i'm glad that i'm not adoctor and no one asked. male speaker 2:well, you were at nyu and then you got kicked out.
john waters: yeah, wellthey weren't used to me. because i took acid every dayand just stole books and then resold them in thebookstore in the afternoon. they should've thrown me out. male speaker 2: butyou were working. it wasn't like youweren't working. you wanted-- john waters: well, ididn't even come to class. i just took drugs and wentto the movies every day.
but not "potemkin," whichthey showed us over and over. but nowadays nyu is great. i could go there. you could make a snufffilm and get an a. male speaker 2: on thatnote, we have a mic there for audience questions. so if you have a question, youcan just kind of circulate over there and we'll call on you. john waters: or youcan yell it out.
you don't have to do the full-- male speaker 2: i thinkthey're doing that for audio. john waters: oh, ok. male speaker 2: go ahead. audience: so i have yourchristmas record compilation. john waters: thank you. audience: it's a veryspecial place in my heart. john waters: aww, thanks. audience: can youdescribe how you
chose all those songs,where you found them? john waters: well,i always liked weird novelty songsand hillbilly records and old rhythm and blues. and so i just look forevery weird christmas carol i could find. and the one song,"i'm fat daddy," was the main black discjockey in baltimore where, in "hairspray," ijoked they had "negro day."
they really did have that. and he was the host of "negroday," and that was his song. "i'm fat daddy,i'm santa claus." and then the other song,"santa claus is a black man," i love that song. and the governor ofmaryland, o'malley, when he was the mayor, turnedon the christmas lights of all of baltimore downtownwith me and the mayor and they played that asthe introduction, which
was great and veryfitting for baltimore. male speaker 1: anybody else? male speaker 2: just realquick as he gets up here. mark's from around baltimore. and he does this--we're always wondering-- male speaker 1: how doyou not have that accent? john waters: i thinki probably do have it. male speaker 2: do the accent. listen.
male speaker 1: um, well--let me try to do it again. john waters: here'severy person answers the phone inbaltimore-- one minute. male speaker 1: my family andi, we go to ocean city, maryland every summer. and there's this commercial forthis place called purple moose saloon, "the home ofhard rockin' ocean city." it's like everybody's mouthseems like it's a small hole and they're tryingto get words out of.
john waters: in "pinkflamingos" i make fun of that. i'm the narratorin the beginning. john travolta actuallydid a pretty good job in the remake of the-- the baltimore accentis really grating. philadelphia'svery close, though. it sounds similar. all regional accentscan be grating, unless you're in themafia-- except new york.
then they kind of sound good. male speaker 1: yeah, inoticed they didn't-- none of the people in "thewire", they were like, yeah, don't talk like that. nobody's gonnathink you're cool. john waters: "thewire" is so great. it's my favoritetelevision show ever. and everybody downthere worked on it. but that's a black-- that'sa different kind of baltimore
accent. male speaker 2:beyond the ocean. yes, sir. audience: hi. so i've never actuallysee any of your work, but i did see youon the big thing. i did see an interviewon the big thing and i was reallyintrigued by that. so where should istart in the john
waters oeuvre to maximize-- john waters: depends. do you want to go low or high? i would say, "femaletrouble" and "serial mom." audience: say again? john waters: and "serial mom." one was very early,one was very late. but i think they kindof sum up everything. male speaker 1: on apersonal note, the first time
i saw "female trouble,"i felt like it was the first time i heard thesex pistols, where i was, like, laughing but i was also scared. and my new roommateshowed it to me, so then i was scared of him. it was great, though. audience: thank you for coming. i hate asking questions intalks so i wrote mine down. so i would've read"carsick" last night,
but it wasn't published yet, so john waters: today's the date. audience: yeah. so, congratulations. audience: and i read"role models" instead. and so you wrote aboutleslie van houten. john waters: i did. that's kind of aserious subject. well, it was reallydifficult for me to--
and your next chapter isabout your sense of fashion. it was really hard for me to gofrom one chapter to the next. but so you talk abouthow she's still in jail and she's repeatedlydenied parole. and you make it clear thatyou think it's been too long. you even say that john waters: i make it clearthat leslie van houten is one of the threeoriginal manson women that has been injail since 1969.
she looks back on it withhorror at what she did. and has taken fullresponsibility. she is my friend. i've visited herfor a long time. i believe she did notget-- her first trial, she got the death penalty. her second trial,it was overthrown. she got a hung jury fordiminished capacity. and the third trial she wasfound guilty so she got life.
she did not getlife without parole. she said, if i got life withoutparole, i would never ask. but she has done--they have repeatedly told for 40 years you'reeligible parole if you do everything. and she has a great record. she's done everything. the shrinks, everything. and they won't let her out.
and i understand. i don't evercriticize the victims. they have theright-- i understand why they don't thinkshe should get out. but from society'sviewpoint, i do believe that shehas paid her price. she met a madman, one ofthe most notorious madmen of all-- she doesn't say that. she says that she'sequally as guilty,
because you cannot have acult leader without followers. i question that. i think she was 17when she met him. and 1969, which is probablythe most insane year that's gonna go down in this 1900, thewhole, you know, hundred years. so and she doeswell in prison, too. she teaches people to read,she does all the stuff. audience: which is an excellentsummary of the chapter. so, but--
john waters: butyour question is-- audience: my question is-- male speaker 2: yeah,do you have a question? audience: i do have a question. it seems to me that-- so, youhave this chapter in your book. and only a number of peopleare going to read that chapter. john waters: well, they readthe whole book, usually. audience: but i mean to sayis that you would probably make a better case you wouldhave a wider influence if you
were to write anentire book about it. and so i was surprised thatit's just in one chapter, as opposed to its own book. john waters: well, it's thebiggest chapter in the book. i think it's 40,000words or something. it was run on the huffingtonbut put in five different parts, it ran. my book was about peoplethat influenced me for surviving things,including johnny mathis.
you know, surviving greatsuccess early and still having a great life. leslie having this terriblething that she did and how do you live with that? so it was all the peoplethat really affected me. so i didn't want to writea book just about that. i wanted to-- yes, and thenext chapter is about fashion. then there's a chapterabout marine porn. it's very differentworlds to me.
but they all arebrave in a weird way. they survived something. and i've alwaysliked people that have had more extremelives than i've had, it's always interesting to me. audience: thank you very much. male speaker 1: does anyonehave a "hairspray" question? audience: where did youdiscover edith massey? john waters: in a barcalled pete's hotel
that you can see in"multiple maniacs" if you can ever find a copy. that's where she worked. she was a bar maid. and vincent peranioand susan lowe who were great friends thatwere in my early movies introduced me to her. and there is a chapter-- idon't want to give anything away-- very much about herin the new book, "carsick."
audience: just as a side, i alsoknow a guy who did marine porn. john waters: who did what? audience: marine porn. john waters: oh. was it bobby? the one i wrote-- ok. well, i only know bobby. but i don't knowwhere he is today. he's undergroundso, i don't know.
but i did get droppedoff hitchhiking in some military community. i thought, maybe he'shere, i could see him. male speaker 2: oh, i thoughtyou meant, like, sea life. i swear. i really thoughtthat was-- you're talking about armedforces military? john waters: talkingabout "see food." male speaker 2: sorry.
audience: actually, idid want to ask you, what do you thinkhappened to hitchhiking? when i was a kid, i remembermy parents picking up people. and when i was in highschool and college, and even through my mid-20's,that's how people got around. john waters: i think"texas chainsaw massacre," that hitchhiker hada lot to do with it. and "the hitcher"and serial killers and the fact that there areserial killer truckers that
have picked up womenand killed them. so i think it just got to becomea cliche of danger, really. audience: so isuppose, in a way we're doing stuff like thatwith things like rideshare and airbnb and thingslike that sort of gives it a cloak of safety. john waters: maybe, yeah. but also, isn'thitchhiking green? audience: i would think so.
john waters: yeah,it is, certainly. it's beyond carpooling. audience: absolutely. so, thanks. male speaker 2: thanksfor the question. male speaker 1: nowsomebody's going make the airbnb horrormovie and ruin that. male speaker 2: thecraigslist killer. i think he was waiting,back there-- go ahead.
audience: i have a question. my favorite line from all moviesis from one of your movies. john waters: well, thank you. which one? audience: it's from"female trouble." the line is, "i wouldn'tsuck your lousy dick if i was suffocating and therewas oxygen in your balls." john waters: that'snot a bad line. i like the one in"desperate living"
when he says, "i'd like to stickmy whole head in your mouth and have you suckout my eyeballs." audience: that's a good one. john waters: both are romantic. audience: but iwanted to ask you what is your favoriteline from movies? john waters: oh, i don't know. because, you know, there'sa whole chapter in here where somebody i pick up andthey refuse to talk to me
except for linesfrom my movies which drives me crazy in the book. that happened to me once,i really exaggerated it, but-- the most obscure line iswhen mink asks david lochary something, and he justsays, "n," which means no. that's my favorite line. and we use it around my officeall the time-- n, we say it. audience: i thoughtof you the other day because i was watching "theprodigal" with lana turner
and i know you're abig lana turner fan. did you ever-- john waters: well,i'm even more a fan of her daughter, cherylcrane, who is my friend. audience: did youever see this one? john waters: yes. audience: oh, you know it. john waters: but solong ago, i don't know what, i don'tknow each line.
audience: no, but imean, it's hilarious how it's ancient judeaand she walks around in high heels and aslit skirt, you know. john waters: lana was great. i met her at a thanksgivingdinner with lana turner once, with cheryl and her girlfriend,and it was quite a night. audience: well thanks. john waters: all right, see ya. audience: yeah, i was justwondering what inspired you
for the characternames [inaudible]. john waters: the characternames, i love to name them. i have to think up their names. like ready whip, well you'llsee why i named him that one. lucas-- i like names. i like tarantula'ssomebody's baby's name in it. randy packard, that'sthe one who kills me. so i don't know. i have to have their name first.
and i have this one babybook from the 50's names, that i've used for-- i'vealmost used every one of them. there's little checks by,you can see all the names. i used to have aboutfive or six of them. but there's one i like best, andit's an old dell book that was $0.25 "name yourbaby," from the 50's. that's where iget a lot of them. and the last name, i justhear them or i meet somebody, and i don't know.
and the lawyersalways go through and make sure there'snobody with both names, first and last, in your cityat that point in movies. audience: withlike, "hairspray," most of their names arelike the first and last are the same letter. john waters: well, i had thatalliteration, yes, yes, yes. yeah, tracy turnblad. audience: awesome.
john waters: thanks. male speaker 1: anyone else? no? so, you seem to be veryfascinated by crime, just in general. john waters: well, yes, imean i taught in prison. i would be a gooddefense lawyer. but i've changed on some of it. i apologized that for"role models," and kind
of dedicating "pink flamingos"to the manson family, and stuff. and i realized laterthat that was really unfeeling to the victims. so i did change after i taughtin prison for a long time. i don't have a favorite crime. i'm not for it. but i must admit,today i read this story that broke about these twogirls on the internet that
killed their girlfriendbelieving that some fantasy they were going to go to. and they're 12 years old. and they thought that they weregoing to live with this wizard somewhere. it's an amazing story. has there everbeen any-- [laughs] john waters: well, to me it is. male speaker 1: no,i didn't read it.
john waters: ineed feel bad news. male speaker 1: haveyou had any kind of rough interactionswith criminals? and have you ever-- what do you mean, rough? male speaker 1: oh i don't know. john waters: no, i getalong with them, usually. john waters: i mean, some. i pick and choose.
male speaker 1: there'sa part in the book where you talk about,possibly, well, it's kind of as a throwawayline of the next book maybe being you retrying allthe drugs that you-- john waters: yeah, i don'tthink i'm going to do that. i said, try every drugi ever took, in order. but some of them-- do ireally want lsd at 68? i think i've hadenough inner journeys. male speaker 1: ithink i just want
to ask one last thing beforewe-- if anybody wants a book, they're did you know about that? male speaker 2: the books,there's a few more for sale. i know a bunch of youhave bought them already. there's a few more. i think there's actuallyfour for sale back there. [whispers] i'm pushing them. john waters: very good. and i'll sign them if you want.
male speaker 2: and yeah,he'll be here to sign. but we can take another-- doyou have another question? male speaker 1:oh, i just wanted to talk to you aboutthe tone of your films seem to be very consistent. and i always wonder, youknow, we make videos. we make comedy videos. how do you getpeople to, sort of-- is there a johnwaters acting school?
john waters: well,it used to be, shout it as loud as you can. it was like sensaround. but today, i think i go for avery different kind of style. always the main thing i saidis, we're making a comedy. don't wink at the audience. say it like you believe everyline is completely true. that's why i, exceptfor tracy ullman, i almost never hiredcomedians to play the part.
because i don't want themwinking at the audience. so, it's the same. the tone in my book is the same. in "carsick," i want to just belike, i'm telling you stories. and i think it comesacross like that. the tone i always want is, thisis my world, and come in it. and i think you'll besafe if i'm your guide. male speaker 1: well, i noticedlike you worked with johnny knoxville, and for somereason i don't know why,
but that just seems right. he just seems like somebodywho'd be right for-- john waters: if divine hadn'teaten dog shit, he would've. male speaker 1:yeah, i mean, there's some obvious reasons for that. but there's people likekathleen turner, where you're like, yeah, i get it. what makes a great johnwaters leading man or woman? john waters: well, thatthey have a sense of humor.
they don't use the word"journey" or "craft" too much. male speaker 1: well,thanks for taking us on this journeyabout your craft. and if we want to, i think,should we do books, now? male speaker 2: yeah. john's going to be uphere to sign some books and you can chat with him. how about a round of applausefor john waters, everybody?
