Episode 173: Shock Lobster

Rank & Vile

On this episode, we talk about early John Waters filth-fest MULTIPLE MANIACS!

To read the full transcript, go to https://rankandvile.captivate.fm/episode/episode-173-shock-lobster

Transcript:

Ryan 0:36

[Theme Song] Hey guys, welcome to rank and file the podcast where we are ranking every single horror movie ever made from best to worst and this is Ryan.

Quincy 0:43

And this is Quincy

Ryan 0:44

How's it going Quincy? How's your week going?

Quincy 0:46

You know? I've been finding a lot of solace in video games.

Ryan 0:52

Yeah, which ones which ones are you playing this week?

Quincy 0:54

So I just discovered a in the year of our Lord anno domini 2021 I found a flash game that I really love. Ryan Have you heard of Friday Night Funkin'?

Ryan 1:08

Never. Wait I wasn't aware that flash was still a platform This is incredible. What please What is this game?

Quincy 1:14

So Friday Night Funkin', which is available on Newgrounds

Ryan 1:18

Haha, holy shit. Holy shit

Quincy 1:20

But also itch.io for like real people.

Ryan 1:25

Man. Yeah, Flash games were some of like my first introduction to like anything on the internet. Like you you could not escape flash games back in the day.

Quincy 1:36

Well, hold on to your butt, Ryan, because not only is this a flash game, but it is a PaRappa the Rapper style rhythm game.

Ryan 1:46

Oh shit.

Quincy 1:47

Where you are trying to date your girlfriend and your girlfriend's dad is a demonic ex rock star. So you have to get in a Singing Battle to win your girlfriend's hand, which like the gender politics are kind of sketchy.

Ryan 2:04

Oh, sure.

Quincy 2:04

But all of the music is like hyper pop hyper pop 100 guix style vocaloids. And you just use wasde or the arrows and just DDR, with your Play Dance Dance Revolution with your fingers.

Ryan 2:20

You know what I was about to clown you playing a flash game on Newgrounds this actually sounds dope as hell.

Quincy 2:28

It is amazing. The music is infectious and has wormed its way very deep into my brain. It's got the perfect quantity of Scott Pilgrim and also just like, internet and micro genres.

Ryan 2:47

Yeah, I was gonna I was gonna say kind of Tenacious D with like having a Singing Battle with Satan.

Quincy 2:53

Yeah, so in the later level, you actually fight the mom, the demonic mom of your girlfriend. And the first song is a new jack swing song. It's like 90s r&b bop. And the mother is flanked by demons in hammer pants dancing on a limousine,

Ryan 3:19

God damn, that...

Quincy 3:21

So all the vocals are Vocaloid so it is 100% robots going "meep moomoomah meepmurp meep moop" depending on which way you point the arrows on your keyboard.

Ryan 3:32

Holy shit. This is honestly so I've been so I finished Yakuza Zero and I'm making my way through the series proper starting with Yakuza Kiwami which is like the the original game on PS2 that they remastered for PS4 anyway. There are so many mini games in it and also a lot of rhythm mini games where there's one where you'd have to disco dance and like it's a rhythm game and then there's the the karaoke mini game which apparently like... This was my first understanding of Yakuza was the karaoke mini game because of the meme with like, Baka Mita from the thing but with Dobby from Harry Potter's face superimposed over him on karaoke. The internet is so goddamn weird. And so anyway, are you familiar with Crypt of the Necrodancer?

Quincy 4:14

Oh, I I love that. So on my Nintendo. It lists the the games played from most to least, Crypt of the Necrodancer is in my top tier next to Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. So like, we're talking 200 hours worth of Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Ryan 4:37

So you're saying that like the the Spotify year-end thing that shamed me by being like you're one of Rob Zombie's 1% of super fans? It's just like shaming you like you have played so much goddamn Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Quincy 4:49

Yeah, yeah for sure.

Ryan 4:51

Oh my god. Alright, so let's get into it. Let's get into the movie we're doing this week. Holy shit. I'm probably gonna have to put a trigger warning at the beginning of this because I... Although I feel like we could just start off with the fact that like, Hey guys, this is early John Waters, which should I think serve as a trigger warning?

Quincy 5:08

So I just watched the I Am Divine documentary on Netflix, which is one of the major reasons why I wanted to do an early John Waters movie for this podcast.

Ryan 5:19

Hell yeah.

Quincy 5:20

And what I love is that especially towards the end of Divine's career, he was like, so many people have asked me about the dog shit. It doesn't matter what it is anymore.

Ryan 5:35

Man Divine's, honestly Divine's commitment to eating shoot like disgusting things on on camera puts puts her in like the top 10% of like, honestly, we jerk it to like Brando doing method. No, cowards. Divine will eat horrifying things on camera in a way that like, Look, Dustin Hoffman's ass isn't eating like raw animal parts.

Quincy 6:01

Oh, and in the documentary, they have shots from the day and apparently they just had to follow the dog around, and when they were filming Pink Flamingos they had to follow the dog around and John Waters was like, Divine, when it shits, just eat whatever comes out and they had given the dog laxatives to Divine's like it wasn't even normal consistency dog shit it was runny dog shit. He's such a master of his craft and I'm using "he" because everyone in the documentary talks about how it was simply a character, it's it's a drag persona and there is there's a pretty extensive part of the film where they talk about Divine's sexuality and they're like no Divine was not trans. This is a job. This was a thing and and he actually spent most of his time out of costume and frequently said like, well, I hate wearing dresses, but this is my career.

Ryan 7:08

So So I haven't seen the documentary but so I fell down. So upon rewatching Multiple Maniacs I did a deep dive

Quincy 7:14

We're doing multiple maniac, folks.

Ryan 7:16

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we're doing Multiple Maniacs by John Waters from 1970. Which this movie I feel I here's the thing.

Quincy 7:25

It's the first feature length John Waters, and it's definitely a nerd with a 16 millimeter. Not really knowing what he's doing.

Ryan 7:34

Oh, he can barely hold that fucking camera. Now the thing about it is the movie Multiple Maniacs. So you know, like, I'm, you know, watching it in the harsh light of 2021. As a, you know, I'm queer and nonbinary and tired, also. I also, you know, we do a podcast where we watch upsetting things, like technically for money. And so, you know, I've seen a lot of really upsetting stuff. And so part of me was tempted to be like, Oh, I get it, this is, you know, whatever. But if I if I had been a queer person during 1970 that had just seen this, I would have been rock hard to see this level of like, transgressive queer cinema.

Quincy 8:16

Yeah, it is. Wholly, and unapologetically, queer. And I think that's the point is, it's just a bunch of kids in Baltimore, saying, what can we do to freak out the norms?

Ryan 8:31

Yeah, well, and you know, I found myself wondering, like, I think I saw a portal to hell while watching this. And that portal to hell would be like a 16 year old queer kid on Tumblr now, having discourse about early John Waters with other 16 year olds, like trying to make sense of like, I feel like this is the worst thing I've ever seen and deeply problematic.

Quincy 8:56

So John Waters is also a notorious interviewer, and is always, you know, game for a pullquote. In I Am Divine he was saying, well, you all don't understand. It was the late 60s. And being gay was very dangerous. And he's like, frankly, it was a lot more fun, then he winks at the camera.

Ryan 9:19

I mean, that's kind of the thing is like, there's something--

Quincy 9:21

They interviewed Divine's girlfriend, and she's like, Yeah, um, we went to this costume party, and he dressed up like Elizabeth Taylor, and I thought he was so beautiful. And then we got to the party, and everyone was dressed like Elizabeth Taylor. And I thought that was weird, but I didn't think anything of it.

Ryan 9:43

Yeah. You know, that was just that was just the style at the time. I mean, you got to understand everybody was dressing up like Elizabeth Taylor during those days, the men, the women. Now, and honestly, the thing is, with John Waters, I this was years ago, John Waters was he was flogging a new book that he had out. And so I went with Christina and my buddy Anna and we like went out. So I think it's like Burbank or something where he was, you know, like giving giving a talk and sort of... The thing about John Waters is he like, he is a gay man. But he also comes from money in a way that like, he's never really had to worry about where his next meal was coming from. And so I think occasionally, like, you know, he's still an old white guy, like, Yes, he's John Waters, and he is like the prince of filth. But there are going to be some blind spots, especially with like a guy. I mean, this is a movie from 1970. Like, there are so many things about john waters, like he would say something spicy during the talk about, you know, like, trigger warnings on textbooks are bad because college is where you're supposed to get exposed to new ideas or whatever. And it's like, Look, somebody probably explained the concept of trigger warnings badly to him. And also he's older than shit. Like I'm not expecting him to, to have the same language we have to talk about being queer.

Quincy 10:55

So what is the plot of this movie? Multiple Maniacs?

Ryan 11:01

So Multiple Maniacs Alright, so we're starting out.

Quincy 11:04

Okay. And when I asked you what is the plot, I don't mean the Wikipedia summary. Because I read that Wikipedia article. And it is not the same movie I saw. It is such a belaboured, "No, no, no. What actually is going on is this." It's like, it is literally scenes, set pieces and and dialogue and then a transition to another scene and no real connection in between.

Ryan 11:35

I mean, that's, you know, here's, all right, you know how the plot of Purple Rain is Prince is awesome. Yeah. The plot of John Waters Multiple Maniacs is "Be gay, do crimes." Pretty much. Now and it's alright, so this movie follows a group of grifters slash sort of circus geeks like they're. They've got this like sort of oddity sideshow thing where it's, we started out with a guy named Mr. David now, by the way, Mr. David...

Quincy 12:04

He's actually just David Lochary. Like, everyone in this movie. They're like, eh...

Ryan 12:10

David Lochary, who plays a guy named Mr. David actually, what's incredible everybody in this place like Mink Stole play someone named Mink, Cookie, Cookie Mueller plays someone named Cookie Divine. Except Paul swift plays Steve. And so, at the top of this thing, you know, we've got Mr. David who has I want to say the worst haircut I've ever seen in this movie.

Quincy 12:34

It's It's so insane. Also, David Lockhart Lochary did all of the Divine makeup and kind of helped develop that aesthetic? David Lochary, he was the one that's like shave your hairline back to behind your ears. So we can put bigger eyebrows on you.

Ryan 12:54

Yeah, apparently, you know, and Divine even said like, I had never even heard the word drag before David Lochary. Like David Lochary was the one who kind of, you know, hipped, you know, hipped him to the whole thing.

Quincy 13:03

And David Lochary, he was a hairdresser. And you know, I don't want to come off too spicy on this podcast and say that hairdressers are notoriously bad at doing their own hair. But David Lochary does have a widow's peak. Dark roots, but bleach blonde curly hair mullet?

Ryan 13:28

Yeah, it's a real of "the cobbler's children go shoeless" sort of a thing. Like this. He's maybe it just he, you know, he was immune to his own. His own acumen.

Quincy 13:37

His hair was limp so Divine's hair could soar.

Ryan 13:43

That's what it is. He allowed his hair to be defeated so that Divine's could be triumphant. And he saw at the top of the movie, you know, he's got a not a megaphone, but he's like, he's pulling a carnival barker routine, where he's doing patter to like, draw people in. Now. He's just standing in the middle of like, a little pocket park in the middle of like Baltimore.

Quincy 14:03

Yeah, it is literally they walked down the street and set up and just like, go ahead and start talking, David.

Ryan 14:12

Yeah, yeah. And so apparently, like all you had to do to draw a crowd in 1970s is to like roll up to Baltimore with a tent and then promise the suburbanites all manner of horrors like these dudes kiss and this guy is on drugs. And you know we

Quincy 14:30

And also here's a guy that needs puke which made me about yarf.

Ryan 14:34

Apparently the guy who eats puke apparently that was creamed corn. Yeah, which is actually to me like more upsetting than puke because creamed corn is, it was devised by demons like i don't i hate creamed corn so much. And so you know, we get him sort of promising the people like you know, like, quote, "real actual filth who have been carefully screened in order to present to you the most flagrant violation of natural law known to man." And but he's just like standing in the middle of a field by himself yelling this, which feels very quarantine feeling.

Quincy 15:12

Just also everyone that walks by is like we don't really have time for that and they keep walking, he's like no really please come into our our cavalcade of debauchery.

Ryan 15:23

Yeah. Do you know what it is? This routine wouldn't have worked in Minnesota, because everybody would have been too fucking nice about it because it would be like come look at these vile degenerates making out they'd be like, "Oh, yeah, that sure is transgressive. There. Okay, I gotta go. You have a good one." Like they would just be perfectly nice and dismissive about it. But you know, so we get, you know, exposed to this group of people. Now and we, you know, we sort of keep cutting to back behind the tent and it's all of them. Quincy, you've seen Untucked from RuPaul's Drag Race, right?

Quincy 15:56

Yes.

Ryan 15:56

Where it's just all of them sitting in the untucked lounge talking shit. That's like most of this movie.

Quincy 16:02

It's like, um, the Boulet Brothers drag show where they're like, oh, the popular part of Drag Race is reading. So we're just going to make the entire show reading and talking shit in the green room and the one challenge of the week.

Ryan 16:21

That's what it is like, you know what? You know what I'm only saying about drag, it's too nice and approachable. What if we made it more mean spirited and catty, like we ratchet that up a little bit and make it more hostile and inaccessible? Now, we, you know, we get a bunch of the hippies like chewing on like women's underwear and like laughing and...

Quincy 16:42

A bicycle seat? There's a woman just like smooching a bicycle seat, which, how much of this is supposed to be like, satire of suburban hand wringing?

Ryan 16:58

Oh, I'm gonna say 100% of this movie. Now that's the thing. Like so much of this movie is a parody of it's like a rude parody of human relations by by an alien who's just like super bitchy. And just like, whatever. This is what you guys look like where you've got, you know.

Quincy 17:15

We also have to recognize that we are not of Waters's generation.

Ryan 17:20

Oh, yeah.

Quincy 17:21

So a lot of the things that come, it's just like how I had to explain the singular they to my parents by saying just pretend that the person has a mouse in their pocket because grammar was, they're like that's not grammatically correct.

Ryan 17:41

Which is also silly because singular they has been around since Shakespeare. Come on, guys. But yeah.

Quincy 17:46

Also, I mean, like, grammar is literally made up. Yeah, each language, we we just kind of make it up as we go along. And we all just sort of agree on on language.

Ryan 17:57

Yeah. Natural pronouns don't grow on fucking hedges, like we get to decide what words mean. Which actually, this reminds me of, I was talking to my dad a couple of days ago, and Sarah came up, and my dad like misgendered them and then was like, "Oh, shit, sorry. It's them. Right? It's them." And I was and I didn't have to tell him like, I love you. The fact that you are trying means so much like, he has largely given up on knowing how to do it with me because I you know, I've been my dad's kid for 34 years, so he just thinks of me as a dude. But I think the fact that he's doing it with Sarah is like, you know what, alright. You got that one. That's, that's good. I'm willing to I'm willing to work without. But yeah, like watching a movie made in 1970 with like, a mostly queer cast. Like, I can't even imagine making like, this was the movie that an angry young queer kid in Baltimore is going to make during this period,

Quincy 18:49

Oh, yeah. And it's like, you know, they're probably thinking we're smooching bicycle seats and eating creamed corn.

Ryan 18:57

Yeah, just all that kind of stuff. And you've got you know, the the normies sort of standing around yelling things that sound like autogenerated mean straight people things like, "why don't they like females? These are homosexuals in a tent!" like it's it's incredible...

Quincy 19:13

The way that two mustachioed men in the 1970s are kissing in this movie is shot as if it is a horror film. Yeah, it's

Ryan 19:22

Yeah, yeah. You know that you know that thing in fanfiction of people. "Their tongues battling for dominance?" It's basically that words like it's like their, their their tongues or cars and just crashing...

Quincy 19:34

Angles.

Ryan 19:37

Yeah, like there's I feel like there must have been like foley for the kisses of just like somebody gently stirring a bowl of chili. Like it's just it. It all...