Although he hasn’t directed a movie since 2004’s A Dirty Shame, cult icon John Waters has been busy making cameo appearances in videos with The Lonely Island and writing a book about his experiences hitchhiking across the country. He’s also made a new movie, sort of, called Kiddie Flamingos, a filmed table read of his 1972 movie Pink Flamingos with child actors playing all of the parts.
Those who have seen Pink Flamingos know it contains little in the way of material appropriate for children to perform, see, or even know exists. To take the edge off, Waters removed all obscenities from the script and reworked the story so that it played out in a more kid-friendly fashion. For example, the original film features a Maryland couple who forcibly impregnate kidnapped hitchhikers and sell their babies to finance an elementary school heroin ring. The new version, by way of contrast, features those same characters stealing talking baby dolls from wealthy families. In an interview with The New York Times, Waters said that he hoped the result would be “even more perverse than the original, because it’s transforming innocence into a whole new kind of joyous, G-rated obscenity.”
The 74-minute film will play on a loop at Waters’ upcoming art exhibition, “Beverly Hills John,” at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York City. The exhibition will run from January 9 to February 14. The performers will find out just what in the world they appeared in as soon as their parents think they’re old enough.