Female Troubles: No Subject Too Sensitive

Viewing Female Troubles directed by John Waters felt like an ongoing manic episode, though I enjoyed that about it honestly, it didn’t hold back on it’s content. I can understand how some might not have been comfortable making through this, it’s not common to find in our media to be unfiltered in it’s dark and raunchy comedy. Some jokes would be distasteful or needed to be worded better to be more acceptable now, though I saw reason as to why the humor was taken to such crude and extra lengths to make fun of certain subjects or groups. 

Any subject that was brought into this movie had to be made fun of, it had to be turned ridiculous. 

If you heard anyone say a quote from this film in any serious context it would be viewed with concern. Though that’s part of the weird enjoyment you can get out of this, if you know this isn’t going to be serious, it’s labelled as a comedy for a reason. Not all of it is tasteful or going to be for everyone, but it doesn’t try to be, it’s not trying to cater for everyone. It’s also made in the 70’s so viewing this film almost 46 years later, not everything is going to match our society's humor, and some things that are said are going to be not socially acceptable now compared to then. It doesn’t excuse it, but there's a different lens you sometimes have to view older films where culturally we’ve changed and not everything politically or morally align with any longer.  Using the r slur is primarily what I’m referring to. Having a mental handicap or being neurodivergent isn’t something we as a society tolerate being mocked and seen as a negative, or at least that’s what we have been working on or should be. 

Though with this film it made it clear that anything will be twisted into a comedic light, no matter what it is, even if it’s not something people socially would think of as being okay to parody, unless it was dark humor on yourself and your own situation. Though this film took serious subjects such as child abuse and had the main character do it so casually, as if it’s as normal part of a child’s schedule as as nap time. It’s done to the extent and dramatics that it’s clear it’s meant to be viewed as an absurd and distorted mindset of our main character Dawn and those she surrounds herself with. I think part of the reason I didn’t dislike this film was seeing its purpose warped comedy and sanity of our characters. So even the offensive subjects didn’t surprise me, especially for when this was made, I took it as the filmmaker Waters to be taking sensitive society subjects or ones many weren’t comfortable talking about or depicting in film at the time, lgbt characters, nudity, male frontal nudity, drugs. Though Waters decided to make it something where nothing should be taken seriously and nothing would be saved from being made nonsensical. Even mocking gay relationships but also coming back at it with calling straight couples sick and boring, nothing is going to be dealt lightly or without pointing out it’s ridiculousness or how dumb some stereotypes are and dramatizing it further to push it’s point. The fashion industry, fame and beauty were a huge focal point of this narrative. High fashion is already something that is parodied often even now, to poke fun of the stereotype that sometimes the clothes are eccentric (as are the people are seen in the industry) and impractical, as shown in the couple Donald and Donna. Though I enjoyed the spin Waters took with casting Divine as Dawn to be a focus of the high fashion couple, telling her she is beautiful and worthy of fame for her looks. When at the time to even now the high fashion society wouldn’t even consider someone like Divine to showcase there in their cat walks based on her body type and not a cisgender female and also overweight, all these things then and now socially aren't seen as desirable or up to beauty standard.