“The resulting feast of sex, violence, cruelty, and frivolity mocks sentimental notions of family, work, and love, and turns the egomaniacal furies of pop culture inside out.” - Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“One of John Waters' best and most notorious movies.” - Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
Friday, June 27, 6:00 p.m. | This series would be incomplete without a film from John Waters, the “King of Camp,” who lives and breathes artifice and lives exaggeration. In FEMALE TROUBLE, Divine stars as Dawn Davenport, a runaway who goes on a nightmarish journey defined by abuse, petty crime, cosmetology, and fame. Waters, aka the “Pope of Trash,” finds extravagance in the filth, which he embraces with all the seriousness camp requires. As Sontag writes, “Camp taste is a kind of love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges.”
Summer Camp | June 2025 Specialty Series
In 1964, the essayist Susan Sontag wrote “Notes on Camp,” where she endeavored to define “camp,” an artistic and cultural sensibility. The essence of camp, Sontag wrote, is “its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” In the 60 years since that publication (a brisk, 14-page read), camp has evolved and flourished: in drag culture, the queer community, and the fashion and music industries. In cinema, camp can be found in the extravagance of a sweeping melodrama or the movie that’s so-bad-it's-actually-brilliant, a film may read as “campy” because of its opulence or extreme performances, or we might call a movie a camp classic because its earnest seriousness makes us laugh all the way to the credits. For Summer Camp, we abide by one of Sontag’s most salient points: “Camp is, above all, a mode of enjoyment, of appreciation—not judgement.” Pack your bags, we’re going camping!
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu