The Academy Museum to unveil a kitsch-tastic exhibit saluting filmmaker John Waters

Somewhere along the way, a few decades ago (at least), the envelope-pushing phrases "go there" and "went there" entered our lexicon.

And if someone "went there," well, they really went there: They crossed a line that had not been previously crossed, forded a stream that was off-limits, and dove into a topic/subject/pursuit that others may have previously found distasteful, surreal, or strange.

But long before we regularly started saying "he went there," John Waters, the celebrated, devil-may-care, ultra-outlandish filmmaker, had already arrived in a previously forbidden territory and made it fully his own.

From "Pink Flamingos" to "Serial Mom," the dean of déclassé spotlighted all manner of gleefully grotesque scenarios and terrifically camp characters, giving tacky types an authentic respect and an adoring due that Tinseltown had regularly refused, for the most part, to offer.

Now the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will turn that same spotlight on the merry movie-loving Marylander in a large and lovingly lurid exhibition, a comprehensive look back that uplifts the cineaste's vivaciously vulgar viewpoint, a singular vision that many creatives have attempted to replicate over the decades.

But there is, indeed, only one "Pope of Trash," and you can experience his eccentric oeuvre beginning on Sept. 17 at the Miracle Mile museum.

Greg Gorman

Greg Gorman

You'll take a trip through the director's "complete filmography," with several stops, of course, in Baltimore, the city that has long served as a main character in the films of Mr. Waters.

Over 400 pieces, including "handwritten scripts, costumes, props, posters, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and film clips," will fill the museum's Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery.

Look also for a "robust" film program, one that travels back to the filmmaker's very earliest works, those on-a-shoestring works that still boast oodles of oomph and attitude. You'll also enjoy odes to some of his biggest hits, including "Polyester" and "Hairspray."

Fan art will also play a rollicking role in the exhibition, as it should. Mr. Waters is famously a champion of outsider art, those works that don't fall within the rigid boundaries of what aesthetes might consider "normal," and featuring pieces by those who've adored his iconoclastic spirit feels right.

Look also for "Outside the Mainstream," an additional exhibition area highlighting a cutting-edge collection of avant-garde filmmakers.

"Known for pushing the boundaries of 'good taste,' Waters has created a canon of high shock-value, high-entertainment movies that have cemented his position as one of the most revered independent auteurs in the history of American movies," said Academy Museum Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Associate Curator Dara Jaffe.

"Waters's subversive audacity is matched only by his loving treatment of his characters. His cinematic worlds — consistently set in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland — are absent of mean spirit, which could account for his current phase of respectability, garnered despite decades of gleefully making 'trash' films."

"John Waters: Pope of Trash" will be on view at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures from Sept. 17, 2023 through Aug. 4, 2024. Your museum admission covers entry to the exhibition.

Updated Aug. 22