Best John Waters Film
Writer, director, actor, and artist John Waters has been making avant-garde cinema since the 1960s. His movies have pushed boundaries and shocked audiences with their wild characters and surreal storylines, even as they offer piercing insights into popular American culture and society. While he experienced mainstream crossover success by the 1980s and into the 2000s, and has been embraced by many in the entertainment industry, John Waters is inherently an outsider –- and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He is a unique, visionary queer voice in American cinema. So for one of our 2025 Pride specials, the Great Pop Culture Debate looks back on 8 of The Pope of Trash’s most notable movies and attempts to name the Best John Waters Film.
Movies discussed: Hairspray (1988), Serial Mom (1994), Pink Flamingos (1972), Cry-Baby (1990), Female Trouble (1974), Mondo Trasho (1969), Polyester (1981), Pecker (1998).
Join host Eric Rezsnyak, GPCD panelist Jonny Minogue, and special guests Erin Marlow from the It’s a Fandom Thing podcast, and Joshua Grannell AKA Peaches Christ, alternative drag icon and host of the Midnight Mass podcast, as they discuss 8 of the most notorious John Waters films.
Play along at home by finding the listener bracket here. Make a copy for yourself, fill it out, and see if your picks match up with ours!
For more exclusive content, including the warm-up in which we discuss the other John Waters films that didn’t make the bracket, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today.
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Round 1 Match-Ups:
Not a Patreon subscriber? Here’s a primer on how we came up with the bracket.
Match-Up 2: Cry-Baby (1990) (1) vs. Female Trouble (1974) (2)
Match-Up 3: Serial Mom (1994) (1) vs. Polyester (1991) (2)
Match-Up 4: Pink Flamingos (1972) (1) vs. Mondo Trasho (1969) (2)
Want to play along at home?
Download the Listener Bracket and see if your picks match up with ours!
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Episode Credits
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panelists: Jonny Minogue
Guest Panelist: Erin Marlow, It’s a Fandom Thing podcast
Guest Panelist: Joshua Grannell AKA Peaches Christ
Producer: Bob Erlenback
Editor: Eric Rezsnyak
Theme Music: “Dance to My Tune” by Marc Torch
