Performing Arts History & Criticism
Female Trouble
A Queer Film Classic
- Publisher
- Arsenal Pulp Press
- Initial publish date
- May 2017
- Category
- History & Criticism, General, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781551526836
- Publish Date
- May 2017
- List Price
- $17.95
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Description
A Queer Film Classic on John Waters' 1974 dark comedy.
The first title in the Queer Film Classic series to focus on the work of legendary director and cinematic camp icon John Waters, best known for the underground classic Pink Flamingos and his later more commercial works such as Crybaby, starring Johnny Depp, and Hairspray, which was also made into a hit stage and film musical. His films are perhaps best exemplified by his partnerships with the late, legendary drag queen Divine, who starred in his most outrageous films, including 1972's Pink Flamingos and its 1974 follow-up, Female Trouble.
In Female Trouble, Divine stars as Dawn Davenport, a young troublemaker who runs away from home and embarks on a mind-bending journey in a world "where crime and beauty are the same." In his review of the film, critic Rex Reed asked, "Where do these people come from? Where do they go when the sun goes down? Isn't there a law or something?"
Chris Holmlund's book examines the film's camp aesthetic and its position in the history of independent film.
About the authors
Chris Holmlund is Arts and Sciences Excellence Professor in Film and French at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her previous books include Contemporary American Independent Film, co-edited with Justin Wyatt (Routledge, 2005) and Between the Sheets, In the Streets: Queer, Lesbian, Gay Documentary, co-edited with Cynthia Fuchs (University of Minnesota Press, 1997). She lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based critic, author, film festival programmer, and university instructor. He is the co-editor (with Thomas Waugh) of Arsenal Pulp's Queer Film Classics series. He has been a film critic and reporter for the weekly Montreal Mirror since 1993. His first book, The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers (Arsenal Pulp Press), was cited by Quill & Quire as one of the best books of 2007 and won a 2008 Lambda Literary Award. His articles have appeared in a broad range of publications, including The Guardian, The Daily Beast, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Vice, The Walrus, The Advocate, The Toronto Star, The International Herald Tribune, Cineaste, Cineaction, Quill & Quire, This Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Canadian Screenwriter, and Xtra!. He teaches courses in journalism, communication studies and film studies at Concordia University, where he received his MA in communication studies in 2000. A two-time nominee for a National Magazine Award, Hays received the 2013 Concordia President's Award for Teaching Excellence. .
Matthew is also co-editor (with Thomas Waugh) of the Queer Film Classics series.
Thomas Waugh is the award-winning author or co-author of numerous books, including five for Arsenal Pulp Press: Out/Lines, Lust Unearthed, Montreal Main: A Queer Film Classic (with Jason Garrison), Comin' At Ya! (with David L. Chapman) and Gay Art: A Historic Collection (with Felix Lance Falkon). His other books include Hard to Imagine, The Fruit Machine, and The Romance of Transgression. He teaches film studies at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where he lives. He has published widely on political discourses and sexual representation in film and video, on lesbian and gay film and video, and has more recently undertaken interdisciplinary research and teaching on AIDS. He is also the founder and former coordinator of the Minor Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality at Concordia.
In addition to the titles below, Thomas is also co-editor (with Matthew Hays) of the Queer Film Classics series.
Editorial Reviews
This is a book to be enjoyed by both novices and die-hard John Waters aficionados. -Gay & Lesbian Review
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