mrelwood I never watch or skip movies because of the director, but due to A Dirty Shame I think I should start. I knew nothing about John Waters before watching this movie, and it seems that's where I went wrong.A Dirty Shame is made in the 90's Disney style childs' comedy, but rated NC-17 and banned in Singapore. How could that ever work? I didn't smile, or even go "hm!" during the movie. I wasn't grossed out either. Needless to say, I surely didn't feel any arousement, while during most films (any genre) I do feel some. I love weird and black humor, but A Dirty Shame did nothing for me. To me it felt a lot worse than watching slapstick before it was hip again, a presentation that was as "out" of era as one can be. This could've been a worthwhile movie in the 80's, and might be again in 20 years when people watch old movies just so see how disturbed people used to be.I did see the "naughtier"(?) and "funnier"(?) NC-17 version.Although I might sound like it, I didn't take the movie seriously at all, and in real life I'm actually a lot closer to the sex addicted ones. While the movie is strictly a comedy, it bothers me that it gives totally wrong perceptions. Reading up on the director John Waters one should expect the hidden meanings to be all but biblical. However, I feel it's the opposite that happens.The movie: - Doesn't shed information or awareness on perversions, instead suggest you should laugh AT them. - Promotes cheating as normal behavior for sexual minorities. - Presents sexual minorities as rabid anarchists. - Promotes medication (Prozac) as (the only) way to heal from "sexuality". - Viagra only results in continuous uncontrollable sexual urge. - If you believe in God you can't have sex.It's the hidden meanings of A Dirty Shame that worry me. Usually the majority of the public in comedies are "normal", and the minority are thieves, crazy or abnormal people etc, and the hidden meaning or lesson is not to steal and be tolerant towards other people and to lose prejudice. But the public that takes the "normal" tag are über-christians in total denial of sex as a part of humanity, and the minority are anarchist, unfaithful, addictive people that have a sickness that can only be treated with Prozac. I know this sounds like I'm exaggerating, but that actually happened in the movie.The 12 guidelines presented when entering the biblical section of the movie were given way too much space. From there on I actually thought this is a very weird movie from some Christian director who wants to promote "God's way" of prohibiting sexuality, and in order to reach teenagers he decided to put the message hidden in a sexual comedy. There were several other "wtf are they trying to say here" moments as well.I don't think even 8 year olds joke like that on Viagra anymore. And a medicine mentioned in a 2004 movie, Prozac! When horny, wear leopard pattern and a slutty make-up! I see these as blatantly cheap way-outs that tells me the writer doesn't know anything on these subjects past stereotypes.If you want to get a better understanding on sex and sexual minorities, see a plot that has a goal, or be amused by sad acting or lacking characters, go watch a porn movie instead.

dwpollar Over-the-top sex farce by John Waters is funny throughout the first half of the movie but loses the story and just uses sex pranks and disgusting stuff to fill up the last half. I expect to be offended when I see a Waters movie but the story has to be complete for any movie to be recommended by me and this one wasn't. The story is basically about a sexually repressed woman, played by Tracey Ullman, who gets an accidental concussion that turns her into a sex addict. She finds out that there are others and they are led by a character named Ray Ray(a sexual healer) played by Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame. They lay in religious parallels like Ullman's character being the 12th apostle who's is supposed to bring them a new sex act to bring them to a glorious climax. Other religious stuff like putting down the 12 step program didn't set well with me. She gets knocked on the head again and brought back to her normal("neuter") self and this happens to other characters as well but then she gets brought back by another knock which is kind of strange. The group break up a sex addicts anonymous meeting and take over and this is where I kind of stopped liking the movie. They pretty much take over the area at this point and can't be stopped. Waters then throws in everything imaginable and it stops being funny. Definitely this is a revealing movie, but a little too over-the-top for my tastes. It's a dirty shame because if the story didn't fall apart it would have been a funny and worth-while movie experience despite it's many vulgarities.

nixskits The bard of Baltimore has made a career out of championing the outsider who can't or won't conform to what is considered normal. Over forty plus years, Waters gave us some of the craziest pictures to come out of the so called underground and stake a place in the popular imagination. Now, he's like the kindly, if strange Uncle figure to the world's alienated youth who find a kinship with his interests in serial murderers, body modification, the changing gender roles in society and making films his way, becoming one of the few true auteurs of cinema."A Dirty Shame" gets off to a kooky start with a scenario based on the apparently real facts about some head injury survivors developing a stronger sex drive, post accident. Tracy Ullman has her greatest US role as "Sylvia", a somewhat dowdy lady who gets to shock the whole city with her transformation from prudish to wild. Her husband (Chris Isaak) and very large breasted daughter (Selma Blair) are taken aback by the new Sylvia, who's "got the itch" and runs around Baltimore looking for someone who can scratch it!This disc has just as much wonderful behind the scenes detail, with many chapters (all worth watching) about everything from the real nature of unusual sex practises (now the proverbial cat out of the bag, thanks to the internet) to how Waters gets help with his soundtrack selections. "A Dirty Shame" is no grand thesis on religion and carnality. It's a wild comic ride through familiar territory for fans, this time with an NC-17 rating instead of the old Waters' standard of X (I've never liked this "NC-17" thing, to me it's like something the matronly woman in those old underwear ads would stamp on defective men's briefs!). The biggest shock nowadays would be if an elder statesman on bad taste like Waters made a totally family friendly movie and earned a truly shocking "G".

H_Spengler I want to clear something up right away before all the fans start clicking "no."I am a Waters fan. "Pink Flamingos", "Female Trouble" great B movie cult classics, even Water's himself making cameos here and there ("Seed of Chucky" etc.) So I don't want to be misunderstood as one of those people who just doesn't like anything he does. Blair, Knoxville and Ullman's families should all be instructed to love them less after starring in this dreck.Not only is the movie not on par with the usual atmosphere of Water's past classics, it's just downright stupid, and not even in a turn-your-brain off amusing sort of way. People get knocked in the head and are all of a sudden sex fiends....and not only that, soon the whole town is walking around with head injuries and trying to hump anyone that moves.....(sigh). Blair sleep walks campily through this film as a stripper with nightmarishly huge boobs and little else. Why she, after proving that she had obvious talent in other roles, ever agreed to this is beyond me. I can appreciate well known actresses wanting to do a "cult" or "B" movie because of love for a character or franchise (ie: Bridget Fonda's cameo in "Army of Darkness.") But not after reading this script and saying "Let me get this straight, I talk about how good promiscuity is and having huge knockers, and pole dance through the entire thing?" "Where do I sign?!" Ullman was a shocker. Was she hard up for cash? She should stick with the skit shows. Knoxville, well, i'm not real surprised at, it seems to fall into the category of everything else he'd been in up to the time this came out. (He's probably suffered enough head injuries from his "Jackass" days to explain his participation.) Although he's subsequently had some significant and decent roles, go figure. I wish there was more I could tell you about the plot, but there's not. Some group tries to redeem the sexually deviant, only to in the end become them themselves. Great. I was actually angry for wasting my time and rental fee on this trash. I know Waters is known for controversial, trashy movies, but the difference between this and his others is that they're fun. My advice, skip this and dig into your collection for the "Divine" era.