![]() I was afraid I would somehow become instantly corrupted as it was clear that these movies were of an adult nature. I had never seen anything like them before and I was almost scared to pick them up. They were incredibly cruddy, sun-faded video boxes featuring images of a large, cartoonish woman with elaborate hairstyles and weird clothes. The boxes read: Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. My first introduction to Divine was when I was around 12 years old and saw a couple of strange movies on the shelves at the local National Video in Springfield, Ohio. You just can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on-camera partly because of his large frame, but mainly because of his wonderfully funny expressions, gestures, and that incredible voice! I also admired him as a wildly original and truly funny actor. You don’t need to follow the crowd and-most importantly-never, ever take yourself seriously. ![]() I learned from him that you don’t ever have to be “normal” or ordinary. His characters and personality have completely and totally influenced my artwork, my imagination, my sense of humor and style, and believe it or not, my self-esteem. Divine has been the biggest influence in my life both creatively and personally. I have a fairly large collection of his films, records, photographs, interviews, and stage appearances. Sadly, and like so many other unique and talented performers, his life was cut short much too soon.Īs many of my friends and colleagues are well aware, I am rabidly obsessed with everything related to Divine. He was finally shedding the “drag queen” stigma and beginning to be appreciated and acknowledged as a true talent instead of a “transvestite” or freak. At last he was getting the one thing he had always dreamt about: acceptance from his peers as a legitimate actor and performer. Divine was at an exciting moment in his career as he was receiving terrific reviews for his dual role in the recently released Hairspray. It was on the eve of his debut performance on FOX television’s popular show, Married. Harris Glenn Milstead) passed away in his sleep from heart failure. Twenty-one years ago, on March 7, 1988, legendary comic performer Divine (a.k.a. From Maniac to Mother: Remembering Divine Published on March 30th, 2009 in: Issues, LGBTQ, Movies, Underground/Cult |
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