I Am Divine
Packed with great interviews and clips, this dynamic, fun and often poignant portrait of the legendary Divine brings to life a complex understanding of John Waters's favored muse. I Am Divine is the story of Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, from his humble beginnings as an overweight, teased Baltimore youth to internationally recognized drag superstar through his collaboration with filmmaker John Waters. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine was the ultimate outsider turned underground royalty. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture. I Am Divine is a definitive biographical portrait that charts the legendary icon's emotional complexities and rise to infamy.
Running Time
91 mins
Year
2013
Kanopy ID
1154029
Filmmakers
Languages
Subjects
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Comments (3)
A+ I was a tiny bit put off by the endorsement of rugged individualism ("follow your dreams!") that it sometimes gives off (not that you shouldn't, but c'mon, really?), but John Waters final pronouncement that Divine stood in for all outsiders explains my attraction. If you've been made fun ...Read more
A+ I was a tiny bit put off by the endorsement of rugged individualism ("follow your dreams!") that it sometimes gives off (not that you shouldn't, but c'mon, really?), but John Waters final pronouncement that Divine stood in for all outsiders explains my attraction. If you've been made fun of, or got beat up in school, and no one--not even your mother--wanted you, Divine embraced it and turned it into a love to perform for others and made you feel like you were okay, even if no one else did. So that's something not a lot of other people can do, and it makes Divine special and worth the attention, still.
Read lessThe absolute best dock on Divine and the Waters cult ever made ! Sans the hype and bullshit.
Such an awesome documentary! I'd seen Divine in a few John Waters movies but didn't know about the person behind the performer. He seemed like such a fun and sweet man. It was cool to see clips from other films in and out of drag, clips from live theater and drag shows and also his musical ...Read more
Such an awesome documentary! I'd seen Divine in a few John Waters movies but didn't know about the person behind the performer. He seemed like such a fun and sweet man. It was cool to see clips from other films in and out of drag, clips from live theater and drag shows and also his musical career. He was so important in bringing drag performance to a mainstream audience and in such unique and awesome way.
Read less