I Am Divine

Now, I would never, ever say that Harris Glenn Milstead (aka. Divine) was my kind of people - But after watching this bio-documentary, I was relieved to find out that there was more to this particular character besides being an outrageous, 350 lb., drag queen who once actually ate a real dog turd (on screen) as an obvious ploy to gain worldwide, cult-status recognition.

In "I Am Divine" - It sure seemed to me that just about everyone (and their dog) who ever met Divine came out of the closet to gush over him and paint an almost unrealistic picture of this entertainer who (though he had a real foul mouth) was, in reality, as adorable (and harmless) as a Care Bear.

To say that Milstead (born 1945) played the Divine character to the absolute hilt would be a total understatement. But one could easily tell that as he matured into his 30's, the thrill of constantly reinventing this in-your-face persona clearly began to wane.

I think it's the ultimate irony-of-ironies that, as an actor, Glenn really only played the role of a man once in his lifetime (as Hilly Blue in 1985's Trouble In Mind). And when he finally did achieve respectability as an actor, he up and died, at 42, from a massive heart attack.

All-in-all - I'd say that under all of that mascara and over-the-top behaviour, Glenn Milstead was probably an alright guy with irritating idiosyncrasies just like everyone else.

Heartfelt & sincere portrait of a performer who was the personification of "larger than life". Fills in a lot of gaps for those who weren't aware of any "non-Waters" efforts. Not many surprises, but engaging nonetheless. #nitrosMovieChallenge.

I learned so much more about Divine through this documentary. I was aware of him and his cult following but didn't know much about him. This documentary showed me the profound impact Divine had on pop culture despite being a cult figure. I'm happy Harris got his wish of being a movie star granted. This documentary did a great job of exploring his early life, how he was always more feminine ever since he was a child and although it was obvious that he was gay from a young age, his family and those around him were in denial of it since this wasn't accepted at the time. Knowing this makes it more satisfying to see him succeed doing what he always wanted to do. The documentary shows how Divine was a trendsetter in so many ways, from the makeup to his music career, Divine truly is a cultural icon. They show interviews of Harris speaking for himself, so it's not just one big "he said, she said" project. This documentary truly gave me a new appreciation for Divine. I already found her interesting but now I love her and I'm happy that despite how short her time in the limelight was, her dream came true. She sure showed those bullies and her star is still shining to this day. Definitely worth a watch.

Pure curiosity lead me to this one and it was really worth the watch. Maybe I am incredibly stupid, but I never knew that John Waters wrote Hairspray and had Divine play the original Edna Turnblad! This is like any other bio-documentary; lots of interviews, some old footage; a journey through the life of someone meaningful. I enjoyed it, but this is one for a more specific audience. After seeing this, I will be adding quite a few films to my watchlist...

This documentary seems to be more about how John Waters supposedly shaped the career of Divine, than about Divine herself. We see lots of talking heads from the Waters camp and their anecdotes about working and living with Divine. Waters himself comes across as a bit envious, taking digs at Divine, with that glib smug smirk of his. I don't think he ever got over the fact that Divine, made his career, and not vice versa. Surprisingly, Ricki Lake comes across as rather unpleasant when talking about Divine, too. Mink Stole expresses genuine kindness for Divine on a personal level (she's adorable). For good, or for bad, their interviews make it all the more obvious that the only true film star / pop icon amongst them was Divine.

The film has a bit of television show feel about it. For my personal liking, there are too many clips from the Waters films, that Divine fans have probably seen a hundred times over. It takes up precious time that could have been dedicated to revealing something so far not seen or known about Divine. Everything is of course spiralling towards the "eat dog poo on camera" landmark moment. And of course, all credit for this "master stroke of genius" goes towards Waters (biased very much).

I was very much expecting the singing career part of Divine to be elaborated upon, as to me it was her natural progression from her film work, where her Drag persona was further polished. But that part of her life is severely neglected in this documentary. In Europe, Divine is more so known for her music than her films. Her television performances on pop chart shows were on a par with some of the best of 80s music videos (dare I say far superior to the Waters movies). But there is not much evidence of that in this documentary.

Probably there was only enough money to pay for the Waters camp to have a natter about the film years, and it's a wrap. Ready for the LGBT film festival circuit, and ready to be applauded by all the gullible fools who merely need an easy saccharine nostalgia fix. That's the unsatisfied feeling I was left with after watching it.