How many of you have been in group therapy?That was the first question writer and filmmaker John Waters asked when he sat down recently with a group of superfans in Brookline, Massachusetts. He had just received a prestigious industry honor called the Coolidge Award and concluded an onstage conversation with arts journalist Jared Bowen before a large audience at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Related Filmmaker John Waters is raising money to help victims of Hurricane Helene Hes partnering with the daughter of queer horror icon Vincent Price to help raise money for those in need. Several dozen of his fans stayed after the award presentation to attend a more intimate gathering where they could ask questions and take socially-distanced photos with the entertainer. Waters has a similar arrangement after the 70-minute spoken-word shows he performs around the country, sessions he calls Group Therapy. Thats what the tickets to the Coolidge gathering said as well. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Ive never done it because I think people will tell what youre saying, Waters confided to his audience.But even though hes reluctant to take part in group therapy, that doesnt mean hes not willing to share some of whats on his mind with others. And judging from his appearance in Brookline, Waters has a lot on his mind, starting with the makeup of the new Trump administration.On the night of the Coolidge event, former congressman Matt Gaetz had just withdrawn from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trumps attorney general, and Waters didnt quite know what to make of it. They must have found something really bad about him, he said. He doesnt even wear eyeliner.His advice to Democrats and others who didnt want Trump to win the election: Stop whining. Just get ready, get ready.Hes perplexed by the rules regarding what people can say on TV these days: You can say f**k on national television, but you cant say fat on PBS.Hes not sure about a certain personal grooming product: Anal bleachwho would do that? he wondered. What is the color youre after? Do you have to do the roots?Not all of Waters musings were in the form of a question.With Christmas around the corner, he knows what people should give as presents:Give every person on your list books, he advised. Dont give them gift cards. Theyll think youre stupid.He knows for sure that the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz was gay: Hes butch and a coward. Hes a power bottom or a blouse thats a feminine top.He asked Divine to do just one take of the final scene in his 1972 film Pink Flamingos where his character eats dog droppings: Only one! Im not a sadist! John Waters won the Coolidge Award for original, challenging workJohn Waters receives the Coolidge Award at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on November 21, 2024 | Iz Indelicato/Coolidge Corner TheatreThis was the 20th year of the Coolidge Award, which recognizes an artist whose work is consistently original and challenging. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is an independent cinema and cultural institution with four screens and the capacity to seat more than 700 people. The original structure was built in 1906 as a Universalist church, transformed in the 1930s to an Art Deco movie palace and recently expanded.Since 1989, Coolidge Corner Theatre has been operated by a non-profit organization, the Coolidge Theatre Foundation, known for its contemporary independent film, repertory and educational programming. Past recipients of the Coolidge Award include Meryl Streep; Jonathan Demme; Michael Douglas; Julianne Moore; Liv Ullmann; Ruth E. Carter; Jane Fonda; Viggo Mortensen and Werner Herzog, among others.We cant think of a more brilliant artist to celebrate for the Coolidge Awards 20thanniversary than John Waters, said Coolidge Program Director Mark Anastasio. His movies have long been a staple of our programming, and his filmography remains one of the funniest, filthiest and most subversive in cinema history. Waters, 78, has written and directed 16 films, from so-called celluloid atrocities such as Female Trouble and Multiple Maniacs to more mainstream fare such as Hairspray and Serial Mom. Hes written 10 books, includingShock Value,Role Models, andCarsick.The ultimate multi-tasker, hes also a visual artist, fashion model, voiceover actor, camp counselor and popular graduation speaker. Next spring, hell teach a masterclass on filmmaking as part of a college course on Film Directors and Authorship.To celebrate the Coolidge Award, Waters took part in what amounted to three events in one at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, starting at 3 p.m. and ending just before 11 p.m. First was a screening of his 2000 black comedy Cecil B. Demented, with an introduction by the filmmaker and remarks after the movie ended. Second was a fast-paced conversation with Bowen, followed by the presentation of the Coolidge Award. Third was the Group Therapy session with superfans who paid extra to meet with Waters in a smaller theater upstairs at the Coolidge Center. All of the proceeds went to the non-profit that runs and programs the arts center.At another prestigious ceremony this year the 74thannual American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards in Los Angeles, where he received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award Waters delivered a speech in which he discussed his approach to film editing, before an attentive audience of movie industry professionals. Speaking at the historic Royce Theater on the UCLA campus, he talked about everything from deciding when to cut a scene from a movie to the influence of a censor board and also the use of songs instead of narration to convey plot points.The Coolidge event was geared more to the general public than to film editors. There was no lengthy acceptance speech, just Waters brief, heartfelt, Thank you so very much, it means a lot to me, with no irony, for real. He didnt perform his holiday spoken-word show. He pretty much just graciously responded to questions and used them as a springboard to talk about a wide range of subjects on his mind, in the sort of stream-of-consciousness outpouring of wit and wisdom that fans have come to expect from him. Some of his remarks were about topics hes addressed before; others pertained to news of the day or subjects he doesnt usually address in his spoken-word shows, such as his admiration for the artist Cy Twombly.For anyone who went to all three segments of the Coolidge celebration, and many did, it was like watching several of the sit-down interviews that Waters does with Bill Maher unscripted, free-wheeling, bouncing from one subject to another. It was also a good look at a talented performer at the top of his game. That was his Thank You speech, essentially. His mix of facts and commentary was all the more illuminating because it was so wide-ranging and spontaneous.During Waters appearance in Brookline, certain subjects came up more than once, including the holidays, films and filmmaking, his family, his obsessions, the old days, the future. And as the author of a book titledMr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder,he couldnt refrain from offering a bit of advice. With the holidays in mind, he had a suggestion for party hosts: If you want to know whos snooping in your medicine cabinet, he said, put some marbles on the shelves and then close the door.When the snoop opens the cabinet, the marbles will roll out and make noise and then youll know. If you have a party, you should do that, he said.For people going to see a movie on a date, he advised, choose the location wisely.This is a theater, he said, looking around the Coolidges main auditorium.This is a church, this theatreIf you go to a regular mall theater, youre not going to get laid but you might here.He doesnt advise young people to take acid, even though he wrote inMr. Know-It-Allabout doing so at age 70. I dont tell young people to take acid. I tell old people to. They can say its not dementia, Im tripping! Waters also had plenty to say about filmmakingJohn Waters speaks the Coolidge Award at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on November 21, 2024 | Iz Indelicato/Coolidge Corner TheatreMy films were never mainstream, he said, but they always had an audienceEven in church basements we sold out.He had a good reason for showing his early films in a church: I knew I couldnt get busted in a church.He knows who came to see his early films and still come: Minorities that dont fit in with their own minorities. Thats my core audience.He believes theres a fine line between bad taste and good taste: Bad taste and good taste are very close. And sometimes theyre exactly the same.Two celebrities with whom hed like to make a movie: Meryl Streep and Eminem.Hairspray, the 1988 movie in which a pleasantly plump teenager teaches a whole city about integration, was the most radical thing I ever didIts a Trojan horseEven the racists like Hairspray, he said.Theres no such thing as bad publicity except when you have to go to the doctors office and others in the waiting room ask whats wrong with you: As Gore Vidal once said [about bad publicity], You know what is worse? When it stops. As for the status of a possible movie version of his 2022 novel,Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance: Waters has written the script for a film adaptation of his book and confirmed Aubrey Plaza as the potential star, but it hasnt been funded. Hes exasperated that audiences keeping asking about it when there are no new developments.There is not one new thing to say about it, he said in response to a question from the audience. I said it six months ago and nothings changed. We dont have the money to make it now. Could that change tomorrow? Maybe.The film industry is going through a period of uncertainty, he said: Right now its very hard to get a movie made. Theres no one who can say yes. Everyone is in panic mode right now. Waters anticipated that historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. was going to discover a slaveowner among his ancestors when he agreed in 2021 to appear on the PBS genealogy series, Finding Your Roots: I knew they were going to find slaves. I grew up in the South.Gates often finds slaveowners in the backgrounds of celebrities; it seems to be a running theme of his program. But Waters arguably didnt come across as badly as the other person who appeared on the same program that he did, actress Glenn Close. They found more slaves in her family, he noted. I was relieved.Waters thinks his late father had reason to regret naming him John Waters Jr. After he began making movies, he said, My father got all the phone calls in the middle of the night. Hes grateful his parents supported him the way they did.Did I ever think that the Academy [Museum of Motion Pictures] would give me a show of 12 rooms to myself? No. But did I ever think that was impossible? No. I was raised to believe that anything I could do, I could. My parents did give me that. They made me feel safe. Thats all I asked, he said.Waters doesnt like it when reporters ask at the end of an interview: Is there anything else that youd like to say that I didnt ask about? No. Thats not the way it works. If he has to tell a reporter what questions to ask, he said, I should get part of your salary.He wont hire anyone who says certain words in an interview: If an actor ever uses the word journey, I dont hire them. He feels the same way about the word humble.Waters on artistic influences, cancel culture, & staying in ones hometownWaters greatly admires the late Andy Warhol, saying he was a huge influence on him.Of course he was an influence. Hes an influence on every artist thats working in America today, Waters said. He was brilliantAndy invented branding, almost.Among other feats, Waters said, Warholbrought drugs and gay people together at last. That was very important, because gay people were square before Andy.Warhol offered to pay for the filming of Female Trouble, but Waters declined: I said nobecause it would have been Andy Warhols Female TroubleI knew enough to say no.Despite that, Warhol put Divine on the cover ofInterviewmagazine. He was supportive of us, always, Waters said. He was a friend to me, and I have very good memories of him. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CY TWOMBLY ABSTRACT ART (@cytwombly_)Waters said Twombly, known for his bold brushstrokes, squiggly lines and shaky handwriting, is definitely my favorite artist. Waters once took the corner of an envelope on which Twombly had written his return address and hung it on the wall as a work of art.I got to know him and I love him because his first scribbles were so shocking that people would throw them away, those first blackboard paintings. They would be worth millions of dollars now.Twomblys abstract art made peopleso mad, which I love, Waters said. Some people thought his art was nothing but scribbles, but try doing them. Its impossible to imitate himAll good art ruined what came beforeThats my view on art. A visual artist himself, Waters said he also respects Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian artist who sold a banana duct-taped to a wall at auction for $6.2 million. (The buyer, Hong Kong-based crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, later ate the fruit, saying, It tastes much better than other bananas. Indeed, quite good.)Good for him, Waters said. Its conceptual art, and I dont understand why that pisses people offI think whoever bought it is brave and smart and I think its great. Thats what art is an idea. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maurizio Cattelans banana (@cattelanbanana)Waters always puts in a good word for his hometown of Baltimore, where he still has his main residence. But he thinks the city is missing an opportunity in the way it markets itself.He once proposed a bumper sticker that acknowledges the citys quirks and foibles: Come to Baltimore and Be Shocked! Now he has a suggestion for two more slogans that acknowledge the less-than-inviting reputation it got as the setting for HBOs crime drama series, The Wire.Its still like The Wire, he said. I think we should have bumper stickers that say that: The Wire: Its Still Like That. Or: Id Turn Back If I Were You.Waters told the audience that Baltimore is still a cool place to live. He calls it a new Bohemia.First of all, the young cool kids dont leave, and If they do, they come back, he said. And second, its cheap. So theres dangerous streets that are opening good restaurants. Theres bad neighborhoods where gay people can move in and make it betterYou can buy a manor in Guilford, the fancy neighborhood, for what an efficiency apartment costs in New York. And its easy to get everywhere. Waters said he thinks that everybody should stay where they were born and never leave, that they should embrace where they came from.It would be the greatest country ever, he said. You just stay where you are and make it betterIt used to be you had to go to New York, especially to see certain movies. But now, you can live anywhere. You can live in Des Moines, Iowa. Nothing against that either.Cities are very different today, with the internet and everything, he said. There is less local color because everywhere is more like [everywhere else]. I live in airports, so when I come to a city, I could be anywhere. The hotels are the same. The stores are the same, everything. Maybe thats good. Then every person in that town can maybe watch a weird movie, see a Gaspar Noe movie. You dont have to go to New York to see it. Looking back on his career, Waters insists his sense of humor hasnt changed Im exactly the same but over time other peoples sense of humor got pulled in my direction.He thinks he knows why he hasnt been canceled the way some entertainers have: I always tried to make people laugh, he said. Im not mean-spirited. I think thats why Ive lasted this long.Having a sense of humor is the key: Ifyou have a sense of humor about yourself, youll be accepted eventually through humor. Several days after the award ceremony, Waters embarked on a coast-to-coast tour of holiday shows, called A John Waters Christmas. The tour is taking him to more than dozen cities between December 1 and December 19.Waters told the audience hes not slowing down largely because he keeps getting job offers a fashion campaign for Saint Laurent here, voiceover work for Nordstrom there, a gallery show on the West Coast, his year-end 10 Best Movies list for Vulture.com. Many of his stage appearances are pegged to anniversaries of his movies. He said hes a carny like his idol, the director William Castle. He dreams up ideas in the morning and sells them in the afternoon.The last questioner of the night asked Waters what his secret is, how he finds the energy to keep going.I dont know how I cantNOTdo them, he replied, when theyre offered and Im alive.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.