Odin O’Sullivan makes the case for the critically underrated Crybaby
Have you ever thought about what Grease would be like if it were written by a gay catholic boy from Maryland, with a penchant for transgressive cinema and the thinnest moustache you have ever seen? Well look no further because John Waters is that boy and Crybaby is that movie. A woefully underrated satire of not just the musical/teen rebel genre so popular in the 1950s and 1970s, but also a polemic against classism, racism, and inequality. As Johnny Depp’s first starring role after 21 Jump Street, he is provided with the perfect vehicle to subvert and lampoon his heart throb image (his pickup move involves crying a single, solitary tear). Although Depp is the titular character there is a wealth of unforgettable supporting characters, including Iggy Pop as Uncle Belvedere who we are introduced to as he soaks in a much-too-small tin bathtub, and the hilariously weedy antagonist Baldwin (Stephen Mailer) and his band “The Wiffles.” Critically underseen upon its release in 1990 the film is now on Netflix and is rightfully considered a cult classic by many. Smart, transgressive, and a lot of fun. Watch this movie before Netflix inevitably removes it for being too good.