During his lecture Thursday night, filmmaker and American icon John Waters said he doesn’t just want to make books cool again–he wants to make books as cool as drugs.

Waters also said he wants to make a movie called "Hooked on Books," which would depict "poor people breaking into parking meters to pay library fines" and "rich people sitting in first class crying because they’ve run out of things to read."

Waters is known for his controversial films including "Pink Flamingos," "Polyester" and "Hairspray." Many of his works showcase Divine, a 300-pound transvestite who starred in all of Waters’ movies until his death in 1988.

The Film Board, WesFest, Alpha Delta Phi and the Film Studies department invited Waters to campus. During his visit, he spoke to senior film majors, ate dinner with members of the Film Board, delivered an open lecture in the Cinema and attended a reception at Alpha Delta Phi.

"He is not a Wes alum, but he is one of our sons. He is definitely one of our own, and we claim him as such..." said Film Department Chair and Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger, in her introduction of Waters. "He is our naughtiest son. And we like naughty."

Waters’ personal collection is housed in Wesleyan’s Archives.

"When I realized that Divine’s fake tits would rest in peace next to Dirty Harry’s police badge, I knew this was the place [for my collection,]" Waters explained. "Wait ‘til I die, then you’ll get the good stuff."

During his lecture, Waters described some of the instances that led to his career in film, such as the time when his parents took him to see the Howdy Doody show.

"I walked in and saw the puppets and the set and realized that everything was fake and I thought, ‘this is what I want to do for the rest of my life..." he recalled. "I wasn’t disillusioned, I was thrilled to be in on the joke."

At the end of the event, a student asked Waters for the best piece of advice he ever received. Waters struggled with this question.

"I was given advice, but I don’t know if I ever followed it," he began. "...I think you have to be obsessed. Certainly if you want to succeed in art, you have to be obsessed."

In searching for advice to offer aspiring filmmakers, Waters explained that he often eavesdrops to get ideas for dialogue. He recalled a woman who announced the arrival of spring by exclaiming, "I seen a fly!"

"There were no dandelions or anything for this woman, a fly was all she needed," he said.

Also during the question and answer period, Waters praised the value of shocking people.

"It’s easy to shock people, but it’s much harder to make people laugh while they’re being shocked....Shock value is how you get people to laugh, to listen to you... it’s how you get
people to think about something, and maybe change their minds," he explained.

For most of his lecture, Waters gave an anecdotal history of his filmmaking career, beginning with a movie called "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket." The movie was a reenactment of the Kennedy assasination, starring Divine as Jackie Kennedy. It was shot in eight millimeter film, involved no editing and cost 80 dollars to make.

"One day, with video, I hope to break even," he said.

His first feature-length film, called "Eat Your Make-Up," told the story of a deranged government worker who "kidnapped fashion models and made them eat their make-up and model themselves to death."

"It sounds better than it is," Waters added.

Waters said "the worst thing" he ever did was make a movie about the daughter of a celebrity who jumped out of a window while she was on LSD. Divine played the daughter, and they filmed the movie the day she died.

"We had [the film] out before her funeral. It was mean," Waters admitted.

But he said he still likes the idea of "instant movies," and he encouraged film students to try making them.

" ‘Pink Flamingos’ was my most notorious movie," Waters said. "If I discovered a cure for cancer tomorrow and died the next day, that would still be first in my obituary."

"And before we get to the question and answer period, I want to say that yes, Divine really ate the dog shit," Waters said, referring to the film’s most infamous scene.

"Pink Flamingos is about limits, you know. I taught in prison for a while and most of my class was murderers. I showed that to them and they said, ‘you’re fucked up, man.’ "

Waters spoke out against the death penalty, and talked about a book called "the Menu," which is a list of criminals sentenced to death, what crime each one committed, and what their last meals were.

"I told my prisoners about this, and they’d say ‘oh, I’d have a big steak.’ And I’d tell them you can’t eat all that, because you lose control of your bowels when you die. That’s why I
would ask for one single leaf of arugula," Waters said.

"Polyester" was the first movie to employ "odorama," a technique in which cards of scratch-and-sniff stickers were passed out to moviegoers as they entered the theater. At various points during the movie, a number would flash in the corner of the screen, and viewers knew to scratch and sniff the corresponding scent on the card.

"I saw audiences all over the country pay me money to smell farts," Waters exclaimed.

"After ‘Polyester,’ I accidentally made a family film, ‘Hairspray.’ " he continued. "I remember the day I heard it was rated PG-13, I almost slit my wrists."

Waters’ next film, "Cry-Baby," was his first without Divine. The film starred Johnny Depp and Traci Lords, whom Waters said said he baptized in his house.

"[Depp] had at that point become a teen idol... and he hated it. I said, ‘well, stick with us and we’ll ruin that.’ And I think we did, but in the very best way," Waters said.

Next, Waters talked about two of his most recent films, "Serial Mom" and "Pecker." He described "Pecker" as "a feel-good movie about lesbian strippers, pubic hair harassment and sex in voting booths."

Waters received a standing ovation from a packed Cinema, at the end of his lecture. Students were turned away from the venue, which filled to capacity well before 8 p.m., when the event began.

"There is no better place for all of my mementos than this University," he concluded. "I’m very happy."