25: Cry-Baby

 Brassfield Cinema Greensboro

1990

Beth Bernard

I had a girlfriend named Beth who was very knowledgeable when it came to all things Hollywood. She had posters in her room-James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.  She also had her own television and VCR-IN HER ROOM!  She had Heathers, The Lost Boys, and all the seasons of 21 Jump Street on VHS.

 I had never heard of 21 Jump Street-so she gave me a lesson.

I get it now-these young cops were posing as high school students..blah blah..and she ended it with this:

AND Johnny Depp is actually going to be in a movie and he is going to be famous. You wait Page, he will.

Depp?  Isn't that a hair gel?

Here, let me get the magazine. 

And she found the movie magazine that showed Johnny Depp in his movie, Cry-Baby, with the director..wait what's this?

He is working with John Waters!!!! Oh, why didn't you say so???

then it was her turn


John Waters?  Who is John Waters?

I knew who John Waters was-he had directed Hairspray. That was a great movie.  Although years later, my second personal favorite would become Cecil B. Demented.  I just like the idea of underground filmmakers kidnapping a starlet and forcing her to do their movie.



With the help of John Waters, Johnny Depp went from the high school narc to a cross between James Dean, Elvis, and Danny Zuko from Grease.  Throw a little John Hughes Pretty in Pink/Some Kind of Wonderful nonsense in there too.  The bad boy that is constantly misunderstood falls for the clean cut prissy good girl.  Why must she always be a blonde?

Off to the brand new theater on the other side of Greensboro to watch this non-traditional film with someone who to this day is a really good, good friend. We were maybe one of five people in the theater. Several people are afraid of Waters for reasons I won't go into...

I think that one will always be my first favorite for a couple of reasons:

• Waters made fun of the good guys. The ones that always did the right things. The people that never had anything bad happen to them ever.  The straight edges-the yuppies.  

• Cry-Baby could only shed one tear-until the end of the film. Ain't that sweet?

• Everyone, no matter how good they are, no matter how perfect they want to be, they are going to screw up.  Get over it. Have fun with it.  It makes you who you are.

• It got Johnny Depp off of the Fox Network and onto the big screen.  Could you imagine a life without Benny and Joon, Don Juan DeMarco, or the Dead Man? I can't either.  Tim Burton would have had a completely different cast list if it hadn't been for John Waters and his obssession with Teen Beat magazines in the late 80s. He kept seeing Johnny on the covers and had to get to know that kid....

I have always said, if I could choose to meet one AMERICAN (loophole) director,  it would be John Waters.  I want to go shopping at a Baltimore mall with John Waters. He could help me pick out the right pair of boots. And I want the highest heels he can find, with fringe!  I'll wear blue eye shadow. We could skim magazines and talk true crime.

Maybe he could explain all his blonde casting to this redhead.