Sat 9/20 @ 8:50 pm
By Hollie Gibbs
Go ahead; take a whiff of a dirty shoe. You know you want to. Inhale deeply that skunk smell.
Eagerly smell a fart secure in the knowledge that the rest of the theater knows it wasn’t you.
Come on, sniff some gas.
The CIA Cinematheque will show John Waters’ 1981 classic Polyester this weekend, among other films. Dealing with suburban issues of fetishes, suicide, adultery, alcoholism abortion and pornography, Polyester is one of Waters’ more mild films.
Picking up where Hans Laube left off, Waters originally presented the film in Odorama. Movie goers were presented with numbered scratch and sniff cards and welcomed to smell along with the movie as each number flashed. This weekend’s presentation will feature newly manufactured scratch and sniff cards, once again bringing the onscreen scents to olfactory life.
The black comedy is an homage to the ‘women’s pictures’ of the 1950s. Staring diva drag queen Devine and Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter, the movie also features hometown punk rock hero Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys.
The film presentation leads up to the live John Waters event the following weekend, but really, to appreciate the man one must first experience his movies. Now Clevelanders can live (or re-live) all the campy glory — complete with gimmick — like it was intended!
“It seems like it now takes a celebrity appearance to get Clevelanders to take note of the Cinematheque, which presents unique, exceptional programming every weekend,” Cineamtheque Director John Ewing commented. “Even Waters’ assistant complimented us on our offerings, calling them ‘spectacular’.”
Let Polyester blow your nose! Sat 9/20, at 8:50 pm, following A Geisha at 5 pm and Policeman at 6:45 pm. Sunday’s encore presentation is at 6:30 pm between Next Stop, Greenwich Village at 4 pm and Policeman at 8:20 pm.
Hollie Gibbs has a BS in journalism from Kent State University and studied photography at School of the Visual Arts in Manhattan. Her articles and photographs have appeared in numerous local and national publications. She can also be found playing guitar with various bands and building life-size monster props.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106
Cleveland, OH 44106