Plot
Francine Fishpaw is an upper middle class suburban housewife in Baltimore. Unfortunately for this "good Christian woman", the money to support her lifestyle comes from her husband's porno theater, the neighbors are protesting, her son is the notorious "Baltimore Stomper", her daughter is knocked up by a local hoodlum, and her husband is having an affair with his secretary.
Keywords: abortion, absurd-humor, absurdism, aerial-photography, air-freshener, alcoholism, ambition, anti-pornography, artist, attempted-suicide
It'll Blow Your Nose!
Filmed in ODORAMA
Smelling is believing.
It's Scentsational!
Lu-Lu Fishpaw: I never wanted to use macramé to kill!
Sandra Sullivan: Children would only get in the way of our erotic lifestyle!
Cuddles Kovinsky: God, I wish I lived in Connecticut!
Francine Fishpaw: Dexter's been expelled from school!::Cuddles Kovinsky: For what?::Francine Fishpaw: For truancy!::Cuddles Kovinsky: It's just those common Baltimore public schools. God, I wish I lived in Connecticut!
Cuddles Kovinsky: Oh Heintz, she's straight from the gutter!::Heintz: A sporting girl, I would imagine.::Cuddles Kovinsky: A fille de joie!::Heintz: It saddens me that you have to see anything this common, madame.::Cuddles Kovinsky: Purr Francine! Purr, purr Francine!
Francine Fishpaw: [visiting La Rue in the hospital] Hello, Mother. Feeling any better today?::La Rue: How can I feel better with a drunken miser as a daughter?::Francine Fishpaw: Shut up, Mother! For forty-four years, I've tried to be a good daughter to you and all I've gotten in return is abuse. I've given you money - thousands and thousands of dollars - and still it's not enough! Well, I've had it! You can rot in that wheelchair for all I care! [storms out of the room]::La Rue: [faking a heart attack] The pain, the pain! My heart! She's giving me a heart attack! Oh God, help! Help!
Elmer Fishpaw: Choose your words with care, and I won't get riled!
Elmer Fishpaw: She's the hairiest woman I've ever laid eyes on!
Cuddles Kovinsky: Purr Francine. Purr, purr Francine!
Cuddles Kovinsky: Gee, Francine! You're the most drinkin'est gal I know!
Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole. It was filmed in Waters' native Baltimore, Maryland, and features a gimmick called "Odorama", whereby viewers could smell what they saw on screen through scratch and sniff cards.
The film is a satirical look at suburban life involving divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, foot fetishism, and the Religious Right.
Polyester tells the story of housewife Francine Fishpaw (Divine), whose life is crumbling around her in her upper middle class suburban Baltimore home. Her husband, Elmer (David Samson), is a polyester-clad lout who owns an X-rated theater, causing anti-pornography protesters to picket the Fishpaws' house. She also states that "All the neighborhood women spit at me" whenever she is at the Shopping Mall. Francine's children are Lu-Lu (Mary Garlington), her spoiled, slutty daughter, and Dexter (Ken King), her delinquent, glue-sniffing son who derives illicit pleasure from stomping on women's feet. Also adding to Francine's troubles is her snobby, class-conscious, cocaine-snorting mother, LaRue (Joni Ruth White), who robs Francine blind and only cares about her "valuable shopping time."