What 1972 cult film features a cross-dressing criminal named Divine?

The 1972 cult film featuring the cross-dressing criminal Divine is Pink Flamingos. Divine, the drag persona of Baltimore performer Harris Glenn Milstead, plays Babs Johnson, a notorious criminal determined to retain the title of “the filthiest person alive.”

Written and directed by John Waters, the film follows Babs and her family as they face rivals Connie and Raymond Marble, who want to take her infamous title. Its deliberately shocking mixture of camp, crime, sexual provocation, and grotesque humor made it a landmark of underground cinema.

Pink Flamingos was filmed around Baltimore, including Phoenix, Maryland, where Waters and many cast members grew up. It became known for its extreme scenes and “An exercise in poor taste” tagline. The film is the first entry in Waters’s so-called Trash Trilogy, followed by Female Trouble and Desperate Living.