Shock Value Quotes

“My idea of an interesting person is someone who is quite proud of their seemingly abnormal life and turns their disadvantage into a career.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“To me, beauty is looks you can never forget. A face should jolt, not soothe.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore. You can look far and wide, but you'll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style. It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“Cheer up. You never know — maybe something awful will happen tomorrow.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“If I could pick my own death, it would be on a roller coaster that jumps the tracks and careens into a packed crowd at a cotton candy stand at a state fair.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“How could you think of such awful things? liberal critics always ask. How else could I possibly amuse myself? I always wonder.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits during one of my films, it’s like getting a standing ovation. I’ve always tried to please an audience that thinks they’ve seen everything. I try to force them to laugh at their own ability to still be shocked by something. This reaction has always been the reason I make movies. I hate message-movies and pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming values. I like to think I make American comedies.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste