John Waters on Criminal Intent

The Sunday New York Times Magazine has a too short interview with one of my all time favorite cultural critics, film director and wit, John Waters who had this to say about justifiable homicide:

[New York Times Writer, Deborah Solomon] Is there anyone you would actually kill if you knew you could get away with it?


[John Waters]I find it repellent when people do yoga exercises at the gate in airports. I want to kill them.

[Deborah Solomon] That’s reasonable.

[John Waters] There are little things that get on my nerves, like people who have reading material in their powder room. When you go in someone’s house, and next to the toilet they have a huge basket of magazines, I find that repellent. I recommend against straining while reading.
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Waters also had some compelling observations about Leslie Van Houten, the Manson killer, victims of crime and one brilliant statement about Pope Benedict:

"[Deborah Solomon] As a Catholic who attended parochial school, do you have any sympathy for the pope?

[John Waters] No. I feel that Catholics who hide child molesters in the church are worse than child molesters. I don’t think anyone chooses to be a child molester. I think they’re terrible; I think they rob children of their dreams; they should be stopped. However, clergy that hide them do have a choice, and I think they’re worse than the molesters themselves."

I have been trying to say the same thing for years with thousands of words, and Waters says it all in a tossed off bon mot that is right on the bullseye.  Brilliant.   For more John Waters including a lengthy discussion fo the Manson killings check the Fresh Air airchive at NPR.