I was familiar with Divine from when I was growing up. I had heard of his song 'You Think You're A Man' and his film 'Lust In The Dust. It was not until later that I saw him/her in 'Hairspray'. So I knew a little bit about him/her, so this film was a great way to expand my knowledge of this wonderful performer. I apologize for the fact that I'm not too sure how to refer to Divine/Harris Glenn Milstead. Neither do his/her friends. Glenn claimed that Divine was only a character he played but it would seem that the character defined his whole life. That is largely because he sadly passed away just before he was set to redefine himself in other roles. Like many performers who play characters, the character can overshadow the real person and so they have trouble being seen as anything else. Some performers embrace this stereotype while others try to break free with varying degrees of success. Glenn tried to break free but was unable to. This documentary is a very loving tribute to this brilliant actor and performer. Which means that you need to take all it says with a grain of salt. I'm not saying that Glenn did bad things that were glossed over but it is a glowing tribute. I still enjoyed it immensely and I learnt quite a lot about Glenn/Divine that I did not know. It is a truly inspirational story of how despite having many qualities which are not seen as ways to success, Glenn managed to develop a cult following. As mentioned above he was just about to go mainstream when he sadly died. I may get criticized for this but I feel it is further proof that performers who are defined by their size may need to get healthy.
While it was sad to finish the Festival, it was nice to finish with such a great film. I had so much fun at the festival this year. Seeing 20 films in 10 was wonderful. Only 3 of those 20 were any good but that is bound to happen. I cannot wait for next year.
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