Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Film fans like to debate what the greatest film of all time is. I don't really see the point in tying down just one movie and saying it's the greatest ever. In most cases where people offer the typical selections, like Citizen Kane, The Godfather, or Casablanca, I just sit back and agree. It's easy to praise great movies like those. Sometimes, though, greatness seems too easy. Where's the point in being a film critic if you do nothing but agree with everyone else? Now, I'd be the last person to say we shouldn't praise great movies and criticize bad ones, but there are times when the line is hard to draw. I believe that great movies can't be judged alone, but there are also bad movies that become great through necessity. So, if I say that Pink Flamingos is the greatest film of all time, who's to say I'm wrong?

I've only seen John Waters' infamous underground comedy, that he himself deemed "an exercise in bad taste" once, and I'm not likely to revisist it anytime soon. It is probably the most revolting thing I've ever laid eyes on. The plot was concocted to make room for all manner of disgusting activity, from bestiality to cannibalism to incest. It all is part of the main character's desperate attempts to earn her title of "filthiest person alive," and ultimately leads to the infamously vile climax, in which cross-dressing star Divine actually eats a handful of turd fresh out of a puppy's bottom. Some theaters provided barf bags for this scene, and it's not even the most sickening thing that happens.

The movie was made as cheaply as possible, which results in some laughably atrocious visuals that somehow manage to enhance the seediness of the content. The acting is beyond egregious, with all of the stars being close friends of John Waters, who wrote the script while seriously stoned, but insists he was sober while directing. That didn't stop the accidental on-screen murder of a chicken, which is a moment far less ridiculed then I would have thought. It seems like everything that touched the movie turned into filth, but as Divine screeches at one point, "Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!"

One good thing I can say about the screenplay is that it's strangely endearing. (I was unaware that "Babs Johnson" is an All-American name.) For every revolting moment, there is an equally charming one, usually from poor Edith Massey. She is one of the most hideous women I've ever seen and is constantly asked to wear revealing clothing and spout lines about her character's obssession with eggs. Did I mention Pink Flamingos is gross?

It's also an essential part of the fabric of cinema. It is a great movie because Waters knew that somebody had to go farther than anyone else dared, and he had just the nerve to do it. How could we know the limits of good quality if the outreaches of bad taste hadn't been breached? For the movies to survive, it is a requirement that there be as many bad movies as good, which allows plenty a bad movie to access the greatness their existence requires. So, for every Citizen Kane, there is also a Pink Flamingos, and they both have equal claim as the greatest movie ever made.