After his death sometime in his 43rd year, suburbanite Lester Burnham tells of the last few weeks of his life, during which he had no idea of his imminent passing. He is a husband to real estate agent Carolyn Burnham and father to high school student Jane Burnham. Although Lester and Carolyn once loved each other, they now merely tolerate each other. Typical wallflower Jane also hates both her parents; the three suffer individually in silence in their home life. Jane tries to steer clear of both her parents. Carolyn, relatively new to the real estate business, wants to create the persona of success to further her career, aspiring to the professional life of Buddy Kane, the king of the real estate business in their neighborhood. Lester merely walks mindlessly through life, including at his job in advertising. His company is downsizing, and he, like all the other employees, has to justify his position to the newly hired efficiency expert to keep his job. Things change for Lester when he falls in love at first sight with Jane's more experienced classmate, Angela Hayes. Both Janie and Angela can see Lester's sexual infatuation with Angela, who courts such attention from any man as a sign that she is model material, she having once appeared in Seventeen and is a career to which she aspires. Lester's infatuation with Angela gives him a reenergized view on life, where he openly doesn't care anymore what anyone thinks about what he does, anyone except Angela. This infatuation coincides with the Fittses moving in next door: homophobic disciplinarian US Marine Colonel Frank Fitts who rules the house with a military fist (that fist being both figurative and literal), his semi-comatose wife Barbara Fitts, and their bright and quietly subversive 18-year-old son Ricky Fitts, who openly abides by his father's rules while behind the scenes lives by his own quite different perspective. Much like Lester's infatuation, Ricky immediately becomes infatuated with Jane; he considers girls like Angela as ordinary. The entry of Angela and the Fittses into the Burnhams' lives ultimately leads to each of the players confronting what is truly in his or her heart.

Max Renn is the President of Channel 83 Civic-TV, a small television station on the UHF dial. He defends his programming of largely X-rated shows - which depict graphic sex and extreme violence - as a pure matter of economic survival as a small station. Behind closed doors in specific company, he would admit that he enjoys such programming, but as President will stay away from associated activities that may be dangerous for him in its purchase. His current girlfriend, radio personality Nicki Brand, who he met on a television talk show, is sexually aroused by light mutilation on her person, that despite or because her radio show is like an open air crisis hotline. On that same talk show, the other guest via video feed was Professor Brian O'Blivion - solely his stage name - who believes that television and video broadcasts will one day overtake the world as reality, which may make Max's programming in combination more dangerous. In Max's search for the next big thing in like programming already on Channel 83, Harlan, his pirater who scans satellite signals, illegally obtains a satellite feed of something called Videodrome, which depicts continual sexualized torture and murder with no storyline of which to speak. The background behind Videodrome is unknown, but believing it is that big thing for which he is looking, Max is determined to find the producers so that he can purchase it for his station. He is concerned for Nicki if she goes ahead against his warnings in wanting to appear on Videodrome, however it does not lessen his desire to purchase it. If Max in turn does not heed the warning of Masha, one of his long time show suppliers, based on what little she discovers about it, Max may discover that Videodrome is just the next but destructive step in O'Blivion's prognostication.

Hedwig, born male as Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a Gender Reassignment Surgery in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to - years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig - but then left with all her songs.

2001 film directed by John Cameron Mitchell

Sleaze queen Divine lives in a caravan with her mad hippie son Crackers and her 250-pound mother Mama Edie, trying to rest quietly on their laurels as 'the filthiest people alive'. But competition is brewing in the form of Connie and Raymond Marble, who sell heroin to schoolchildren and kidnap and impregnate female hitchhikers, then sell the babies to lesbian couples. Finally, they challenge Divine directly, and battle commences.

Francine Fishpaw is an upper middle class suburban housewife in Baltimore. Unfortunately, the money to support her lifestyle comes from her husband's porno theater, the neighbors are protesting, her son is a "stomper", her daughter is knocked up by a local hoodlum, and her husband is having an affair.

In front of the cameras and in public, famed Hollywood actress Honey Whitlock, a product of the studio system, is as sweet as her name. Behind the scenes, she is demanding and controlling, making life a nightmare for anyone who has to deal with her, especially her browbeaten assistant, Libby. She and her entourage are in Baltimore - what is emerging as the Hollywood of the east - for the premiere of her latest movie. The premiere gets hijacked by a group of guerrilla independent filmmakers, led by director Cecil B. DeMented, in wanting to make a statement against the Hollywood studio system and the bad movies they produce. Cecil and his band kidnap Honey in the process. What their goal is, with no money per se, to make their own movie starring Honey as a statement against the Hollywood studios. Their general process is to have the scripted elements of the movie, such as Honey's dialogue, being set against "real life" in they overtaking several of the Hollywood movie studio events in Baltimore, such as the filming of the sequel to

2000 American black comedy film directed by John Waters

Bad taste

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