Now this is how you start your weekend during the holidays with class!

There’s no mistaking I love, love, love John Waters + what better way to sprinkle some holiday cheer than with a few words of wisdom from Waters himself in a film excerpt from ‘Jingle Bell Rocks!‘ presented by NOWNESS.  With the Xmas holiday soon upon us, one can’t escape it, as Waters says, what with all the commercials, holiday windows + that dreaded color combo of green + red – it’s the only time of year you can get away with it as it’s been branded into pop culture as official Xmas colors.  But I can’t lie, the I’m like a moth to the flame when faced with a variety of Xmas lights – need to take a moment to swallow it all in.  I’m aiming for a smoke machine under my Xmas tree this year – that should be something!

But this film follows the cult of the Xmas record through visits to Waters, Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne + Joseph ‘Run’ Simmons of Run DMC et al, where according to NOWNESS, director Mitchell Kezin, posits the Christmas record as a uniquely outré genre to be cherished, for its potential to tickle feelings of warmth + magic unique to the time of year.  Sure, most remember Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, The Chipmunks + Mariah Carey, transporting them back to childhood Xmas memories, but this film rather pays homage to obscure tracks like ‘Santa Ain’t Coming to Town’ + Teddy Vann’s provocative take on ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ 1973 single, ‘Santa Claus is a Black Man’ (which you can hear below)

sung by his daughter Akim. (As a first time listener of this song, why weren’t more like it created or maybe there were + I just don’t know, which is sad, I know.)  Of Vann’s song Waters said, ‘To me as a kid I thought what a great idea,’ who included the release on his 2004 compilation ’A John Waters Christmas’. ‘Santa Claus is a black man, I hope.’ 

But seriously, all Xmas memories should be filled with such precious moments, of your near + dear, wearing a santa hat in their mugshot, like the one of John Waters shown in the film.  Priceless!

‘Jingle Bell Rocks!’ is out in select US theaters this month, + available on DVD, cable VOD + digital platforms from December 9.

Enjoy!

(via NOWNESS)