Divine: Patron Saint of the Underground

Drag may be the opportunity to shake up one's own gender and become a legend for a short time.

And Divine, a drag queen legend, has transcended time and continues to exude her charm even to those who do not know her name or face.

Divine, whose real name was Harris Glenn Milstead, was born in 1945 to a conservative upper-middle-class family in Baltimore, Maryland.

As a student, he had a "feminine" personality, loved painting and flowers, and was overweight, which made him a target of teasing and bullying, just like many minorities of the time.
According to him, when he was 17 years old, he went to a psychiatrist at the recommendation of his parents and realized he was bisexual.

After studying at a beauty school, he earned a living as a hairdresser while becoming increasingly involved in Baltimore's underground/counterculture scene.

It was during this time that he met John Waters, who would later become known as a film director with a radical, shady, and "bad taste" style, and gave Glenn the new name "Divine."

The name is said to be taken from the protagonist of the same name in Jean Genet's novel, Notre-Dame des Fleurs.

Devine and John, along with a group of eccentric friends called the Dreamlanders, begin filming "the dumbest movie in the history of cinema."

John and his bandmates' work was known for its vulgarity and extreme taste, embracing almost every "shady" element of the era, and was welcomed as an avant-garde venture by hippies, LGBTQ+, prostitutes, and other outcasts.

At a time when drag queens were competing to be more feminine and beautiful than women, her enormous 140kg body, haughty demeanor, vulgar behavior and jokes were revolutionary.

In addition to film, Divine expanded his activities to include theater, and his fame was no longer limited to the underground.

He frequented Studio 54 and became friends with Liza Minnelli, Elton John, and Grace Jones, and was just as popular.

Divine was on the rise as a disco singer, enjoying several hits, but his success was also taking its toll on his mind and body.

Perhaps due to his naturally shy personality, he became addicted to drugs, and his obesity, caused by overeating since childhood, worsened.
In his later years, when disco culture was beginning to die down and his acting work was declining, he reportedly hinted to those around him that he had suicidal thoughts.

Finally, on March 7, 1988, three weeks after the US release of Hairspray, a critically acclaimed film in which she played a variety of non-drag roles, Devine died of heart failure in the hotel where she was staying.

Divine, who dominated American pop culture, continues to be celebrated by creators in various ways even after his death.

For example, Ursula, the villain in the Disney animated film "Ariel," borrows much of her Galactor design from Divine.

Divine is an eternal icon, having laid the foundation for the comical and vulgar drag queen scene, and being active in the gay civil rights movement. It could even be said that the familiar style of Matsuko Deluxe was inspired by Divine.

Divine has now earned a place in the world of his name, breaking boundaries with his tasteless jokes and bringing confusion, laughter and joy to the world.

In other words, he continues to influence us as the patron saint of pop culture, the underground, and misfits.

(Photo: Graziano Origa CC BY-SA 3.0)