In Billy Wilder’s 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond, the aging silent-movie star, exclaims, “I am big!  It’s the pictures that got small!”  The same could be proclaimed of Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine: from his breakthrough performance in John Walter’s film Pink Flamingo to his untimely death at 42 years old, Divine made a name for being larger than life.  However, the heartfelt documentary I Am Divine, playing at this week’s QFest, paints the performer first and foremost as a human, an insecure man who rose to fame too fast and too quickly.

Lotti Pharriss Knowles, the film’s producer who was at hand after the Friday evening screening at the Ritz East Theatre, stated that Divine’s biography is the ultimate “It Gets Better” story.  The film captures the saga of Divine’s childhood: endless bullying in school, fluctuating weight problems, and struggles with his sexuality (not unlike many other gay teens).  From this, Divine rose to become one of, if not the, most recognized drag performers of all time, with major acting roles to boot.

However, despite his success on screen, album, and stage, the film suggests that underneath the wigs, make-up, and costumes was a man who continually struggled with the demons of extremely low self-esteem: numerous interviews with friends, co-stars, and associates reveal that Divine suffered from an addictive personality, including a life-long battle with overeating.  Additionally, he agonized over a sense of inferiority: Divine wanted to be known as an actor who could play serious roles (even as a male character) just as masterfully as he could perform campy drag.  As one friend states in the film, the persona of Divine was a “heavy burden.”

The film concludes by exploring the irony of Divine’s death by a heart attack on the eve of filming a reoccurring role on the sitcom Married With Children, not as a drag performer, but as a male character. Nevertheless, the documentary should be credited for presenting a well-focused, effectively paced narrative of the person behind the performer.  If the hearty applause from the packed theater is any indication, this portrait of Divine clearly shows there was much more to the man who, for crying out loud, was raped by a giant lobster on film for the sake of art.