Line #11 Film/CecilBDemented


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cecil_b_demented.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:300:''"Power to the people who punish bad cinema!"'']]
8
9	->''"I am Cecil B. Demented, and '''this is a [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] kidnapping'''!"''
10	-->-- '''Cecil B. Demented'''
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12	A 2000 BlackComedy film by Creator/JohnWaters, starring Creator/StephenDorff in the title role as deranged "independent director" Cecil B. Demented, the leader of an equally-deranged group of "filmmakers" who call themselves the Sprocket Holes and base themselves in Baltimore, Maryland. Their mission is to bring down mainstream cinema and destroy the studio system of filmmaking to make way for a new generation of film by any means necessary--which includes robbing theaters and stealing things like construction materials and film equipment in order to make their own film.
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14	The crazed group just has one minor problem: their film doesn't have a star yet, so they "acquire" one in Hollywood actress Honey Whitlock (Creator/MelanieGriffith), kidnapping her at the premiere of her latest film. Honey continually tries to stop Demented and his comrades-in-celluloid from making their film and secure her release, but when those close to her begin exposing some nasty things about her private life, she starts to turn to their side and get in on the (lights, camera and) action of Demented's insane film making. HilarityEnsues.
15	----
16	!!This film contains examples of:
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18	%%* AffablyEvil: Lyle and Petie.
19	* AuthorTract: InUniverse. The film Cecil forces Honey to make is about his hatred against mainstream cinema.
20	%%* AxCrazy: Cecil and the Sprocket Holes.
21	* [[TheBigGuy The Big Chick]]: Raven, oddly enough, being the BoisterousBruiser[=/=]PerkyGoth[=/=]CloudCuckoolander that she is.
22	* BadassAdorable: Raven. She's played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and kicks a fair amount of ass.
23	* BadassDriver: Petie
24	%%* BadassLongcoat: Lewis has a great white fur coat.
25	* BombThrowingAnarchists: The Sprocket Holes are a group of guerrilla filmmakers who are willing to resort to kidnapping, torture, destruction of public-property, murder and even martyrdom in order to create a movie meant as an act of protest against American culture and mainstream Hollywood.
26	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:A majority of the Sprocket Holes get killed during the film's production, Cecil himself likely dies after setting himself on fire and Honey gets taken into custody; her reputation in Hollywood having gone completely down the drain at this point. But despite that, she seems to have found a new audience with Cecil's fans and the raw footage is sneaked out by surviving Sprocket Holes, ensuring it will eventually be completed and released.]]
27	* BlackAndGrayMorality / EvilVsEvil : A rare case in which the [[VillainProtagonist Sprocket Holes]] are the Gray, apposed to the [[{{LawfulStupid}} law-abiding]] and mainstream Hollywood system.
28	* BlackComedyRape [[RapeAsBackstory as Backstory]]: Cherish claims that at the age of 10, she was gang-raped by her entire family, including her grandparents, under the Christmas tree. The Sprockets find it exasperating (having heard this story before) and Honey doesn't even think that it was real.
29	* BoundAndGagged: Honey when she's kidnapped by the Sprocket Holes.
30	%%* ButtMonkey: Fidget
31	%%* CampStraight: Rodney, though he wishes he was CampGay.
32	* CharacterAsHimself: Kevin Nealon.
33	** Also, the head of the Baltimore Film Commission.
34	%%* CloudCuckoolander: Raven
35	* CreepyMonotone: Raven's voice stays flat and even, even when being adorable.
36	* DarkMessiah: PlayedForLaughs with Cecil. While he is clearly mentally unstable, he manages to spark a revolution in people who appreciate niche cinema, including fans of action films and pornography.
37	* DefrostingIceQueen: Honey is a [[{{Jerkass}} complete bitch]] until she's kidnapped, which makes her much nicer throughout the rest of the film.
38	* DepravedHomosexual: Parodied and subverted with Rodney. One of the other Sprocket Holes is gay for him, but Rodney's actually ''straight'', so [[IncompatibleOrientation he can't return the feeling]]; he takes out his hatred of his heterosexuality on others.
39	* DirectorsCut: In-universe. The Sprocket Holes shoot up a screening of ''Film/PatchAdams: The Director's Cut''.
40	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Cecil's declaration of "Power to the people who punish bad cinema!" after he kidnaps Honey and shoots at a poster outside the cinema establishes that he's not only criminally insane, but that he hates Hollywood.
41	** Raven gets one as well: "Sorry, but {{Satan}} says you need more color!"
42	* {{Expy}}: Cherish is best known in the industry for being an Expy for Honey in porno knockoffs of her big Hollywood movies.
43	* FakeShemp: Creator/JohnWaters wrote in his memoir ''Mr Know-It-All'' that Creator/MelanieGriffith had a bad fall on location that left a large cut on her face. For an important scene that hadn't been shot yet, he was forced to use a body double filmed from behind to hide the fact it wasn't really Griffith doing the scene.
44	* FreudianExcuse: Fidget's parents forbade him from ever watching so much as one R-Rated movie and it's the other Sprocket Holes reminding him of this that strengthens his resolve in staying with them. In the film's climax, they claim that he turned to cinema-terrorism ''because'' he watched R-rated movies.
45	* HairTriggerTemper: Cherish, though she's easily placated by Cecil.
46	%%* HollywoodSatanism: Raven
47	* HotWitch: Raven's actually a [[HollywoodSatanism Satanist]], but the idea's the same.
48	%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Honey
49	* LargeHam: Cecil, Cherish, Chardonee, Fidgit, Rodney, Raven and even Honey herself.
50	%%** WorldOfHam
51	* LaughablyEvil: Cecil and the Sprocket Holes are twisted and definitely deranged, but that doesn't stop them from being unbelievably fun.
52	* LittlestCancerPatient: Parodied with the young cancer patient at the premiere of Honey's film at the beginning of the movie.
53	* LunaticLoophole: Raven is one of ''three'' Sprocket Holes who gets away from the police alive in the end. Making this especially egregious is when she calls to Honey to tell her the movie's finished, then throws her a devil kiss, and ''not one cop notices her'' as she then hides in the back of a hearse.
54	%%* MadArtist: Lewis is a non-angsty version.
55	* ManOnFire: Twice, both near the end of the film. [[spoiler:Partially with Honey, who sets her hair on fire for the final shot of "principal photography" on Cecil's film; fully with Cecil a few minutes later, as he sets himself on fire and rides a wheelchair off the roof of the drive-in cinema building while screaming "I have a vision!".]]
56	* NoodleIncident: "I haven't had this much fun since my last livestock mutilation!"
57	* OutWithABang: Cheril and Chardonnay are both shot after the Sprocket Holes break their celibacy.
58	%%* PerkyGoth: Raven
59	* ThePollyanna: An odd subversion; Raven's a Satanist, and yet she loves ''everyone''. Whatever she's on, we want some.
60	* PsychoticSmirk: Cecil's twisted smile.
61	%%* StraightGay: Petie
62	%%* ShonenHair: Cecil
63	* ShoutOut: Each of the Sprocket Holes are tattooed with the name of a different director (ironically enough, none of them have a "[[Creator/CecilBDeMille Cecil B. DeMille]]" tattoo).
64	* SkeletonMotif: Raven wears an outfit with rainbow-colored bones down the front of it.
65	%%* SycophanticServant: Fidget
66	* TitleDrop: The quote at the top of the page is the first time the character's name is heard in the movie.
67	%%* VillainProtagonist: Cecil and the Sprocket Holes.

Context Film / CecilBDemented