One of the most tragic parts about growing up is the slow extermination of gastrointestinal humour in social settings. What audiences have sorely missed through years of adulthood, The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man delivers unflinchingly.
Written and directed by Braden Sitter Sr., The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man is a psychedelic comedy detailing the fictionalized mind and madness of a Toronto boogeyman. Loosely inspired by real 2019 events that saw five people covered in feces , the film does not shy away from the absurdity of its premise.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man follows Miguel (Rishi Rodriguez), who, after an illuminating experience on LSD, believes he’s been chosen to join the CIA and develops an obsession with fecal matter—soon becoming an obsession with dumping fecal matter on innocent Torontonians.
The film returned to screening in Ottawa on Sept. 8 after having been featured previously at ByTowne Cinema in November 2024, with Sitter in attendance for both screenings.
Traces of the inspiration from the legendary John Waters – a master and trailblazer in the camp genre – can be seen everywhere in Sitter’s film. Known for his work with the infamous “Queen of Filth” Divine, Waters has spent his entire career dedicated to looking at beauty in the filthy, holiness in crime and ecstasy through misery.
From the repetitive slow-motion shots of innocent citizens getting pee and poop thrown on them (in reality, melted chocolate ice cream) to the grainy camera, the signature aesthetics of Waters can be identified in much of the movie. But when asked at the screening, Sitter confessed he has not seen much work from Waters.
The film itself lives in the genre of anti-taste, with seemingly no desire at all to be seen as a serious, “highbrow” movie. Instead, Sitter chose to lean into the natural ridiculousness of the subject matter.
The soundtrack, first full of tense thriller-esque songs, quickly evolved into solely parodies of famous songs (obviously, feces related). Some highlights include “Something in My Ass,” a parody of Nirvana’s “Something in The Way” and “Here Comes Your Poop,” a spoof of “Here Comes Your Man” by The Pixies.
Often, the film would put audiences into the perspective of the main character, warping reality until the viewer understood Miguel’s paranoia. In a similarly immersive decision, the beginning of Miguel’s paranoia was prompted by a bad drug trip and a distrust of his television, à la Poltergeist.
This, along with the lo-fi production quality and references to Toronto’s biggest tourist locations, made the film feel local and personal, amplifying the feeling of familiarity between the audience and the main character. You have met someone like Miguel – this is part of the charm.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man is first and foremost a comedy movie — and luckily for viewers, it’s a good one. There were many times when the theatre erupted into laughter, filling the entire space in delighted and confused chuckles. Sitter was wonderfully skilled at capturing natural conversation, and the entire cast does an artful job at sounding exactly like regular, possibly annoying people you might overhear while walking down the streets of Toronto.
As the movie reaches its end, there is a continuous scene of two women speaking to each other, seemingly unrelated to the rest of the plot. They speak about drugs and dead dogs and a forgotten skirt, and the viewers could not stop laughing despite the scene’s irrelevancy. It’s relatable, because dogs die and people do drugs and skirts get forgotten.
There is something nonsensically humorous about watching two women argue about a forgotten skirt in a movie called The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man, where the main character believes he’s destined to dump fecal matter and urine on pedestrians. The comedy of this movie lies in the contrast between the naturalistic dialogue (multiple times in the film, someone will approach Miguel asking for directions as he is hysterical) and complete absurdity (see: the entire premise).
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man does not fool you into thinking it’s high art. Its distinction as a modern cult classic comes from the fact that it is intentionally ridiculous, intentionally disgusting, intentionally unintentional. For young people stressed by school, work, or the world, this anti-taste film provides a grotesque sort of chuckle.
Hey, at least you’re not covered in poop.
Featured image by Sophia Laporte/the Charlatan.
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