Mavericks and change, change and mavericks -- this year's presidential campaign buzzwords make my head spin. They are dropped with such regularity that it is difficult to recall what an authentic maverick engendering real change actually is.

Luckily, we have the movies to help us out.

Film history is filled with artistic outsiders bent on twisting the rules. From Sergei Eisenstein's introduction of plotting with a montage of multiple viewpoints to Quentin Tarantino's adoption of nonlinear storytelling, movies have always embraced mavericks. Here are five favorites.

JOHN WATERS: Armed with a small group of amateur actors and the odd social misfits, and a twisted, trashy sense of style and humor, Mr. Waters began making movies in his native Baltimore in the mid-1960s and garnered a love-him-or-hate-him reputation with Pink Flamingos in 1972. More recent films have been relatively sedate but still trace their comedic and stylistic roots to their exploitative forebears.

STANLEY KUBRICK: Armed with a photojournalist's eye and cynical point of view, Kubrick took what might have been standard crime films (The Killing ), historical dramas (Barry Lyndon ), horror movies (The Shining ) and studio epics (Spartacus ) and transformed them into subtle, stirring indictments.

JAMES WHALE: Although best known for his horror films, which include both Frankenstein and its superior sequel The Bride of Frankenstein , Whale managed to make his studio-produced entertainments into true message movies. Sure, Show Boat is a musical, but it is also a metaphor for race and caste in American society. Yes, The Invisible Man works as a sci-fi thriller, but it, like Frankenstein addresses the ethical responsibilities of science.

GEORGE LUCAS: Today the man behind both Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films is an industry unto himself, but his success stems from a willingness to break rules. Not willing to play studio games, Mr. Lucas retained ownership of all his properties from Star Wars on. Not only did he make the movies with his own money, but he filmed them outside the established Hollywood infrastructure. When it comes time to distribute a Lucas film, studios pay him for the privilege.

MELVIN VAN PEEBLES: By exploiting and inverting audience exploitations, director Mr. Van Peebles changed the rules of race in American cinema. His Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is an empowering movie cleverly disguised as exploitation fare. The film proved both fiscally and artistically successful, paving the ways for films such as Shaft and Superfly and inspiring young filmmakers including Spike Lee, who has cited Sweet Sweetback as a significant cinematic moment.