To Wong Foo, thank you for everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

I don’t know how directly this was inspired by The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which was released the year before, but there clear points of similarity. I’m not sure this film was quite as good.

I enjoyed the film, but there were a few sticking points for me. The plot following the drag queens in the small town felt a little off, as everyone, both the drag queens and the residents of the small town, appeared to be of the mind that a New York life was objectively better than the small town. And in some ways that was true, like the fact that everyone was willing to turn a blind eye to domestic abuse or the predatory gang. But other aspects, such as clothing or furniture felt much more subjective and were not given much thought. Similarly, the fact that a women in some kind of trauma could be “cured” simply by following her and talking at her until she gave in did not feel founded in science.

On top of that, one of the main protagonists, Chi Chi, acted like a brat throughout, showing a complete reluctance to change, and occasionally doing so only after being forced, and then sulking even so, like a child, and then at the end become crowned the top drag queen of America. Maybe the message was that life is unfair, but it felt more like the writers thought her character arc had been adequately written and the ending was a classic, well-deserved reward for becoming better. That’s not how it felt to me when i was watching it.

The music was good and the scenes were attractive. But something about the plot felt just a little bit off. I think watching Priscilla is a much better use of your time.