To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar

Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?
Okay, so it's not exactly The Seventh Seal, which incidentally, I do plan to cover in a later post. What it is though is a film with an interesting place in cinema history, particularly when it comes to representation of the LGBTQ experience and for that reason alone is worth visiting. It's also a film that stands out from my childhood, I can remember on several occasions really wanting to get it out from our local video store. What my parents must have thought is anyone's guess really. That it was a film about drag queens isn't what appealed, I daresay I didn't know what a drag queen was at that age. No, it was all about that title, it was unlike anything I'd seen before. I mean, the film must've been good, sure there's an exclamation mark in there.



And?
Well, it's certainly a mixed bag. The film is ridiculously enjoyable but, that said, the exclamation mark in the title remains the film's creative zenith. Not that a film needs to exude artistic endeavour from every orifice but the juxtaposition is that bit more pronounced when creative expression is at the core of what defines your leading characters. Sadly, it wasn't much of shock, when looking at the film on IMDb, to discover that this remains the screenwriters sole credit.

Perhaps I'm the fool here (its incredibly possible) and I'm missing some kind of meta-analysis. The dull and predictable central thread of the film, upon which the lush decoration of our three leads is hung; this is all in fact some social commentary about drag queens and traditional middle-American attitudes. 

 

 

Our three queens hire a car, sure enough that car breaks down, sure enough there'll be a delay in getting those parts. Oddly enough, such a small town (it makes towns in most Westerns look like sprawling mega-cities) happens to have a hotel. Our queens interact with the townsfolk and help them get ready for the forthcoming Strawberry Festival, their own mini-civic annual highlight. Sure enough the prejudiced are won over and a few more women end up empowered in the sisterhood. 

I should emphasize again though, there's nothing wrong with any of what I've just outlined. It's just that juxtaposition again. What does help things are three barnstorming performances from the leads. The casting director probably couldn't believe their luck when they landed these three. I can't imagine many other names were ahead of them in terms of a wishlist. In regards to Swayze, we're only six years from Road House and just four from Point Break. As for Snipes, Demolition Man came out just one year prior and all of this was still in the afterglow of the 1980s heyday of the over-muscled American action hero.

All three attack their roles with incredible verve and gusto, three actors pigeonholed in their careers in one way or another up until now, finally given a chance to cut loose. Swayze, taking those matinee idol good looks, something that must have struck him from consideration for some serious roles, getting to work those cheek bones to his advantage. John Leguizamo on the other hand hasn't and probably will never, top his work here and yes I'm including Sid from those inexplicably popular Ice Age films when I write that. Snipes too is clearly having a lot of fun, not that  one can blame him as Spike Lee seems to be the only director to have ever asked for more from him than "black and tough". He is though somewhat let down by the script, he's probably got the best one-liners but his arc whilst amongst the townsfolk is undoubtedly the weakest

 

"Look at her, runnin' like she runnin' across the border"

 

Where the film goes beyond mere curiosity is when we discuss what position the film will take in terms of our cultural history.  On the one hand, back in 1995, had the producers not managed to land these three leads, it's a fair assumption that this film would never have been made. RuPaul couldn't bankroll a film today, let alone in 1995. This positive exposure of gay characters and gay culture is not to be sniffed at or dismissed - bear in mind homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland two years before this film was released. However, we are rapidly progressing on from that and gay people are, quite rightly, asking why straight people are allowed to play gay characters. There's a much larger discussion to be had there and its one I'm certainly not going to wade in on here. What can't get forgotten in that discussion though is what will become of touchstones such as this one once that issue has been settled. This is, after all, not comparable with the practice of blackface; there's nothing negative about any of these representations.

Will You Be Watching It Again?
I won't not be watching it again.


Has Any Light Been Shone on Some Heretofore Unknown Bit of Pop Culture?
I finally know who Wong Foo was (spoiler: they're a maguffin) and who Julie Newmar was.