#9 - Wigstock: The Movie

There was no confusion about this one. I put it in my queue around the same time as After Stonewall and The Celluloid Closet, but no amount of not paying attention could keep you from knowing what this movie is about. You would have to be stupid, or dead. As if the title isn't enough to make you turn your head...its freakin RuPaul on the cover!!!! And last I checked, the Statue of Liberty doesnt have a hot pink wig on it.

What is Wigstock? Very good question. Apparently, every summer in NYC there is a festival of drag queens. They set up a stage, pretty themselves up a bit, mouth the words to a few songs, and generally have a rogering good time. Thats what this movie is all about. It has performances from three years of Wigstock, but also follows a number of draggers(is that a word?) as they prepare for another festival. I have seen a number of various documentaries about rock bands and musicians and they all generally followed a format of interviews in between performances. Thats exactly what this movie does. Its not a gay pride film and other than a couple of moments, there really isnt any mention about homosexuality, other than the obvious fact that they are drag queens. Its a concert documentary, much like you would see about Woodstock or any other music festival.

Believe it or not, I actually learned a couple of things. First, there are female drag queens. Thats right, THERE ARE FEMALE DRAG QUEENS. I'm not talking about women dressing in plaid shirts and blue jeans. Oh no. I am talking about a woman, who gets all gussied up and performs in traditional drag queen style. I was shocked. I had no clue that such a thing was possible. Also, its all about the wigs. There was footage taken in a wig shop a few days before the festival and everybody was getting some wigs. An amazing amount of decoration and styling goes into these things. Big, wide, colorful, its actually quite an impressive aspect of the whole thing. I have no idea how some of these things stay on peoples heads. I always focused on the makeup, which in my opinion can become VERY frightening, but I guess that a performance in front of a large crowd requires more than just makeup for the people in the back row.

This movie wasnt without it moments of "ugh". For instance, I turned away when the one performer stripped down to his/hers skinny and pale nakedness. Didnt need to see that. Ugh. I also didnt need to see the fat drag queen sweat and slop out a nasty ass rock song. First of all, I wasnt aware that drag queens did anything other than Donna Summer and Judy Garland songs. But seeing this chunky thing head bang and slobber to an unexpected tune was quite disturbing. Ugh.

All in all, not a bad film. There were a number of good performances shown and the overall spirit of just wanting to go out and enjoy oneself was very strong. Sure there were times that tried my patience, but like I have said before, its not my favorite subject. I feel as though I have earned a bit more understanding about the subject and may be a little more comfortable with it as a lifestyle, and not just a stage performance. I said a little. Dont go crazy. I still cant completely wrap my head around transvestites, but that is a different thing than what a drag queen is.

I told you I would watch everything.