lordkingsmith: jenroses:aqueerkettleofish:aqueerkettleofish: musicalhell:brehaaorgana:andreii-tarkov
lordkingsmith: jenroses:aqueerkettleofish:aqueerkettleofish: musicalhell:brehaaorgana:andreii-tarkovsky: To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) Dir. Beeban Kidron This was such a formative movie This shit was revolutionary for the mid-90s. Among other things it helped me understand that transgender and cross-dressing were completely separate things. To this day, I am in awe of the fact that Patrick Swayze not only campaigned hard to get the audition, not only auditioned in dress and makeup, but spent most of the day leading up to the audition walking around LA in dress and makeup.This was a man who could sing, dance, act, ride a horse, fight, and walk in heels, he had nothing to prove to anyone, and he is MISSED. Okay, I’m not done feeling about this.If you’re younger, you may not know Patrick Swayze; he was Taken From Us in 2009. But Patrick Swayze was an icon of masculinity. Men were willing to watch romantic movies because Patrick Swayze was in them. Patrick Swayze was fucking beefcake.And this man didn’t just agree to do a movie where the only time he’s not actually in drag is the first three minutes, which involve stepping out of the shower, doing make up, and getting Dressed. He has ONE LINE that is delivered in a man’s voice, and it’s not during those three minutes.And if you watch those three minutes, you see a stark difference between his portrayal of Miss Vida Bohéme and Wesley Snipes as Noxeema Jackson. (I am not criticizing Snipes’ performance. They were different roles.) Noxeema was a comedy character. Chi-Chi was a comedy character. But Miss Vida Bohéme was a dramatic role, played by a dramatic powerhouse. When Vida sits down in front of the mirror, she sees a man. And she doesn’t like it.Then she puts her hair up, and her face lights up.“Ready or not,” she says. “Here comes Mama.”And while Noxeema is having fun with her transformation (at one point breaking into a giggling fit after putting on pantyhose), Vida is simply taking pleasure in bringing out her true self. And when she’s done, she sees this:And you can FEEL her pride.All of this from an actor who, up to this point, walked on to the screen and dripped testosterone. It matters that this happened in 1995. It wouldn’t fly today, wouldn’t be the right choice, we’ve moved past it, but it mattered and was important that it happened the way it happened today. It’s one of the stepping stones. It’s also so so important to note that in interviews Swayze doesn’t refer to Vida as male. Swayze uses feminine pronouns exclusively for Vida, and when asked about his “man in a dress” you can feel the italics on the she when Swayze responds. This movie wouldn’t fly now, but it helped us get to now. In large part to how the actors referred to their characters. This. Representation has to begin somewhere, and I think this was the first big budget movie I saw where trans women were portrayed as women and not “men in drag”. This was a HOLLYWOOD “A” list movie that happened to have THE most male actors possible in female roles that were actually female. It was not “Tootsie” or “Mrs. Dobutfire” where most of the comedy was “ha-ha, man in a dress”, but a movie about three trans women. And I know it was a comedy, but the scene I remember the most was that of Vida stopping at her old place, and the woman at the door recognizing her before closing the door in fear. Such powerful acting by Swayze… in a dramatic moment with no words. -- source link