Drag in Cinema — The 1990s

Orlando 1992

Tilda Swinton as Orlando and Quentin Crisp as the Queen.

Loosely based on Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando, the film tells the story of an androgynous young man who is a member of British aristocracy who becomes a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. On her deathbed she grants Orlando a large estate and generous monetary gift if he agrees to her conditions: ”Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old.”

For two centuries Orlando does not age past somewhere around 30 and lives contentedly in his castle. He dabbles in poetry and art but when he attempts to befriend a noted poet the poet scorns his work. Taking a position for the government he travels to Constantinople as the English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. After being almost killed in a diplomatic incident he falls asleep for seven days. When he awakes he is a bit startled to find he has transformed into a woman.

Orlando is played by the suitably androgynous Till Swinton. The drag she donned for the film was the male aspect of Orlando. The other drag to be found in Orlando is the casting of Quentin Crisp, author of The Naked Civil Servant, as Queen Elizabeth. The film and the original source material deals with what it is to be a man and what it is to be a woman. In the novel Woolf seems to conclude that much of it has to do with how society perceives you.

Mrs. Doubtfire 1993

1993’s Mrs. Doubtfire saw Robin Willams in the tile role. The film was based on the young adult novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. The film plot concerns a recently divorced actor, Daniel, who creates the persona of a Scottish female housekeeper to he can have contact with his children. Since his ex-wife has sole custody that’s the only way he can get near them. Touted as one of the “100 Funniest Movies of All Time” the humor relies heavily on the character of Mrs. Doubtfire. Since he has no idea how to perform the duties of a housekeeper he is learning on the job while maintaining his female facade. Farce is employed to great effect when Daniel  has to attend two important events at a local restaurant, one for a possible job for Daniel, and the other an important birthday party for one of his children as Mrs. Doubtfire. This takes serious suspension of disbelief that the change could be carried out quickly enough through many visits to the restroom, and in fact it all falls apart eventually. Things work out in the end though, and if you haven’t seen it we offer no spoilers. Crossdressers know that it’s not that easy to do a gender change in a few minutes and to accomplish becoming Mrs. Doubtfire Daniel has to use facial prosthetics that disguise his features and wear cumbersome body padding. A slimmer actor might have done a better job of the disguise and looked more believable but Williams brought his comic sensibilities and timing to the role which is what the director was going for.

To Wong Foo,Thanks for Everything, Julie Neumar 1995

Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Neumar brought us Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, and Wesley Snipes in drag. Of the three Leguizamo created the most “realness” as Chi-Chi Rodriguez. The character is presented as a wannabe drag queen  and a “drag princes” who queens Snipes and Swayse take under their wing. Snipes as Noxeema Jackson and Swayze as Vida Boheme have just won the NYC Drag Queen of the Year pageant and after adopting Chi-Chi Rodriguez as a protege the trio are heading to Los Angeles for the Miss Drag Queen of America pageant. The two winners were given airplane tickets for the trip but they sold them so they could bring Che Che along. That means they all pile into a car and start driving across the country. Various adventures happen along the way and villains are thwarted, important things are realized, and the queens make it to Los Angeles in time for the big pageant. While Snipes and Swayze give the roles their best it’s hard to imagine they were the winners of the New York pageant when on the stage and in the crowd were some of the top drag performers in New York City. Also hard to believe is that on every day of their trip across the country by car the trio always dresses in drag. But, it’s an entertaining film and it gives the message that people can accept gender bending if they get to know a queen. (It’s also interesting to note that Leguizamo seemed to avoid doing any characters that leaned to the feminine side after he did this film.)

Wigstock: The Movie 1995

1995 brought us Wigstock: The Movie, a documentary on the annual drag and music festival held in New York City though-out the 1980s and ‘90s. Footage from the 1994 festival included performances by Crystal Waters, Deee-Lite, Jackie Beat, Debbie Harry, Leigh Bowery, Joey Arias and the Dueling Bankheads. The film also captures a performance by RuPaul at the height of her mainstream fame during that decade. In addition to performances the film features interviews with attendees, backstage footage and glimpses of how the festival was organized. The interviews with audience members found many of them talking about the importance of drag in their lives. The festival continued on into the 2000s with several gaps, and the last one happened in 2018.

The Birdcage 1996

Christine Baranski, Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Calista Flockhart and Dan Futterman in a scene from The Birdcage.

The Birdcage based on the film La Cage Aux Folles arrived in 1996 and one of the stars was Robin Williams. This time he portrayed the openly gay club owner Armand Goldman. Nathan Lane donned drag to portray his life partner, and featured drag performer Albert. The plot hews to the story told in the original film but the action is moved from the South of France to South Beach. The film did well at the box office and delivered a message that the LGBT people were good people and the conservative couple whose daughter is in love with Armand’s son are conservative Republicans who champion a harsh “moral order” which causes them to view LGBTQ people as immoral.

Different for Girls 1996

Different for Girls released in 1996 starred Steven Macintosh as a transsexual woman. Since the plot is all about a transgender woman the film shouldn’t be included in this column. The only “drag” is the donning of feminine attire and very lifelike prosthetics by the “female” lead.

Flawless 1999

We wrap up the decade in 1999 with a return to definite drag. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the drag queen neighbor of a a highly decorated police officer who suffers a stroke after he hears a gunshot from the upstairs of his building. The officer, Walter Koontz, is played by Robert De Niro. The stroke leaves him impaired and he retreats into seclusion in his apartment. Hoffman’s character is Rusty. Walter and Rusty have not gotten along that well before the stroke. Their animosity is based on their very different lifestyles. But Walter needs to try to use his voice, which suffered after the stroke, and he turns to Rusty for singing lessons in hopes that it will improve his impediment. The two continue to spar for awhile but then start to become friends. The film features several drag performers and though Hoffman’s character is called a drag queen she is saving up money for gender confirmation surgery.

That wraps up the 1990s. Next month we move on to drag in the early 2000s.

Like to make a comment? Login here and use the comment area below.

Tags: drag, drag in cinema, featured

Category: All TGForum Posts