Queens On Film — Drag in Cinema
This blog is slightly different than our usual Drag in Cinema blog. Rather than showcasing cisgender male actors donning drag in the interest of the film’s plot the films mentioned today all star professional drag queens.
Pageant 2008
Pageant documents the story of five drag artistes who seek the crown of Miss Gay America. The film was shot in 2004 at that years event the 34th Miss Gay America Contest. This pageant is for female impersonators only. It prohibits contestants from using female hormones or having undergone any feminizing plastic surgery, such as breast implants or liquid-silicone injections below the neck. The film garnered 10 film festival awards before airing on the Sundance Channel in 2010.
The Queen of Ireland 2015
The film focuses on Rory O’Neill, better known as Panti Bliss, in the lead up to the referendum vote on marriage equality for same-sex couples in Ireland. When the film debuted in Ireland, it had the highest ever grossing opening weekend for an Irish documentary.
Jinkx Monsoon
Jinkx Monsoon: Drag Becomes Him 2015
Jinkx Monsoon made a splash on the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and parlayed that into an international career in drag. But Jinkx was already making a name for herself in the northwest. Ms. Monsoon’s male name is Jerick Hoffer and they hail from Portland, Oregon where they did their first public drag performance at the age of 16. Jerick was a theater major in college and with creative partner Nick Sahoyah created the character Jinkx for sketches on Funny or Die. The film follows Jinkx’s rise from local venues in Portland to winning the fifth seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and her year long reign before passing the crown on to the next winner.
Hurricane Bianca 2016
The sixth season winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is the star of Hurricane Bianca. The film is a comedy. It follows a school teacher named Richard who moves from New York City to teach at a small town school in Texas. Not the wisest move for a gay drag queen but we don’t always make good choices. Richard is outed to the town and is fired. (Which is legal in Texas.) He leaves and decides that he wants to violate the old axiom, “don’t mess with Texas”, so he returns to town as Bianca Del Rio. The townspeople who were cruel to him don’t realize that Bianca is Richard and she doles out sweet revenge. The film co[stars some of the Drag Race winners and Saturday Night Live alumni Rachel Dratch.
Next month we’ll find more fellas in frocks that have appeared in movies. Stay safe and we’ll see you then!
Category: Drag Queen
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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