The October Menu at Dina’s Diner

I was really at loose ends to deliver this edition of the Diner and asked Angela for some extra time. I was even thinking of just throwing in the towel on the whole thing. But then… I had a strange re-awakening after a dream.

That sounds like a cliché literary device but it turns out to be true and I think you could identify with it because the dream involved (guess) crossdressing. I don’t often dream about being crossdressed and when I do it is usually more about being in danger of outing myself or finding myself in some other embarrassing predicament than any uplifting feminine experience.

And this particular dream was no different but there was something about the foggily remembered visuals and emotions of the dream that got my mind going again. Inspiration from a dream, wow, someone should write a book or movie about that.

GO AHEAD, WIG OUT!

The New York Times reviewed a new Off-Broadway show titled Wig Out! in the Sunday October 1, 2008 edition. The show got a favorable review and a large color photo from the production on the front page of the Times’ Arts section.

The show revolves around the drag queens in Manhattan and their cross-town rivals leading up to a drag show competition. It sounds kind of tired and clichéd when summarized like that. However, the Times reviewer, Ben Brantley, specifically pointed out that the show is much deeper than a downtown drag revue and has layers of meaning as well as inventive use of language and staging. The play was written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who had another well-reviewed production last year in New York.

One of the interesting production ideas is to have three female soul singers (the 3 Fates) act as a Greek chorus narrating or interacting with the characters during the play in musical interludes. The singers are real women; the drag queens are male actors. The main story revolves around the lives of a band of drag queens that live communally in the House of Light. The clan includes a young drag queen (Nina) who seduces a non-dressing gay man (Eric), an older drag queen house mother (Rey-Rey), a commanding male house leader (Lucian), and a young Hispanic queen named Venus. The competing queens from the House of Diabolique are the antagonists. As you can tell even from this brief synopsis, and the review notes it also, the play has a classical structure and aims for a deeper message than being simply about drag queens.

This was the second drag themed theater review in the past few months for the Times. They also gave a star-treatment review for Joey Arias’ musical production. I wrote about that a couple of months ago here at TGF.

Mr. Brantley writes toward the end of his review: “….most audience members for Wig Out! are likely to experience head-spinning disorientation. [and]…for all their self-dramatizing and genuine sadness, the members of the House of Light know very well who and what they are. As they should. They are their own divine creations.”

RAQUELA, RAQUELA

Fans of Seinfeld may remember two episodes where the characters mentioned a fake film titled Rochelle, Rochelle (‘one woman’s erotic journey from Milan to Minsk’ – was the supposed tagline, I think).

I saw a movie review for a film called a documentary about a transgender Filipino beauty. I saw the review in The New York Times in September. The New York Times has a reputation as a liberal paper and just to show that they are (ugh) “fair and balanced” the review of the transgender documentary did not get a glowing review as some of the other TG-themed fare I’ve mentioned earlier.

Times reviewer Neil Genzlinger writes: “Those already attuned to the transgendered world will certainly find The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela to be a heartfelt, unusual take on it. The question is whether anyone else will. The answer is: Probably not.” Ouch.

Genzlinger notes that the film contains some elements of Raquela’s real life situation but includes some fictionalized, staged scenes as well. As he notes, it often doesn’t matter which is which because “none of it is very involving.” He continues on: “Raquela walks the streets in the Philippines, goes to Iceland, becomes involved with an Internet pornographer and finally gets a man to take her to Paris, her longstanding dream. We’re supposed to get caught up in this ladyboy’s realization of her fantasy, but that is difficult when we spend so much time listening to Raquela and her friends going on about their micro-problems — with love, sex, clothes, unrealized plans — an orgy of self-absorption that can only be irritating to anyone with more pressing concerns. It’s like being trapped in a roomful of teenage girls for 80 minutes.”

I – for one – wouldn’t mind finding out how a transgender Filipino finds herself in Iceland. But that’s just me.

THERE’S JUST TOO MUCH SEX ON MY TELEVISION

Sexologist Gloria Brame carried this blurb on her blog at Gloria.brame.typepad.com. It was an excerpt from Forbes magazine about a report from the Parents Television Council about the prevalence of sexiness on television. That is a bad thing according to the group.

The Forbes article says: “…according to the Parents Television Council’s “Happily Never After” study, the period between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. is filled with more and more [sexual innuendo]. The study’s findings: Prime-time broadcast television is not only airing more sex than ever, but it’s getting kinkier and kinkier.

“Today’s prime-time television programming is not merely indifferent to the institution of marriage and the stabilizing role it plays in our society,” the study reports, “it seems to be actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently painting it in a negative light.” Maybe. More certain: “Networks face an onslaught of competition from steamy cable fare like Showtime’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl or HBO’s sexually explicit Tell Me You Love Me, and are noticeably — and perhaps desperately — pushing the sexual envelope. Series like ABC’s Desperate Housewives, NBC’s Lipstick Jungle and even the CW’s teen-focused Gossip Girl are loaded with adulterous escapades and visuals to match.”

Entertainment industry defenders say that television simply reflects society’s demand for and interest in certain topics. Remember the statistic a couple of years ago that showed Desperate Housewives got higher ratings in conservative states than in liberal areas?

The Forbes article continued: “The study found nearly three times as many verbal references to non-marital sex compared to marital sex on the broadcast networks during the 207.5 programming hours studied. When it came to the related visuals, the ratio was nearly four to one. During the same period, there were 74 references to topics like masturbation, sex toys, bondage or fetishistic sex. Visual references to a third party voyeur, transvestites, transsexuals, threesomes, kinky sex, bondage, sado-masochism and prostitution outnumbered the same for marital sex nearly three to one.”

Gloria Brame points out on her blog that history is filled with “watchdogs” who self-appoint themselves to protect everyone else against whatever evil they are militating. My own note to the Parents Television Council: television is a visual medium and the laundry list of taboos above is a lot more visual (and frankly easier and cheaper for an inordinately stupid TV audience) than trying to portray a deep, loving married relationship. Don’t worry about it.

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR…..JUST BEING FASHIONABLE?

A brief blurb and photo from The New York Times October 5 edition caught my eye. It was on page 3 of the Sunday Styles section.

The headline was “Street Walkers” which will always catch my eye. Here is the brief article about a new fashion trend: “Once solely reserved for pirates and prostitutes, over-the-knee boots have become this season’s most chic shoe trend, showing up both on the runway (Etro, Fendi, Gucci, Rick Owens) and off (Madonna, Rihanna, Kate Moss and Carine Roitfeld). And when it comes to owing a pair, price has been little deterrent. At just under $2,000, Halston’s stretchy suede style with a four and a half inch chunky heel is already sold out.”

I’ve been happy to see that my five year one-crossdresser crusade to bring back the high heeled pump has been successful (without, frankly, a lot of actual work on my part) as women all over the place are teetering once again on thin heels and flashing toe cleavage. I’m just sorry to say that I didn’t have any hand in this rehabilitation of the iconically sexy thigh boot. If this fashion trend really does take off in the population, though, my hand will be plenty busy.

FROM THE POLICE BLOTTER….AND INTERPOL

A recent local item from Memphis, Tennessee caught my eye. And an older story from Thailand came across my laptop and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard it before.

Let’s start out in the USA, home of the King of Rock-N-Roll, where the following story took place (courtesy of the Commercial-Appeal newspaper):

“A fight between a suspected prostitute and his customer Sunday night led to a minor car wreck and charges for both men. According to a police affidavit, a man in a truck stopped and picked up another man, who was dressed as a woman, at Third and Biscayne. After a brief negotiation, they drove to a bank ATM at Third and Mitchell so the customer could get $50. But the prostitute told police he became suspicious that his customer might be a police officer, so he tried to get out. He told officers the man wouldn’t let him out, so he punched the accelerator, and the truck slammed into a car parked at the Crystal Palace skating rink. The driver told police only that they had been arguing. Nobody was injured.”

The 22 year old TV was charged with prostitution and the 25 year old john was charged with patronizing a prostitute and driving without a license.

Meanwhile an item from back in 2005 showed up in a Google search. It was reported in a blog by a chap named RJ Elliott. Here is his post and copy of the original Associated Press story:

“Bangkok, Thailand. Thai police are warning tourists of a new scam. Members of a Thai transvestite gang have confessed to hiding strong sedatives in their mouths and spitting them down the throats of victims during deep kissing. Then they rob the drugged tourists.”

This is Mr. Elliott’s take on the Thai item.

“Here’s a simple tip to remember, in case you are concerned you might fall victim to this dastardly scam: Do not pay for sex with she-male gang members in third-world countries! I mean, that’s just good, sound advice. Does anyone else remember the song that goes: One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble.”

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment