Trans in Film and Video
RuPaul’s production company World of Wonder is releasing a new documentary series that follows Baga Chipz, Divina De Campo and Blu Hydrangea of The Frock Destroyers, who came to fame as contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. The four-part series is titled Frockumentary and it gives the world a behind-the-scenes look as The Frock Destroyers record, release and perform their debut album Frock4Life in 2020. The Frock Destroyers worked with Drag Race collaborators Leland, Freddy Scott and Gabe Lopez to write and produce the album. After the recording was done the Destroyers embarked on their first tour. See it all on Frockumentary, coming to streaming service WOW Presents Plus on March 15. Here’s just a taste of the music.
In the film Rurangi a transgender activist returns to their small town, Rurangi, in New Zealand after being away for ten years. The character Caz is a trans man who left his small town and his family so he could be himself. In returning he hopes to create a new relationship with his father, who did not approve of his daughter becoming a son. While Caz does reconnect with old friends, including a former boyfriend who is surprised to see Caz as a man, the town as a whole is conservative and not everyone is ready to be accepting. The film is now available on Hulu.
Dorce Gamalama
Dorce Gamalama was a well known transgender entertainer, singer, talk show host, comedienne and celebrity for the greater part of the last four decades in Indonesia. She passed away on February 16, 2022. She got her start in showbiz as a member of an all trans women dance group known as The Fantastic Dolls. That eventually led to her first national television appearance in 1989. Gamalama went on to star in much more television and in films. She recorded a host of albums. One time recording nine albums in a five month period. She was most famous for her five years as host of the talk show The Dorce Show on Trans TV from 2005-2009. She embraced the persona of a maternal figure, becoming known as Mother Dorce. She had gender confirmation surgery in 1983, and the government legally recognized her as a woman in 1988. You can learn more about her and her life in Indonesia at Melbourne.
A second season contestant on Drag Race U.K., Cherry Valentine, talked on the show about her past as a member of the Traveler community in England. Travelers are also known as Gypsies. The chat on Drag Race inspired the BBC to produce a documentary on her and how she had been keeping her Traveler past separate from her queen identity. She said the documentary process, which she was initially scared to begin, helped her combine her different worlds. The doc is called Gypsy Queen and Proud and the trailer is right here.
Also available right here is a tiny concert recorded by NPR featuring Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Roth Castanzo. The call them Tiny Desk Concerts but since Covid-19 the performances have not been in the NPR studios but in people’s living spaces. But enough of this chat! Click below to see the whole concert. (There will be commercials in the video.)
The following stories were recommended to us by loyal reader Alyssa Washington.
Madea
In Metro Weekly Tyler Perry was asked about whether or not the Madea character could be considered drag. He admits that she is an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and goes on to say, “For me, I approach it from the sense of just, when I’m playing Joe, I’m putting on an old man’s costume. When I’m in Don’t Look Up and I’m a news reporter and I’ve got the toupee and the beard, I approach it all the same way. It is a costume where I’m becoming a character, and as an actor, I just embody the character fully, whatever that means. If people want to think it’s drag or call it drag, I don’t care, doesn’t matter to me. It is what it is. I’m just fully embodying the character as what they are.”
A Madea Homecoming is now streaming on Netflix. It’s the ninth Madea movie and the first to feature a gay lead character, Madea’s great-grandson.
A 48-year-old healthcare worker from Houston, who professes a love of puzzling, weightlifting, and walking dogs, and describes himself as kind, dedicated, and assertive is Survivor’s first transgender contestant. His name is Jackson Fox and he is one of the stars of the show’s 42nd season. Fox says in a promo for the show that he believes coming out as trans helped him prepare to compete on Survivor. “I think if you go through the process of pretty much revitalizing your entire life and baring it all, I think you can go on Survivor and bare it all as well.” Get more on Fox and the show from them.
Category: Media, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
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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