I’ve basically been using Pride Month to hit a lot of the films that made an impact on me when I needed to see that kind of representation. I was young, and it seemed like there was no one around me who was thinking the same thing as me. it wasn’t until I started seeing representation in films and television that I didn’t feel so broken. The reality was, I still was in an area where you just did not say gay. Even when I was bullied in school, it was almost always for being overweight. it almost was like the idea that someone could be that was such an afterthought. I didn’t get a lot of the big gay films of the 90’s to my local theatre, like Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, but I did get To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. When you put Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo together in the 90’s, that movie winds up even in the most resistant parts to the content.

Because of that, i saw positive representation of drag queens. not as mentally ill, crazy, or pedophiles, anything that an adult in the Ozarks might have claimed them to be, but rather as strong independent fierce women. Even though we knew who was under that mug, those three really tried to commit to an authentic story, with real characters, who weren’t the butt of jokes or a stereotype. Nowadays, we would much rather prefer these roles to be actual drag queens. I’m sure. But because these three were in the film in the 90’s, it traveled, it sold tickets, and it remains memorable today.

Every generation can make their own comments on representation, but for me, stuff like this, and The Birdcage were a big deal for me. Later, Ellen coming out on her sitcom, and then will and grace, really offered easily accessible representation when I had none. I was a little kid when Philadelphia came out, and I didn’t even see that until the late 90’s, when I was a little bit older.

I adored watching this again. Stockard Channing is also terrific in a supporting role. Robin Williams makes a cameo, after he was originally approached to be a lead, and turned it down because he’s too hairy. He still wanted to support the project, so he filmed an uncredited cameo.What a terrific guy.

The audio description track, which I got from Amazon, is probably a best case scenario TTS/AI. the voice wasn’t terrible, but it just remains flat. The voice was pleasant, and just stayed pleasant, but couldn’t really react to anything, so there was never a rise and fall. But, it was fairly well written, at least based on my memory of having seen this film a few times.

I don’t know that I’d quite drag To Wong Foo to a desert island with me, but it does always cheer me up. It’s so close to being a comfort film for me. It takes me back, certainly, and perhaps if my career had gone the way of a queen instead of a bear who writes reviews from the blind perspective, then maybe this would have meant more to me. But, much like Robin, I’m far too hairy. The amount of shaving I would need to do… no thank you ma’am.

Final Grade: A