The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

 Overall, I didn’t really mind The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was tolerable, but I definitely won’t be watching it again. The reading on oncourse really helped me have a better understanding of the film because it breaks down each character and the personal struggles they go through. 

Although Adam was really mean to Bernadette I found that I liked him the most out of all the characters. You could tell that he tried very hard to hide his insecurities and personal struggles through being rude to others and making scenes in public. He was really entertaining to watch although you could see most of his actions probably stemmed from past trauma/experiences in the world from being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Of course, this is no excuse for being hateful and nasty to others, but I still felt a little bit bad for him.

Bernadette was a badass in this film and she always seemed to know exactly how to get the group out of trouble. She chose to use her words first when in a conflict, and then she would resort to being physical, but with class. 

Tick’s storyline was really fascinating to watch, because as we know, life doesn’t usually work out that well for those in the LGBTQ+ community. It was awesome to see how Tick was actually married and had a wife and son. His family was okay with him being a drag queen and his son really looked up to him, which was an amazing and rare element in this film. I think it sends a good message to viewers as well.

Bob was also a very interesting character in this movie. I think the scene where he runs into Adam when he is with a bunch of guys was a really relatable scene for this time period. He pretended he did not know Adam because he did not want to threaten his own masculinity, which was probably a common occurrence in the 90’s, and still is today. Although he had this inner conflict, he came to be by Adam’s side when he needed it. He went against the “norms” of society and protected his friend. This in turn cost him his reputation and masculinity. Bernadette really saved the day when she came into the scene. You can tell that she has experienced this type of hatefulness before.

This movie had queer characters that went through relatable struggles that those who are in the LGTBQ+ community often face. They overcome each of the conflicts that are thrown at them throughout the movie and they all get some sort of redemption at the end when they climb King’s Canyon. There were some parts of the movie that were disgusting relating to Bob’s wife, but other than that, I think the movie was tolerable. Each character went through some kind of struggle and they all came out stronger in the end.