The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert's Character development

 Before viewing this film I had looked into it and it seemed promising with a Rotten Tomato Score of 96% by critics and 88% audience score. When I started watching it though I didn’t see these scores reflected in the film. It didn’t do much for me as a viewer. With that said I looked more into the reading that came with the film afterwards to get a better sense of the world the director created.


The characters in this film are what really made this film what it is. They all have really good background stories to show the viewer why they are the way they are. Two characters in particular I took an interest in was Bernadette and Adam. Especially with them having a relationship that as the reading calls it is a “fragile tolerance”. Bernadette had to fight so hard and long to feel confident in her gender identity and she has gone through many struggles with this aspect of her life. She is posed and mature and the fact that Adam thrives off dramatics it shows they’re two very opposite people. Adam’s past is vague to the viewer but we know that Adam has many insecurities. He’s views towards more feminine things are negative which a part of why he taunts Bernadette.  Adam is reckless and likes conflict which is just overwhelmingly bad for Bernadette to be around. 


I do think this movie has very well developed characters and I like reading more in depth about how their relationships to each other are and why. As well as why they are who they are. It’s a very detailed look into different personalities that are in the queer space.

Comments

  1. Breanna BumpApril 2, 2021 at 9:57 AM

    I definitely agree that this film had some major character development! Each character came into the film, and on to the bus, with a whole lot of baggage. Bernadette had a life time of criticism and hate thrown her way and was used to society being unaccepting of her. Adam's past is vague but you can tell by the way he acts that he has probably had some similar experiences of hate. Tick has the stress of being accepted by his family weighing him down as well. I think the encounter at the bar with Shirley helped boost Bernadette's self esteem. Between her telling off Shirley and out drinking her, she was basically a bad ass. I think Adam's turning point in the film was when he went out looking for trouble and found a bunch of men. I think he didn't realize how potentially dangerous that situation could be for him and I think it brought his ego down a lot. I also think this situation improved the relationship between him and Bernadette. Tick's turning point was when his son accepted him and loved him for who he was. This movie was queer because it had queer characters, and it had the unusual storyline for queer characters. They all ended up getting some sort of redemption at the end and none of them killed anyone or died.

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  2. Emily SheedyApril 3, 2021 at 10:49 AM

    Follow-up:

    After reading other peoples blogs and comments I think we can all agree that this film was masterful in projecting the queer experience. The character development throughout the film told a whole story within itself about the queer experience. For example Tick and the acceptance he got from his son, that was an incredibly hard journey for Tick. I do really like that this movie wasn't a tragic tale for queer people. They all had redemption which doesn't happen often in movies that have queer characters. It was really refreshing to see.

    I definitely have more of an open opinion on this film after reading everyones thoughts. I really enjoyed the discussion of this movie. I think that I have such a hard time with my opinion on these films because I am not a fan of campy movies. I have known that, and thats exactly what it was with this movie for me. Regarding the queerness of the film though, the characters especially, I did really enjoy it.

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  3. AnonymousApril 3, 2021 at 4:55 PM

    I really enjoyed you post. I like how you dived into the relationships that each of these characters had with one another. I think the friendships is this movie are very meaningful and beautiful. It really great to see really close friends like this and how the good friends that you have can impact your life and the way you live it.

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  4. Dean BouziotisApril 4, 2021 at 12:49 PM

    Hi Emily,
    I loved reading about your comparison or lack thereof with the relationship between Bernadette and Adam. They are polar opposites of each other and I think that Adam's bullying on Bernadette is rooted in jealousy. He's a drag queen and enjoys dressing like a woman but has resentment towards that because he also feels that masculinity is the biggest achievement one can get. So for him to see Bernadette completely turn away from any masculinity she ever held onto is a strength that she had that Adam may never feel comfortable with accepting himself. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this film!

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