Priscilla, Queen of True Character

Pricilla is my new favorite movie. Not any form of exaggeration is in that sentence. I feel like this is what I’ve been looking for for so long and I can only read Angels in America so many times (although that play has its own issues I won't get into). I state this love because there is such depth in all of Priscilla. The characters actually feel like real people, the script supports them so well, and the actors support this even further. The article also helps view these characters and their dynamics in a closer lens of female and male gender roles in society. One of the main things it highlights that I was trying to place in my head was how the power dynamics were controlled by these gender roles. Adam and Ticks conflict throughout the movie is directly caused by Ticks wavering masculinity/femininity and Adam’s self-loathing about his own identity. The same goes for Bernadette and Adam, her femininity is almost a challenge to Adam and the conflict directly unfolds through that. All the characters are represented so clearly and they all actually have so much character. What I mean by this is their true character is constantly being revealed as opposed to their aesthetic character. True character is the character's essential nature, revealed by them making choices under pressure (the greater the pressure the more revealing). Aesthetic character is what the character wears, what they eat, yadda yadda. It feels as if in most of these movies we have seen in class before, a true character is hard to come by and they are mostly aesthetic. For example, in the Lost Boys, almost all the characters are purely aesthetic. Whether it's the Frog Brothers, all of the vampires, Michael’s family, etc. The only thing we learn about the non-vampire characters is they dislike vampires, and the only thing we learn about the vampire characters feels like a long shopping list of aesthetic characterizations (they wear leather and sunglasses, they don't like garlic, etc.) with the added fact that they like being vampires. However, in Priscilla, true character is everywhere. The cast undergoes increasingly hard obstacles and they make decisions that reveal who they truly are, whether its Bob turning an eye to Adam in his drag and then stepping in to defend him, or Bernadette saving Adam later that same night, or Tick’s beautiful father son plotline. All of these characters are real. As for them being play by straight men, I could honestly care less. A controversial statement, I know, but in my opinion, as long as they aren’t making stereotypes, as long as they are doing respect and justice to the characters then I have no problem with it.  Sure it would be nice to see queer people being queer characters, but I’m not at all upset that this was the cast for this movie. They are a perfect cast that tells a beautiful story. In another film, the outrage might be there, the actors might make a fool of themselves and what it means to be queer for the ake of a punchline. But that isn't the case with Priscilla. 

PS. Two little side notes that I didn’t know how to worm into my post:

While I do say that I love this movie and all the characters there is the one exception, Bob’s wife, who is portrayed with horrific stereotypes for nothing more than a bad joke. The racism it displays knocks this down severely in my mind. It stinks that it is included and really hurts the movie.

I thought it was interesting how Priscilla is the queen of the desert and not any one drag queen. My interpretation is that they are all, combined, the best themselves they can be and from each other and Priscilla, undergo positive change to create their better selves. Just a thought I wanted to share.

Thanks for reading :)