On the plus side, this film has a wonderful cameo by Robin Williams and Patrick Swayze proves he could successfully step into the lead role of any regional production of "Auntie Mame." After that, one can pick this film apart piece by piece.
But here are a few of the film's major problems: 1) Drag queens do not dress in drag 24/7. And certainly they do not sleep in drag. Drag is a costume, something worn as part of a show, an alternate identity. In fact the film would have been more interesting if we had got to know the characters in their everyday life as a contrast to their drag identities. But placing the guys in drag and keeping them there keeps them safely in the realm of a sight gag. The characters are not people, they are extented jokes.
2) This is a film about how gay men make the world nice for heterosexual lovers. This would have been truly ground-breaking if it had been about the romantic lives of this trio, not just portraying them, literally, as fairy godmothers who come to work romantic magic for straights. 3) The film is sexist. The trio come to this small town and teach men how to show respect by beating them up and solve all the women's problems by giving them self-esteem inducing makeovers. Men are villains and get violence; women are victims and get pampering. And, of course, gays earn the right to be "fabulous." Wouldn't it be interesting if someone made a film where women are taught to respect men and men were pampered their way to self-esteem? That'll never happen.
Sadly, "Wong Foo" truly thinks it is being bold and original, but every step of the way it falls back on clichés and tiresome stereotypes.
But here are a few of the film's major problems: 1) Drag queens do not dress in drag 24/7. And certainly they do not sleep in drag. Drag is a costume, something worn as part of a show, an alternate identity. In fact the film would have been more interesting if we had got to know the characters in their everyday life as a contrast to their drag identities. But placing the guys in drag and keeping them there keeps them safely in the realm of a sight gag. The characters are not people, they are extented jokes.
2) This is a film about how gay men make the world nice for heterosexual lovers. This would have been truly ground-breaking if it had been about the romantic lives of this trio, not just portraying them, literally, as fairy godmothers who come to work romantic magic for straights. 3) The film is sexist. The trio come to this small town and teach men how to show respect by beating them up and solve all the women's problems by giving them self-esteem inducing makeovers. Men are villains and get violence; women are victims and get pampering. And, of course, gays earn the right to be "fabulous." Wouldn't it be interesting if someone made a film where women are taught to respect men and men were pampered their way to self-esteem? That'll never happen.
Sadly, "Wong Foo" truly thinks it is being bold and original, but every step of the way it falls back on clichés and tiresome stereotypes.