Wigstock: The Movie

I first saw Wigstock in an Art-house cinema in Berlin amidst an audience largely made up of glamorous and extremely vocal German drag queens. And let me tell you, it was one of the most fun experiences in my life. Talk about audience participation? It was a riot!

I've since bought first the video and now the DVD and watch it again and again - whenever I need a pick me up - whenever I need to remind myself that, as The Lady Bunny says: "We can all get it together and have a great time!" I have only two criticisms of this movie. 1. At a running time of approx 85 mins, it is not long enough! And 2. I really don't like Leigh Bowery's performance at all. Otherwise, it's all good. The audience are every bit as fabulous as the performers on stage and backstage.

A couple of my fellow posters have complained about the lipsynching. Why? It's a given in drag culture. And Girlina and the like are awesome exponents. Got a complaint? You try lipsynching in those heels, honey! This film somehow manages to be both a celebration of diversity and community. I am totally in awe. My thanks to all concerned.

On and around the stage at New York's annual open-air drag-queen festival. With lots of fabulous drag-personalities (including RuPaul), outlandish outfits and, of course, wigs of all sizes and colours, this documentary is brash, colourful, campy fun.

Wigstock: The Movie, now nearly a full decade old, is a glimpse into the worlds (underworlds, nitelife worlds, &, up-to-that-day worlds) of mostly drag queen performers/entertainers who, for one day, celebrate w/a huge festival known as Wigstock. This film features many of it's long-time performers, as well as some first-timers, together, both in full-garb & then, in their regular, everyday attire, giving their little bits & pieces on what performing means to them, how they each decided to do drag, where they got their names, & how they have enjoyed their success. An early & rare, pre-'mainstream/well-known', performance is given by then, up & comers, DEEE-LITE. There's also some bittersweet memories, reflecting back on so many that have died from AIDS who used to be performers in/at Wigstock. Another funtime is seeing Ru-Paul perform. The clothes & make-up of each performer is a genuine creative move of their own. However, it's DEFINITELY the wigs that all of the performers choose to wear that give the biggest chuckles and add the most fun to the film as a whole. A gaze through a long-gone window into the lives of Gay New Yorker's (as well as many from surrounding areas, just as interested in being there as the performers were!), mid-90's, pre-9/11, AIDS at the forefront, & when everyone could just get together for one fun day out, w/o any inhibitions & treat it as if it were Halloween, Mardi-Gras, & New Year's Eve, all in one joyous event! Thank Goodness the filmmakers took the time & liberty to encapsulate such an event that, for all we know, may not be around once this film has reached it's 2-decade mark. And how sad that truly would be that so much crazy fun would be lost forever. Prepare to laugh A lot!!! (And don't forget to wear your best...AND BIGGEST!!!)

Today - more than ten years after Wigstock 1994 was immortalized in this film - I finally watched this movie. So today, I want to reach back a decade and say thank you to the producers of this movie, who took it upon themselves to chronicle this day of joy in a city that needs it now more than ever. I encourage everyone - whether or not you have ever taken RuPaul's advice to get yourself a wig, some heels and some pantyhose and then live fierce for even a short time - to view this movie with an open heart and an open mind. I defy anyone to do that and come to any conclusion other than this film depicts people who are the heart and soul of our democracy, the very essence of what makes this the world's greatest nation.

Viva Wigstock!

From ancient Greek drama to Chinese opera, from the era of Shakespeare to the reign of the Italian castrati, throughout the world and for most of history women did not appear on stage. This gave rise to a revered theatrical tradition of what might best be called "female illusionists"--male artists who specialized in the performance of female roles and who were capable of making an audience believe a woman stood on stage before them. Such artists are still very much with us today. But you won't find any of them in WIGSTOCK: THE MOVIE.

The high-end performers here are RuPaul and Lypsinka. RuPaul is essentially an entertainer who plays with gender and racial iconography to create an enjoyable stage persona, and as such is very well known to mainstream audiences; although lesser known, Lypsinka is the more talented artist, creating considerably more subtle and wickedly camp caricatures. Both are very enjoyable--but the vast majority of the performers on stage might best be described as "tacky barroom drag queens." Some of these are very, very good at what they do, with "Lady Bunny" a case in point, but most are of a type: toying with a mix of 1950s-1960s-1970s female fashion brought up to a ludicrously "glamorous" degree and mixed with 1990s punk-and-funk styles, these are the drag queens you might find on stage in any mid-size city's gay bar of note. But because they are so common, viewers familiar with the drag world will be unimpressed: we've seen it again and again and again. They aren't particularly original, and therefore they aren't any more interesting on stage than the acts you've seen a hundred times before.

On the other hand, they are VERY interesting off-stage, and this documentary works best when it contrasts the preparations of the performers and their on-stage performances--giving us glimpses into the lives, motivations, and complicated preparations of the performers. And the audience itself is fascinating, a huge array of gay, straight, costumed, and (sometimes considerably) uncostumed people who are all bent on having a good time and don't mind showing that in front of the camera. Unfortunately, these backstage glimpses and audience shots are too few to make WIGSTOCK: THE MOVIE more than merely tantalizing, and the film in general eschews the "politics of drag" (for drag has always been to some degree a political statement) in favor of a "happy party" tone that wears thin well before the film comes to an end. Recommended, but primarily for those who know absolutely nothing about drag queens, their performing styles, and their backstage lives.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer