Yesterday was another Bethany Education day, so I picked two related films that I enjoy and for- uh, asked her to watch them. Considering that the world is a bleak hellscape, I picked fun ones.Young drag queen Chi Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo) is devastated when he doesn't win the New York City drag contest. The winners, Vida Bohemme (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes), decide to trade in their plane tickets and buy a car so they can take Chi Chi with them. But a terrible incident with a backwoods sheriff (Chris Penn) and car trouble leave them stranded in the tiny town of Snydersville and the three must use all their glamour to help the townsfolk discover a new way of looking at life.
This is incredibly dated by the standards of today but I still think it has value, if only to show how far we've come and how far we have to go. It does rely heavily on the "Magical Gays" stereotype but also shows real issues, like the fear of even just being seen in drag and the danger of self-expression in a society that will not respect it.
Obviously, the cast is the real draw here. Patrick Swayze was a dancer and probably had zero problems picking up this role but Wesley Snipes had never done anything like this before or since and it is amazing he is in this movie. John Leguizamo was just starting out on a movie career and this was really his big break. And then there are the cameos! RuPaul, Robin Williams, a blink-and-you-miss-it Naomi Campbell and of course, Julie Newmar herself.
I love this movie.
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