The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert: A Boytoy Gay Movie Review

[TotallyOz]

The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is one of the most delightful, respectful and funny gay-themed movies ever made. It was also considerably ahead of its time. Who would have thought that in 1994, Australia would have put out a film that would still be considered progressive in 2013?

It also allows us to see some men who would later become very famous in their first starring roles. First off, we get Hugo Weaving playing a man who is neither gay, nor straight, nor bisexual. I am what I am, he says at one critical moment and that is a drag queen performer who has a secret wife out in the desert, and he's about to find out what it's like to be a dad.

He's terrified that his little boy will reject him for his sexual ambiguity. Instead, his son tells him he needs to get a boyfriend. It's interesting to see Weaving in this very campy role, given that he's much more well known as Mr. Smith in the Matrix films. (This is not his only gay-positive film role. He plays V in V For Vendetta - a character who, in part, is motivated to destroy an oppressive government because it was imprisoning gay members of their society.)

We also get Terrance Stamp, who would eventually become famous in the Star Wars prequels and on the television show Smallville, playing an elderly transsexual drag queen.

Finally, we get Guy Pearce, who has been oh-so butch in L.A. Confidential, Memento and Prometheus, playing a very young, very effeminate transvestite twink. Once seeing this film, you'll never look at Pearce the same way again.

The plot is a standard Hollywood road movie, based on the old 1950s Bing Crosby films. The three performers (famous for their ABBA impersonations) get hired to play in a casino in the middle of the Outback. They buy an old bus that they name Priscilla, and then begin a weeklong, alcohol-soaked journey to get to the gig.

Along the way they argue with each other, make fun of each other, wear fabulous gowns, and encounter a number of silly adventures. Perhaps the best moment is them breaking down in the desert and meeting a bunch of aborigines who are fascinated by their show one of them even puts on one of their evening gowns and dances with them.

Of course, they also meet some homophobes during the trip, but they prove much stronger than the bigots and are more than able to hold their own.

The most touching part of the film is when they meet a mechanic who is having problems with a Thai hooker he drunkenly married in Bangkok. She leaves him, and he agrees to come along with them on the bus.

In no time at all he's falling in love with Stamp's Bernadette, and the romance slowly builds until both of them find true love.

The heart of the film is the relationship Weaving has with his boy. He tries to act butch and very heterosexual around him, but that just confuses the child. Meanwhile, Pearce acts as flamboyant as a peacock and the boy immediately embraces him.

This causes Weaving to stop feeling guilty about his sexuality and accept himself. At the end of the film, his son is actually directing the spotlight at their ABBA gig.

So, what we have here is a camp gay comedy that treats its characters with the honesty and respect they deserve. You'll laugh at the many funny moments, but you'll also be moved by the scenes of brutal emotional honesty.

That these actors became famous playing heterosexual roles in Hollywood after appearing in this film shows that the studio system doesn't completely believe in typecasting. That a film like this could have been made more than 25 years ago is truly astounding, and the script and performances themselves are legendary.

If you ever want to spend a night just sitting back with a Stoli and cranberry and have a good time watching a good film, then rent, download or buy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Even your straight friends will love it!

cc boytoy.com 2012

[Guest lurkerspeaks]

I have an interesting story to share (at least interesting to me) concerning this movie. This story took place many years ago, when Priscilla first was out on VHS. I had met this 19 yr old boy off one of the old phone chat lines. He came over to spend the night with me. He had recently moved to Phoenix from some small town in Missouri, if I remember correctly. He was gay, but very "unworldly" to the big city gay life. He even had a small child back in his hometown. During our 20 hours or so together, we watched this movie. He had never seen anything like it before. He was so fascinated by it, that it gave him the inspiration to start doing drag. After a few years, he ended up going on to win Miss Gay Arizona and to compete in the Miss Gay USA pagent.

[BiBottomBoy]

That's super cool!

[Guest NCBored]

Priscilla is one of my all-time favorite movies - and I also enjoyed the Broadway version a few years ago.

[Theolover]

This too is one of my fave movies.. I remember when this came out and one of my friends wanted to make the flip flop dress for Halloween. We spent hours making this flip flop dress.. Thanks for the great review.. This is definately worth re-watching.