Priscilla the Queen of the Desert

Genre: Musical, Comedy
Rating: 15
Waring: Mild Violence

Priscilla is a classic film, but not the feel good comedy romp the posters make it out to be; there are some really upsetting scenes and some harsh realities about homophobia and transphobia. This doesn't make it a bad film - tragedies and hard hitting true-life stories can be fantastic films - it was just an emotional ride I wasn't expecting. There's also mention of child sexual abuse, completely out of the blue.

The happy parts are joyous, and there are full scenes involving fabulous drag and huge banners of silk trailing from the roof of the bus as it speeds across the desert. The characters are multi-faceted and likable, even the annoying, malicious Felicia/Adam.

Despite the fact that it delves into the reality of transphobia, the most serious scene revolves around a non transgender character facing homophobia and transphobia as a drag queen from cisgender (non trans) straight men. In fact, the trans character faces transphobia from another drag queen and this is never really presented as overly serious.

This is made worse that the character is a trans woman played by a man, a long term problem that trans communities have been fighting for many years. It would have been better if this character had not been trans or had been played by a woman, as flashbacks of her knowing that she is a girl as a child and the implication that she has been living as female for years is undermined by her manly appearance and unfeminine movement.

If you can overlook this or keep immersed in the story despite this, it's a musical and good and gay as musicals go. It revels in being gay and camp, and in being fun with serious themes, and the musical numbers fit into the story better than in most musicals. Priscilla is a classic and this 1994 film is enjoyable; the stage musical is based on it, and is a huge hit.