My momma really is the GOAT because half of these movies I’m writing about, she made me watch. “To Wong Foo” was one of those movies. It should also be noted that I never call this movie by its whole name. Like ever. I don’t think I know a person who calls this movie by its entire name.
To Wong Foo is more than a movie about three men in dresses, three very masculine men (We’ll get to that in a second). It is a movie about acceptance. A movie about love and a movie about growth.
What shocked me the most about this movie is that the three leads of this movie were Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo. Three of the most manly men I can think of in the industry, and after a few Googles, I’m surprised by how many men in Hollywood tried out for the role of Vida. Swayze won out because of his walk and grace, but folks like Johnny Depp, RDJ, Willem Dafoe, MEL GIBSON (This was the shocker), and James Spader, to name a few. I need to look into what made them each say yes to their roles. Leguizamo did an interview with Out Magazine about what he took from the role of Chi Chi Rodriguez. Check it out because what he says is really insightful.
The premise of the movie is three drag queens, two of which have been friends for years, decide to take a cross-country trip from New York to Hollywood. They meet, what Noxema calls, a boy in a dress and decide, begrudgingly, to take her along with them. Along the way, she learns what it means to be a real drag queen. I think she learns what it means to carry the weight of the responsibility of not only being a drag queen but being a good person.
At the same time, the town becomes more of a place where everyone is more connected. Before the girls came, the town was divided. The women stayed in their place because the men put them there and they didn’t know anything different. It also showed, in an ideal way, that a town of people like these could change and be accepting of people like Chi-Chi, Noxema, and Vida because they took the time to get to know them. And vice versa. This is how we get the scene at the end of the movie where the townspeople stand up for the ladies.
I appreciate the fact that I never heard the guys make fun of themselves for being in this movie. In fact, Leguizamo talks about the role often. He cherishes what he was able to do for the LGBT community at the time and for this new generation of fans. I watch a lot of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and what we as viewers get from that show is the same thing the townspeople got from the ladies–joy. There’s a special magic that only a drag queen has and that’s why people gravitate towards them, but it’s also why some people fear the power of self that they have. Not everyone wants people to be all that they can be unless they are in the army. Virgil was one of those people.
I laughed hard at this movie and realized that these men didn’t look as bad as I would have imagined in dresses. Now, did I love Noxema’s bottom lashes? No, no I did not, but it was the 90’s, so I got what I got. And I know what someone is thinking. We do not need a sequel starring Ru’s girls. Leave this classic alone. It teaches all the new drag queens what it really means to be a true queen.
When was the last time you watched this movie and which girl was your fave?
