Ohana! No one gets left behind

I'd never seen To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. And it provided a great excuse not to do econ problem sets on a Sunday morning.

Patrick Swayze in drag. Fabulous.

Loved the movie. For some odd reason, I thought it would be a road trip movie. And it kind of was, except that the three New York drag queens get stuck in a really small town in the middle of somewhere (Arkansas? Oklahoma? It's left to the audience's imagination or stereotypes. It's really flat and dry, though, to mirror the town's mentality perhaps, and we know they're not in PA or WV...) Of course, they bring light and life to the drab town. The three men in dresses teach the womenfolk of the town how to come out of their shells, look great, wear makeup, get men, and stand up for themselves. They also teach the men how to look nice and be polite to ladies. In theory, it's a tad bit objectionable. But in reality, it's great. The drag queens themselves are going through personal transformations and searching for acceptance, so you accept it. Also, the fact that they can escape the discrimination they fear any time by not being in drag is unthinkable -- they are who they are, why should they change because family or strangers won't understand? It's a really fun take on the stranger-comes-to-town-and-changes it/Pollyanna genre.

Also, it does not elude notice that Wong Foo (whoever he is) occupies the absent Asian in the car -- Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo round out the ethnic ensemble. I liked the interaction of Swayze as WASPy woman, Snipes as sassy black woman, and Leguizamo as streetwise Latina. It worked really well.

Actually, Leguizamo's mannerisms reminded me of Jaslene in this season's America's Next Top Model. But that's another story.

And Michael Vartan was in it! That was a huge surprise but a huge, huge plus. Even though he plays a lecherous backwoods prick.