“The guide to
survival is you have to set yourself some rules”. And those rules apparently are to be as
outrageous, glamorous and fabulous as possible.
In nightclubs
across the East End of London throughout the last decade, a collection of
raucous drag performers where beginning to develop a fiercely loyal following
that would push them towards the mainstream.
Dressed like a Girl is
narrated by the ‘ringleader’ Jonny Woo,
who poetically leads us through the rises and (minor) falls of the alternative
drag scene as they get more and more attention from the elite fashion, theatre
and clubbing communities.
The main
characters are Jonny, the charismatic leader of the pack; Scottee, the artistic youngster who has an experimental one-man
show on the side; Amber Swallows, a
transitioning trans woman who makes dirty electro music; Holestar, a female ‘tranny-with-a-fanny’ who gives drag lessons; John Sizzle the eclectic DJ; and then Pia, a androgynous conspiracy theorist
who has taken a few too many drugs…
The night that
saw their rise in notoriety was a Gay Bingo event, which (in Jonny’s words) was
mostly an excuse to drink heavily and combat the comedown from a weekend of
excessive drug use. This included a lot
of hard liquor and ‘69’ jokes, as well as lots of dancing and performances and
generally being as outrageous as possible.
This then led the collective to progress to curating a space at
Glastonbury, introducing the bands at Lovebox, as well all branching out with solo
shows and projects.
The film
manages to perfectly balance the anarchic, punk behavior of the queens in
public, with the tender personal back-stories of their early and private
lives. Jonny ended up collapsing with
massive organ failure and had to quit drinking due to his excessive lifestyle;
Holestar explores her battle with depression with her solo live-shows; Scottee
explains a harrowing childhood on a Camden estate where he was accused of being
a gay rapist just because he was sexually active; and Amber has to somehow get
acceptance of her transition from her socially-conservative, rugged and blokey
father.
These more
intimate moments are interspersed with montages of nightclubs, catwalks and
festivals where the characters and the film itself seems high on a mixture of
acid and ecstasy. The costumes and make
up are a visual feast that change so rapidly it’s actually hard to really take
in any one of the amazing designs.
The last 5
years have been landmark years in the UK and USA for gay rights and queer
representation. More and more characters
are appearing in mainstream culture as tolerance grows and political battles
are won. Although most LGBT people would
agree that this was a good thing, there is also a minority that doesn’t want to
integrate and are proud of being different and a community in and of
themselves. Dressed as a Girl is a celebration of defiantly queer identities
building their own culture and space through flamboyant solidarity. The characters are tough, the style is
confrontational and the politics is loud.
Director Colin Rothbart has produced a film that
proves that behind every great Drag Queen is a real man (or woman) with depth
and character. And that you don’t have
to always feel fabulous on the inside to look fabulous for your adoring fans…
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