With Fall weather on its way, it’s a great time to kick off your heels get into some comfy clothes and catch up on some TV or watch a great movie. Over here at the Glamour Boutique offices, we were recently discussing some of our favorite Trans related viewing and wanted to share some of our top picks.
Let’s start with two television shows that have broken down barriers and have helped bring the trans community to a wide audience.
Transparent
Premiering in 2014, Transparent revolves around a Los Angeles family and their lives following the discovery that the person they knew as their father Mort (Jeffrey Tambor) is transgender. When Mort reveals himself as Maura to his family, the show sets off on quite a ride. The show is a mix of comedy and drama, but at its heart, really shows what many transgender people go through once they come out to those around them. The show is very relatable to the trans community and captures family issues, religious issues and so much more in a terrific portrayal of the life of a middle aged trans person.
Transparent has won Emmy’s and Golden Globes, including for Jeffrey Tambor and his portrayal of Maura. Amazon Prime just released Season Four of Transparent just a few weeks ago, so the time is now to binge watch the latest ten episodes of this fantastic show. If you haven’t seen the show at all yet, it is still a perfect time to watch all four seasons before the already announced Season Five premieres in 2018.
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Since debuting in 2009, RuPaul’s Drag Race has been a highly rated, very loved reality show on the LOGO Network. Drag Race is a competition style reality show where RuPaul is searching for the next Drag Superstar. RuPaul, who is one of the most famous drag queens in the world, hosts, judges and mentors the contestants. Each week, RuPaul and his fellow judges, including guests like Lady Gaga eliminate one contest until there is only one Queen to reign supreme.
Like most reality shows, there is drama to go with the trials and tribulations as each contest vies for the prize. In fact, the show is a great way to learn more about the Drag Queen world with so many tips on dressing and showing off. Plus, there have been so many unforgettable contestants over the years. The show has only grown in popularity over the years as it has been spun off into sister shows, Drag Race: All Stars and RuPaul’s Drag U. In 2016, Rupaul won an Emmy for Best Host on a Reality TV Show. It was recently announced that Season 10 will premiere in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled and take the time to catch up on some fabulous past seasons.
With your TV viewing all set, let’s take a look at some classic movies:
Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Considered to be one of the first movies to bring LGBT themes to a mainstream audience, especially in a positive light, Priscilla Queen of the Desert is a must see.
The film tells the tale of two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pierce along with a transgender woman played by Terence Stamp who agree to perform at a resort town out in the middle of the Australian Outback.
We follow their journey through the Australian desert in a lavender bus named Priscilla. Throughout their journey, the trio get sidetracked for various reasons, including performing their drag show for a friendly group of Aborigines and being attacked by a homophobic gang and having their bus vandalized by another group. Along the way, they trio pick up Bob, an old mechanic who helped them get their bus fixed up. Once they arrive at their destination, we find out the Weaving’s character has a wife who runs the resort and an eight year old son.
In 1994, tackling all these issues that trans people go through was groundbreaking at the time. The film became a hit and is a must see for anyone in the trans community.
Too Wong Foo: Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar
Hot on the heels of Priscilla, came Hollywood’s version of the Drag Queen road trip, this time with big name Hollywood stars Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes portraying drag queens Vida and Noxeema respectively. When the two tie for first place in a New York drag queen contest, they both win a trip to Hollywood for the Drag Queen of America Pageant. Deciding to cash in their plane tickets for an old Cadillac convertible so they can bring along the less experienced drag queen Chi Chi (John Leguizamo) to help with her drag queen confidence, the trio wind up on a road trip for the ages.
When the trio’s car breaks down in a small town that isn’t as accepting of the drag queen lifestyle like a New York or Hollywood is, the film touches upon the struggle that is very real, even to this day. As the drag queens befriend the local women in the small town, who at first do not even realize that they are not women, perceptions change and during their weekend in this small town the trio become accepted and protected by their new friends giving off a lovely message of acceptance ending with all the towns women rallying behind Vida, Noxeema and Chi Chi when they are threatened.
Finally arriving in Hollywood, the trio come face to face with their idol and the films namesake Julie Newmar. This is a personal favorite of mine as I’ve seen this film at least a dozen times.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Let’s end this with a Halloween themed film that gave the world one of the most iconic cross dressers in film history. If you have never seen this film, stop whatever you’re doing and watch it.
Based off the British musical of the same name, Rocky Horror is the king of Cult Classic Cinema, living on for over 40 years in midnight showings in theatres all over the country. Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter takes over the screen from the very second he shows up while singing Sweet Transvestite. Everything in this movie has to be seen to be believed. My suggestion, as it is something I have done many times over the years is to check out a midnight showing if it is playing near you as it is pure spectacle. Many fans show up dressed as their favorite characters so it is a great opportunity to wear your best Dr. Frank-N-Furter outfit and sing along to all the great music in the film while wearing some sexy fishnets.
Let us know what you think of our picks and if you are inspired to get some new outfits after seeing all the great fashion of our five choices, take a look at our crossdressing shop and see what great new stuff we have to offer.