History:
1904 – Mr. Wix of Wickham stage play with Julian Eltinge
1915 – Julian Eltinge’s “The Countess Charming” (first on film screen drag)
The Roaring ’20s – The Panzy Craze where Gene Malin became a star
With no movies made during this time period, showing gay culture, we can look to modern films that depict that time period for insights:
- Colette (2018), The Danish Girl (2015) & Some Like It Hot (1959)
1930 – Morocco (1930) – on screen drag king which explored gender fluidity
1933 – Gene Malin was in “Arizona to Broadway” in 1933 where he played he portrayed Ray Best, a female impersonator who dressed in the manner of Mae West and sang “Frankie and Johnny”
1933 – Victor and Victoria
1934 – Hollywood’s Hays Code drives drag back underground in North America – which was a set of industry moral guidelines for censorship that were applied to motion pictures in the US.
1968 – The Queen pageant documentary
1968 – The death of the Hays Code
1969 – Funeral Parade of Roses – see my review
1972 – Pink Flamingos
1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975 – 1977 All in the Family TV Show featuring the drag queen Lori Shannon (Don McClean) as the drag queen Beverly LaSalle
1977 – Outrageous!
1977 – Gay USA 1977
1978 – La Cage Aux Folles
1982 – Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie”
1989 marks Rupaul’s first emergence to TV in the B-52s hit music video for Love Shack (2:06)
1990 – Paris is Burning
1993 – Rupauls HIT single Supermodel (You Better Work)
1994 – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
1995 – Wigstock: The Movie
1995 – To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
1996 – The Birdcage
1998 – Velvet Goldmine
1999 – Flawless
2001 – HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH
2008 – A documentary about Miss Gay America 2008 pageant which featured soon to be drag race stars Porkchop and Alyssa Edwards
2009 – Rupaul’s Drag race premiered
2020 – Queens – Canadian comedy mystery web series (on CBC )
Main movies for this episode:
Paris is Burning (1990)
Octavia St. Laurant
Pepper LaBeija
Crystal LaBeija
Aja on RuPaul’s Drag Race as Crystal LaBeija (in Snatch Game)
Venus Xtravaganza:
Categories:
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
All about the headpieces! (and the flip flop dress!)
“Evolutionary” Finale Sequence:
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
Sources/Further Reading:
Episode guest: https://www.instagram.com/slimkatyyy/
To learn more about the Paris Is Burning murders, listen to this episode of My Favorite Murder: https://myfavoritemurder.com/269-big-hot-c-mon/
https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-about-queer-history
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/6/17085244/rupaul-trans-women-drag-queens-interview-controversy
https://www.them.us/story/how-drag-queens-turned-against-the-trans-community
Trixie Mattell Documentary: “Moving Parts” (2019)
The podcast with Rupaul and Michelle Visage – “What’s the Tee?”
Inglorious Baguettes 
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