What a Drag Men As Women & Women As Men In The Movies [Paperback]

Homer Dickens (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: NY Quill 1982. (1982)
• ASIN: B000J5ICPG
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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4.0 out of 5 stars 2, January 5, 2001

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Peter Shelley "petershelley" (Sydney, New South Wales Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What a Drag: Men As Women and Women As Men in the Movies (Paperback)

Although drag is loaded with anthropological implications, any examination that opens with a dedication to Pal, who impersonated Lassie, tells you what to expect. The introduction defines drag here as an impersonation of the opposite sex. Already the notion that one's gender is defined by clothes and not one's body is a given, and that certain clothes are easily identifiable for each sex. The practice began in primitive societies where witch-doctors wore female garb for certain pagan rites. Julius Caesar and Nero dressed as women. Boys played the female roles in Shakespeare's productions, since the Catholic Church had pronounced it immoral for women to appear on stage. The term drag is said to have started from the way the actor came on stage, with his gown behind him. The Japanese Kabuki theatre also employed men to play women. It was in the late 19th century that women began to appear in the theatre as men, the most famous being Sarah Bernhardt playing Rostand's L'Aiglon, Napoleon's doomed heir. In 1892 Brandon Thomas' farce Charley's Aunt debuted to become one of the most performed comedies of all time. Contemporary audiences began to add dimensions to the appreciation of drag, with role-reversal evolving into camp, where the disguise was obvious, or more realistic interpretations where the disguise was unnoticeable. The gay community initially embraced drag as a liberating force of expression until some began to see the stereotyping of women as divas was oppressive, and mysogynistic. A celebration turned into a perceived mockery. This reaction led to the "cloning" of men as cowboys, policeman and blue-collar types, which became known as another form of drag. The lesbian community also reacted against the gay drag phenomena, creating similar butch and femme types, as a reflection of heterosexual coupling (though when a woman donned the female drag things became perhaps a little too confusing). So what began as entertainment took on a political flavour when drag, cross-dressing and roleplay confronted ideas of empowerment and identity. Impersonation may reveal more latent sexuality in the impersonator, but one has to consider the partriarchal fears of western society that tells us that men dressed as women is funny - but not funny, and women dressed as men is never funny. The book presents stills with little commentary so one is free to project one's feelings over the images. Of course, one begins the pretence with the knowledge of the true gender of the pretender. Most of these impersonations are done for comic effect, to create deliberate deceipt, so naturally the man cannot be truely convincing as a woman, and vice versa. At best, they are perceived as being socially unattractive, and thereby less powerful in the battle of the sexes. (Of course it is when they are perceived as attractive that we start getting into trouble, and the idea of a woman in male drag becomes more palatable). The comedy is also reliant upon those who must be deceived being somewhat dim in not realising the deceipt. They exist therefore to be duped and somehow deserve to be manipulated. Some male forms of drag allow for the wearers to continue to express their sexuality, but without the restrictions that a woman would traditionally impose eg the embracing in Charley's Aunt. Some Like it Hot in particular gives the men access to women's private feelings about men. Hot is a troublesome film since the representation of Marilyn Monroe borders on female drag. Since her behaviour caused interminable delays in the making of the film, one wonders whether this is a form of revenge on director Billy Wilder's part. And the famous ending of "nobody's perfect" sits uncomfortably as a gay tag in a time when homosexuality was still closeted. In fact, the extreme (some would say arrested) femininity of the 1950's created great hostility towards gays. In Hollywood Revue of 1929 Marion Davies is seen dressed as a bellboy, however a trick photography still has her as a Lilliputian figure standing under the crotches of a male chorus, with raised eyes. Maybe because Tony Randall's impersonation in The Seven Faces of Dr Lao was of Medusa, from Greek mythology, and not a contemporary, is the reason his androgyny is so successful. But then Randall's heterosexuality was always in question, which makes the cross-over perhaps easier to accept. Certain female stars in male drag appeared as very handsome boys - Louise Brooks in Beggars of Life, Veronica Lake in Sullivan's Travels, and Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett. Brian Deacon's impersonation, under the guise of being an army deserter in Triple Echo, is so weak that it confirms how stupid Oliver Reed as his/her admirer is, and sets up the exposure and savage retribution. Garbo's Queen Christina is memorable for the discovery of her gender by John Gilbert, but without any retribution. Who can forget how unbelievable John Hansen looks as Christine Jorgensen in female drag, even when his/her drag is everyday attire. I haven't seen Anne Heywood in I Want What I Want, but it's always interesting when an actress plays a man wanting to be a woman. Vanessa Redgrave in Second Serve is another example of this. Jamie Farr's Klinger drag on TV's M*A*S*H* is contextualised within the lunacy of war, but Farr should be applauded for such a risky impersonation. And the still of actors in drag for a charity benefit, striking typically male poses eg legs apart, smoking cigars, is amusing in it's statement that appearance does not always alter inherent behaviour, or at least the behaviour the actors wanted to project and us to believe as genuine.