Casey’s Reviews
Does “To Wong Foo” Hold Up?
This 1995 road trip / drag queen comedy must be a cult classic for a reason, right?
This weekend, my husband and I continued our marathon of queer cult classics with To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995). From its tongue-in-cheek title — based on the signature of 60s film star Julie Newmar on the wall of a restaurant, with no relevance to the plot — to its over-the-top drag performances, To Wong Foo is camp from start to finish. But was it ahead of its time, or is it a dated reminder of 90s optimism?
Point of order: If To Wong Foo was made in 2024, the alt-right would be decrying it as a piece of liberal propaganda and trying to get it “cancelled.”
In its opening scene, RuPaul makes a cameo dressed in a confederate flag gown, using the drag stage name “Rachel Tension,” and presents the award for Drag Queen of the Year to co-winners Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes). It’s like a conservative horror movie: all queer, camp, mincing, girl power, and acceptance, even when the queens get stranded for the weekend in a conservative, small town.
