Dragged

What would the world be like...without drag queens?

Without a doubt, dull and dowdy.

For those, lucky enough to be au fait with the drag scene - usually inhabitants of major cities (for us, it was the London of yesteryear), the hours spent in the company of the likes of Lily Savage@The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Regina Fong@The Black Cap...and, of course, the late, great Divine (@Heaven, @The Hippodrome)...were stuff memories were made of...!

For us, those days are long gone. But, the memories are still with us. They will - forever - linger.

Now, with the success of Rupaul's Drag Race...the bar has been raised so high in terms of performance and dress, the drag queens of today are unrecognisable from their influential, gritty ancestors. For most, the Drag Race is to what they aspire. That's sad. How would have Divine fared on the Drag Race? Imagine!

Times do change...but, despite all the polish and glitter, it still ain't all slap and panache...as many, in this film, candidly reveal.

Dragged suffers a little because of the obvious budgetry restrictions...but, it amply reveals the uphill struggle most drag queens have to endure to get to where they want to be (most get nowhere near where they want to be)...they've always had to face the hecklers...but, an uninterested audience with eyes glued to their smart-phones!!!

With the disintegration of the gay scene (bars closing left, right and centre), drag queens could grab the bull by the horns, step up to the plate and save the dwindling gay scene. Sunday afternoons at The Royal Vauxhall, at The Black Cap...you couldn't move! Happy days!

Christopher Birk's film is a little too ambitous in its scope...as entertaining as the archival footage is, it really serves no purpose. Now, if this film served as a precursor to a bigger project...drag through the ages, the changing faces of drag...with adequate funding, a decent technical crew... a mighty film could be made. In the interim, this film - flaws and all - serves as a damn good precursor.

Trailer...