Since I'm doing the story about a Filipino drag queen for my thesis, I've been watching a variety of drag queen films like The Birdcage and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. And no drag queen collection is complete without on of my favorite films, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This film has a way of making me teary eyed. I had the pleasure of meeting the film's writer/director/lead actor, John Cameron Mitchell when he visited UC Davis and taught a two-day seminar. He's the kind of director I hope to one day be like. The man his humble and does not take his work and his filmmaking experience for granted. He is an emotional filmmaker--placing his own personal experiences into the script, which is precisely why you really care for the characters in his films. My concept for my thesis is something personal for me. Yes, it's a story about a Filipino American family, which is self-explanatory for me. But also, it's about a character who pursues a profession and a lifestyle that doesn't uphold typical middle-class Filipino convention. While a filmmaker and a drag queen are two different types of professionals, they are both creative fields that involve entertainment. It's about being the "different" one in the family. Not necessarily the black sheep--just different, the unexpected one that receives some praise, but mostly frown and confused faces when we talk about what we do.
Below is a clip from Hedwig. "The Origin of Love" is one of my favorite songs. I sang it on the traffic-filled drive to LA a few days ago and nearly choked at the end. I don't know why I was close to crying, I just was--probably thinking about a lot of things, but nothing specifically--just life.
No comments:
Post a Comment