I didn’t intend on writing two reviews this week but I am being forced to keep my mind off of the obnoxious work environment that I am being subjected to (hopefully for only a short time longer).
My pain = your pleasure, as I am now able to review Venus Boyz, the documentary by Gabriel Baur. As with Out Late, this documentary came to us courtesy of the lovely folks at Netflix. (Courtesy is too strong of a word as I pay them every month).
Before I screw up the definition of a drag king for those that don’t know, I will quote our good friends of Wikipedia:
Drag Kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify malegender stereotypes as part of their routine
Plot Snapshot:
Venus Boyz documents the stories of WAY TOO MANY DAMN drag kings.
When I pulled up the film profile, Netflix tried to warn me by saying that I had given it a 2 star rating. I figured it was the ex-girlfriend because I didn’t remember ever actually watching it. Knowing she isn’t the biggest fan of documentaries I decided to keep watching. An hour and a half of my life later… it was definitely a 2.
Ok. I liked the premise of the documentary. I have a thing for drag kings. Even while watching the documentary I was “engaged” (read: turned on) by the uber-hot cover girl Mildred/Dred. BUT there is definitely such thing as too damn much of a good thing.
After the first four or five subjects they showcased, I was over it. I couldn’t even force myself to seem like I cared about the rest of them. I think in a desire to be all inclusive, the true power of the documentary for me was diluted.
This was a documentary best suited for those in academia maybe… or those really really really into the topic matter. I respect it being a trailblazer of sorts, but I will probably never watch it again. Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts?
I absolutely agree with you; too many ‘kings’. It might have been more effective to get to know a few kings very intimately than to have it just keep jumping from one to the next.
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Exactly. I hated that I couldn’t fall in love with this flick 😦
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