30 years later, few movies understand the magic of drag quite like ‘Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert’
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we’re revisiting The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, which was released in the U.S.
on August 10, 1994—30 years ago today!Although the primary goal of this column is to highlight queer films that have been forgotten by time or are in need of a cultural reassessment years after release, every now and then we focus on a movie that became a classic almost immediately—stories that expanded what queer film could be and look like, and oftentimes crossed over into the mainstream consciousness.The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert became a surprise worldwide hit when it was released in 1994.
Its portrayals of LGBTQ+ individuals—including the little-seen or discussed trans community and the drag subculture—felt groundbreaking at the time, and marked a decided “before & after” in terms of how our lives were portrayed on screen.
Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.It’s easy to see how Priscilla led the way for other ’90s movies with similar themes, like To Wong Foo in ’95 and The Birdcage in ’96.
