WIGSTOCK

WIGSTOCK is a documentary film that covers the annual Wigstock festival in New York City. Shot in 1993 and 1994, it mainly shows men in drag on stage lip syncing to various tunes with female voices. The performers include the now famous RuPaul and the creator of Wigstock, The Lady Bunny. Also on stage, a large drag queen simulates giving birth to a full grown naked woman and a choir of drag queens sing a chorus of obscenities to objectors of the event. Interspersed between the acts, we meet some performers without drag as they wax poetically about how wonderful it is to wear women’s clothes. A few others tell about their families or their “coming-out” experiences.

WIGSTOCK fails as a compelling film because it doesn’t tell a compelling story; it is only a series of performances and interviews. It could have probed deeper into the lives and motivations of the drag queens. WIGSTOCK fails to entertain because it is offensive. The celebration spirit of the event is tainted by an expressed hatred for objectors of their lifestyle. Instead, it only showed the by-products of their need for true celebration and freedom found not in the arms of fellow men, but in the arms of Christ. As God’s word tells us: “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.” (Deuteronomy 22:5).