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Wig (Documentary)

By Golu

Personally, for me, documentaries have been a hit or miss. There has to be something interesting, attention grabbing for me to keep my focus on, otherwise I lose interest. For people who are familiar with Wigstock, the biggest festival and indelible part of New York’s drag scene in the ’80s and ’90s; this film would be jogging them back into memory lane. But in the spirit of honesty, it didn't do much for me.

Club Pyramid used to be the biggest drag bar in town back in 80s. Wigstock was born when Lady Bunny decided to put on a show at sunrise mainly to show people that drag is perfectly suitable during the daylight as it is late at night. For some reason the festival ended in 2001, after it had grown bigger and better to a professionally-staged show. In 2018, Lady Bunny, along with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, brought back Wigstock as a massive production on a rooftop at South Street Seaport’s Pier 17. Most of Lady Bunny’s contemporaries were there, as well as younger drag artists like Bobbie Hondo and folks like Charlene Incarnate, who is trans but definitely a modern drag queen.

Wig showcases the personalities and performances that influence the way that people understand queerness, art and identity in today's world. The film juxtaposes present-day footage with archival footage from previous editions of Wigstock and home videos. It charts the journey of drag which has gone from being clandestine to being part of mainstream pop culture. After the story of Wigstock, the final half hour or so is turned over to a concert video of the 8-hour festival. Personally, the only thing that I enjoyed was seeing archival footage of RuPaul and her performances considering how she is a pop culture phenomenon these days.

Wig is a fun film about how things have changed for drag performers since the early days of Wigstock. As much as I enjoy learning the history behind my community, this documentary somehow failed to keep my attention. (3/10)

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