Cock on a Rock in a Frock

This morning, since I currently have an infinitely uninteresting life, I watched the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's an Australian road movie about two drag queens and a transexual trekking across the Outback in a purple Swedish tour bus named "Priscilla," and seeing as how few things cheer me up like drag queen movies, it is probably now in my top ten list. But anyway, that's beside the point.

Last weekend Reiko and I went to a party. it was a Halloween party, full of folks I don't know -- I've only met the girl who invited us once, for that matter, and so the only people that Reiko and I knew at the party were this girl and each other. There were two kegs in the backyard, and lots of people in interesting, creative and witty Halloween costumes (my personal favorite was two girls who dressed exactly alike with blood smeared all over one side who told everyone they were Siamese twins who had recently tried to separate themselves). Reiko was a naughty referee and I was a naughty librarian -- black pencil skirt, all-business pinstripe shirt, hair in a bun, glasses, black high-heeled pumps, etc., except I had the shirt buttoned about up to my waist to show off a red bra. Wasn't quite sure what to make of all of it. I've discovered that I love parties, but only when I know just about everyone there.

Spoke to a few guys, who seemed surprised that I knew as much about action movies and George Orwell as I did, who sat around and talked literary nonsense all evening -- all about books they hadn't actually read and authors they weren't actually fans of, but everything sounded prestigious and pretentious, so they ran their mouths about them. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm the queen of pretentious articulate bullshit, but when I do know something about the subject matter, I'm frustrated by people that don't and still try to sound like they do.

We left the party at about 1 AM. I went home and went to bed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm nowhere near the kind of party animal I thought I was. Yeah, I like to party, and yeah, I like to get drunk, and yeah, I like to act scandalous and be silly -- but only when I'm around people that I know, only when I'm in places that are familiar, and only when it's usually on my terms that I'm acting ridiculous. Isn't that strange? I guess I'm just not as outgoing as I thought.

Well, back to Priscilla...one of the characters, one of the drag queens had a son, and was forever afraid that his son wouldn't understand the fact that his father was gay, and wouldn't love him because of it. Turns out, he didn't give the kid enough credit; the boy (who was about ten), didn't seem to care at all; in fact, he asked his father if he'd have a boyfriend when they got back to Sydney, and when his father said "Probably," the boy said, "Good." All I could think was, "what a beautiful moment. Here's this father, who's so used to being beaten down for what he is, and he's pleasantly surprised when his estranged ten-year-old doesn't give a damn if he has a drag queen for a dad." It said something to me about people being so worried about other people's acceptance that we're too cautious. This man had been avoiding meeting his son for this very reason, and when he finally did, turns out there was no problem at all.

I guess what I'm saying is that I should get over my neuroses and meet people -- minus the pretentious bullshit. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, and the title of today's entry? A quote from Priscilla, of course -- the old transexual in the film, upon finding out that the youngest member of the troupe has the ultimate dream of climbing Ayer's Rock in a full-length sequined Gaultier ball-gown, says to the kid, "Oh, great, just what we need: a cock on a rock in a frock." Hands down, favorite line from the movie.