A new film, “Stop! That! Train!”, directed by Adam Shankman, features drag queens in a comedy spoof of disaster movies. The film stars RuPaul and other drag artists, and is intended to be a fun and entertaining movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Plot and Cast
The movie follows two employees of a commuter train company who dream of traveling the country. When they lose their jobs, they con their way into positions aboard a fancier train, but things take a turn when the brakes fail and they must save the day. The film features a number of celebrity cameos, including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nicole Richie.
According to Joe E. Jeffreys, a drag historian, drag has been featured in film almost since its inception, but it’s rare for drag to be used as a tool that requires audiences to suspend disbelief and accept a character’s gender for narrative purposes. “Stop! That! Train!” is among this latter category of film, where drag queens are intended as real people.
Reception and Context
The film’s release comes at a time when drag has been positioned as a cultural lightning rod, with some states seeking to outlaw or restrict public drag performances. However, the film’s stars hope that it will help to disarm some of that conservative political strategy by simply being fun and entertaining.
“We’re just doing what we’ve always done, but on such a big scale that now people are getting to see the things they’re being fed aren’t necessarily the truth,” said Ginger Minj, one of the film’s stars. “They’re getting let in on our world—a little bit.”
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
