Line #48 Film/ToWongFooThanksForEverythingJulieNewmar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wongfoo.png]]
2
3	->'''Noxeema:''' There are steps to becoming a queen.\
4	'''Chi-Chi:''' How many?\
5	'''Noxeema:''' ...four. There are four steps to becoming a drag queen.\
6	'''Chi-Chi:''' Well, don't be stingy, tell me! What are they?\
7	'''Vida:''' Patience, ''mon cheri''. You will know when you've done them.
8
9	''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. Close friends Vida Boheme (Creator/PatrickSwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Creator/WesleySnipes) tie for a regional [[BeautyPageant drag pageant]] in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, winning a trip to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles to compete for Drag Queen of America. On their way backstage, they run into competitor Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), distraught that she lost. Seeing a diamond in the rough, charitable Vida convinces Noxie to take Chi-Chi with them to Hollywood while teaching her the ways of drag. To pay Chi-Chi's way, the queens sell their plane tickets (something else that doesn't thrill Noxie) for an old but stylish 1967 Cadillac convertible and embark on their 2,000-mile journey across the US, making new friends and a few enemies along the way.
10
11	The movie essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're transgender (all three of them use female pronouns, which is common with drag queens in character regardless of their gender), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.
12
13	----
14	!!Contains the following tropes:
15
16	* AccidentalMisnaming:
17	** Do ''not'' mistake Sheriff Dollard's name for "Dullard".
18	** [[RunningGag "It's a misprint!"]]
19	** Upon meeting, Vida accidentally calls Virgil "Vernell".
20	** A hilarious moment occurs when Vida has trouble getting Jimmy Joe's name right. Until he politely corrects her.
21	* AgentPeacock: Vida and Noxie do some asswhoopin'. In particular, Vida is a fabulously dressed drag queen, but is perfectly capable of knocking sexist men to the ground.
22	* TheAllegedCar: The yellow Cadillac, which doubles with CoolCar. It was chosen for its glamour rather than functionality, a decision that later comes back to haunt them when it breaks in the middle of "Gay Hell".
23	* AmbiguousSituation: The relationship between Carol Ann and Vida by the end is clearly loving, but it's not clear if it's platonic, romantic, or somewhere in between, complicated by the fact that there may or may not be an IncompatibleOrientation, Carol Ann becoming the first person to tell Vida "I love you", and Vida giving her the Julie Newmar picture before they drive away.
24	* ArmouredClosetGay: Sheriff Dollard's long monologue in the bar sounds like he's interested in men, but can't quite figure out that he is. Moments later, he gives Virgil an approving look. Given the monologue, he's a ManlyGay who disapproves of [[CampGay Campy men]]. He also hates drag queens.
25	* ArtisticLicenseAwards: In actual drag pageantry, Chi-Chi would not be allowed to compete for a national title without an affiliated regional title under her belt like Noxie and Vida have.
26	* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: When Sheriff Dollard comes to Snydersville and is yelling at the townsfolk, he is carrying a sohtgun the entire time with his finger on the trigger. When he leaves, he points and shakes the gun violently at people with his finger ''still'' on the trigger.
27	* AsHerself: [[spoiler:Creator/JulieNewmar shows up at the end to present Chi-Chi with her crown]].
28	* AsYouKnow: Noxie gives a quick rundown of different genderqueer types, which Chi-Chi already knows for the most part, before getting to the point that Chi-Chi not yet a drag queen but a mere "boy in a dress." Noxie's descriptions were most likely meant for the audience's benefit, though her definitions haven't aged well over time. See ValuesDissonance[[invoked]] in the YMMV page.
29	* AttemptedRape: First attempted with Vida (or at least a molestation) from Sheriff Dollard, and later with Chi-Chi vs. some roughnecks.
30	* AttractiveBentGender: Sheriff Dollard is beguiled by Vida (at first), and Chi Chi manages to woo Bobby Ray. Admittedly, Creator/JohnLeguizamo makes a ''very'' convincing woman, and Swayze could probably pass at night like in the scene.
31	* AvengersAssemble: The various drag queens getting ready for the pageant in the movie's opening credits.
32	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: The film ends with an elaborate procession of drag queens introducing the the crowning of [[spoiler: Miss Drag America, Chi-Chi]] with a fabulously large, rhinestone tiara.
33	* BadassBoast: Chi Chi delivers two at once:
34	-->'''Chi Chi:''' I'm the Latina Creator/MarilynMonroe. I got more legs than a bucket of chicken!
35	* BaitAndSwitch: [[spoiler:When Sheriff Dollard arrives at the town, he waves Vida's shoe around and demands that the drag queens come out. Vida steels herself and walks to the door, and it cuts to the outside where a woman in a red dress and veil steps out of the house and goes to confront the sheriff. When she gets within talking distance of the sheriff, she pushes back her veil....and reveals herself as Carol Ann, claiming the shoe for her own to drive him away. Vida and the others stay safely hidden until he's gone.]]
36	* BeautyContest: The film's FramingDevice. It begins with the queens competing in a state-level drag pageant, and the bulk of the movie involves their trip to Los Angeles to compete in the national.
37	* BettyAndVeronica: Bobby Lee (the Betty), the plain and blonde GirlNextDoor competing with sexy, exotic brunette Chi Chi (the Veronica) over Bobby Ray (the Archie).
38	* BeYourself: While all of the drag queens are proud of who they are to begin with, they still have some insecurities and fears, like Vida's family disowning her or Chi-Chi worrying that she's just "a boy in a dress". When the townspeople stand up for them, however, they're so touched that they become more committed to being who they are, with Vida vowing to visit her family and let them know they have no more hold on her, Noxeema deciding to risk it in Hollywood despite the prejudices against her, and Chi-Chi declaring that she won't try to hide her skin tone any longer.
39	* BlandNameProduct: The national pageant they're competing in, "Drag Queen of America," is based on two real-life drag pageants: Miss Gay America and Miss US of A, two of the "Big Four" drag pageants in the US along with Miss Continental and Entertainer of the Year.
40	* BlitheSpirit: The girls, outsiders to the small, conservative town of Snydersville use their fashion sense and fabulous ways to spice up the lives of the townsfolk, making them more exciting and fashionable.
41	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Redhead Vida, Blonde (most of the times!) Noxie and Brunette Chi-Chi.
42	* BoomerangBigot: The racist, sexist and homophobic Sheriff Dollard is gay and he hates effeminate drag queens.
43	* ButNotTooBlack: Given a twist into "But Not Too Latin". Chi Chi uses foundation that makes her appear white, until CharacterDevelopment kicks in and she decides to embrace her skin tone [[spoiler:at the final pageant]].
44	* BystanderSyndrome: Noxie contrasted with Vida's [[ChronicHeroSyndrome "foolish" compassion]].
45	-->'''Vida:''' Virgil's beating up Carol Ann!
46	-->'''Noxie:''' (''unconcerned'') Most likely.
47	-->'''Vida:''' We have to help her!
48	-->'''Noxie:''' Oh no no no. You see Vida, there are times when you help people and then [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished there are times when if you help people you end up being killed]]. So you don't help people!
49	* TheCameo: Creator/{{RuPaul}}, Naomi Campbell, Creator/RobinWilliams, Joey Arias, and Creator/JulieNewmar herself.
50	** The other New York drag queen finalists were well known performers in NYC at the time.
51	* CaptainObvious: When the girls meet Sheriff Dollard and he refers to Noxie and Chi-Chi as ethnic slurs, Chi-Chi makes this observation:
52	-->'''Chi-Chi:''' I think that cop is prejudiced!
53	-->({{Beat}})
54	-->'''Noxeema:''' [[DeadpanSnarker You were the smartest one in your class, weren't you]]?
55	* CassandraTruth: Sheriff Dollard gets this treatment from his fellow officers after blaming his "assault" on three random crossdressers. None of them believe that he was knocked out by a man in drag, and they make fun of him for getting beat up by a girl.
56	* CerebusSyndrome: When the plot shifts its focus to hotel owner Carol Ann and her abusive husband Virgil.
57	* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Vida suffers from this contrasting with Noxie's [[BystanderSyndrome insensitivity]]. {{Lampshaded}} by Noxie herself, who notes that she can't seem to stop herself from meddling.
58	* CityMouse: The three girls are all fantastically dressed New Yorkers who are very out of place in the small town of Snyderville.
59	* ChekhovsBoomerang: The autographed Julie Newmar picture. She later gives it to Carol Ann as a gift.
60	* CoolCar: The yellow Cadillac, which doubles with TheAllegedCar. They actually were given the chance to get a functional, but tasteless, grey car and declined, preferring [[AwesomeButImpractical style]] over [[BoringButPractical substance]].
61	* CrotchGrabSexCheck: When harassing Vida, Sheriff Dollard shoves his hand up under her dress and gets an unpleasant surprise. This shocks him long enough for Vida to shove him off of her.
62	* DefrostingIceQueen: Noxeema. At first she's snarky (though not deadpan) and self-serving, with a mixture of disdain and social anxiety towards the mainstream public, but warms up by the end.
63	* DirectionlessDriver: For a drag queen, Vida has a decidedly macho distaste for interstate maps.
64	* DirtyCop: Sheriff Dollard is a racist hick who sexually assaults Vida at a traffic stop.
65	* DoesNotDrive: Noxeema and Chi-Chi. It's implied that the reason Vida is the only one who ever drives the car is because she's the only one with a driver's license. TruthInTelevision, as many New Yorkers never learn to drive since they can spend their entire lives without needing to own a car, while Vida is originally from a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia.
66	* DownOnTheFarm: Much of the movie takes place in a Midwestern rural hick town where the girls are stranded.
67	* DudeLooksLikeALady: John "Chi-Chi" Leguizamo stands out for really looking like an attractive girl. He spent much of his stand-up career impersonating his Latina relatives, so the script played to his strengths. It doesn't hurt that his stature and facial features are far smaller compared to his burly, lantern-jawed costars.
68	* DragQueen: Well duh! The film focuses on three protagonists who are professional drag queens on a journey to Los Angeles.
69	* EmbarrassingFirstName: When they're being pulled over, Vida mentions that her real first name is Eugene.
70	* FanService: The very first scene shows [[MrFanservice Patrick Swayze]] coming out of the [[ShowerScene shower]]. Oh yeah!
71	* FigureItOutYourself: Noxeema and Vida tell Chi Chi that there are four steps to being a drag queen, then clarify they'll tell her once she figures them out. Chi-Chi accepts it and declares herself a drag princess, taking step one "Allow good thoughts to be your sword and shield". [[spoiler:The other steps are "ignore adversity" (when Chi-Chi gets all three of them checked into a hotel by RefugeInAudacity), "abide by the rules of love" (when she decides to let Bobby Lee and Bobby Ray get together) and "larger than life is just the right size" (when she wins the pageant).]]
72	* ForcefulKiss: Sheriff Dollard attempts to kiss Vida. When she resists, he attempts to force himself on her, leading to an UnsettlingGenderReveal.
73	* ForeignRemake: Critics claim it served as this to ''Priscilla''.
74	* TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper: The only clue Sheriff Dollard has to find Vida is her shoe. He predictably gets nowhere with it [[spoiler:until a chance meeting with Virgil, who mentions three drag queens that recently came to town...]]
75	* GroinAttack: Noxeema on the ringleader of the town bullies: "Do you like my nails?"
76	* HeCleansUpNicely: The roughneck Noxeema manhandled shows up later in the movie with a cleaned-up outfit ''and'' attitude.
77	* TheHecateSisters: The three drag queens fit the setup. Noxeema is the crone, a snarky and jaded person with life experience and an interest in the past. Vida is the mother, a meddling busybody who sees herself as a mother figure to Chi Chi, and almost anyone else they meet. Chi Chi is the maiden, young and vivacious but without much life experience and in need of mentoring and protection.
78	* HiddenHeartOfGold: Noxeema is cynical, snarky and sometimes she seems to be an outright cold-hearted bitch. In fact she is very kind and lovable, but afraid of trusting other people, since "there are people you don't trust, because they'll use it to stab you in the ribs". She drops the facade in the end.
79	* HitchhikersLeg: How Chi Chi gets a ride from Bobby Ray. She even brags that she has "more legs than a bucket of chicken" before doing so.
80	* HonestJohnsDealership: Crazy Elijah's Used Cars. ''"His cars are his children."''
81	* {{Housewife}}: Carol Ann starts as a sad example of a Housewife, but she gets her happy ending.
82	* IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Realizing she can't keep one secret from Bobby Ray and not wanting to start any relationship with lies, Chi Chi steps aside so that Bobby Ray could be happy with Bobby Lee who's in love with him.
83	* IAmSpartacus: [[spoiler:When Sherrif Dollard rolls into Snydersville looking for the girls, the townspeople each claim that her shoe is theirs and that they're all drag queens, eventually driving him off. ]]
84	* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: The girls conveniently show up only a couple of days before the town is about to have its only annual party, the Strawberry Social.
85	* IncompatibleOrientation: Chi Chi, a gay man and drag queen, becomes romantically interested with Bobby Ray, who's straight.
86	* LateToThePunchline: If you were younger when this movie came out, Noxie's pop culture references may have taken a while to sink in.
87	* LipstickAndLoadMontage: Gender-flipped during the opening credits, with Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes performing it, ''fabulously'' of course. Clip is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-aUj4dRm-o here]].
88	* LoveTriangle: Between Chi Chi, Bobby Ray and Bobby Lee.
89	* MagicalQueer: Even though the girls are the main characters, they act as {{Magical Queer}}s to the town. In their brief time there, they liven up everybody's lives and fix seemingly every major personal problem in the town, [[spoiler: helping a woman get out of her abusive marriage, setting up/improving several other couples' relationships, getting an old woman to talk]] and just generally making things more fun and fashionable there. On the other hand, seeing the townspeople learn better and stand up for them ''also'' motivates the queens to be themselves.
90	* MoodWhiplash: Yeah, show the town ladies trying out 60s outfits in one scene and in the next scene [[spoiler:Carol Anne is being abused.]]
91	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Inverted. Right before the girls get pulled over by Sheriff Dollard, Noxie assumes they're in West Virginia, despite the total lack of mountains. We never do find out where Snydersville is, but the movie's rural scenes were filmed in Iowa.
92	* MysteriousVeil: [[spoiler:When Sheriff Dollard arrives and demands that the town give up the drag queens, a woman walks out in a blood-red wedding dress with a veil over her face. He and the townspeople assume it's Vida until she gets close enough and pulls it back, revealing herself as Carol Ann.]]
93	* ObfuscatingDisability: Beatrice, the town gossip, says that Clara is "deaf as a doornail" even though there doesn't seem to be any physical cause, and they all assume it's psychological trauma from when her husband ran off. Then Noxeema returns a picture to her, starts commenting on the old film memorabilia, and forgets a certain actress' film....and Clara fills her in, revealing that she just pretends to be deaf to push people away.
94	* PimpedOutDress: The two pageant scenes. This would apply to any drag show, but it goes double here, as they were purposely strutting their stuff for the prize.
95	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Sheriff Dollard casually fires off racial slurs about Noxie and Chi-Chi.
96	* PreAsskickingOneLiner[=/=]IronicEcho:
97	--> '''Virgil:''' Some women just need to be hit.
98	--> [[spoiler:'''Vida:''']] And conversely, some men need to be hit ''back''.
99	--> '''SLAP!'''
100	* ProlongedPrologue: The pageant intro, buying the car, and the road trip take almost half the movie before the car breaks down and the girls are stuck in Snydersville, which is when the ''real'' plot begins.
101	* RefugeInAudacity: Creator/{{RuPaul}}'s cameo as [[PunnyName Rachel Tensions]]: a black drag queen in a Confederate flag dress.
102	* SassyBlackWoman: Played with. Noxie, the black girl of the trio, is very snarky and critical of Vida's schemes, but she generally goes along with Vida and doesn't clash with her quite as much as Chi-Chi does.
103	* SecretSecretKeeper: The townspeople of Snydersville figured out eventually Vida, Noxie and Chi-Chi's true identities and still accepted them for whom they are. Carol Ann in particular knew from day one, which she casually reveals to Vida.
104	* ASharedSuffering: Vida and Carol Ann have both been victims of abuse, which forms their bond. When Vida sees Carol Ann with a bruise and Carol Ann claims it's from [[CutHimselfShaving a box in the closet falling on her]], Vida responds that when her father disparaged her in public, she just told people he had a strange sense of humor. [[spoiler:It hits the climax when Virgil starts hitting Carol Ann where Vida can hear, and Vida saves her. Carol Ann pays her back by going out to confront Sheriff Dollard and leading the townspeople in driving him away.]]
105	* ShoutOut:
106	** The three main characters watch the others dance from a balcony in a clear "shoutout" to ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''. (They're even wearing pink, green and Chi Chi has a blue jacket over her white nightgown!)
107	--->'''Vida:''' You know something, girls, sometimes it just takes a fairy.
108	*** This itself is a shout out to ''Theatre/TheBoysInTheBand'', when Emory signs, "Mary, it takes a fairy to make something pretty."
109	** When fixing up their hotel room, the song that plays is the theme song from ''Series/WonderWoman1975''.
110	** Vida comments that she feels like Jayne Mansfield in their new car.
111	* SilkHidingSteel: Vida's entire drag persona and her personality in general is that of a classy lady who makes the best of things, is impeccably polite, and never loses her cool. When using her words isn't enough, however, she is more than capable of violence, whether that be knocking out Sheriff Dollard or throwing Virgil out of the house without even mussing her dress.
112	* SourSupporter: Noxie to Vida. She complains all the way and is only too happy to say "I told you so." when Vida's schemes fail, but at the end, she still goes along with them.
113	* SpicyLatina: Chi Chi is independent and resistant to criticism, but also very sexy and flirtatious, and is the Latina of the group.
114	* StepfordSuburbia: Vida's hometown of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania ("It's Welsh"), a real-life suburb of UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}. While Noxie and Chi-Chi are impressed by the lavish mansions, Vida hated living there and couldn't wait to get out on her own. It's also made clear that Vida's parents don't approve of her doing drag, as her mother comes out of the house to look at the three of them and appears positively sickened when she recognizes her child.
115	* StrawberryShorthand: The town's distinguishing tradition (and one of the things that perks the trio up) is their Strawberry Social -- "We all bake strawberry pies and bring them to the center of town, then we eat the pies... [[AntiClimax and then we go home]]." The queens convince them to go all out and try a range of strawberry themes and dress in glorious bright red.
116	* StutterStop: Downplayed. The stuttering store worker doesn't ''stop'' stuttering when he reads a book Vida gives him, but it does notably tone down when he's by himself. This can be TruthInTelevision, as anxiety can make an extant stutter worse.
117	* SuddenlyShouting: Sheriff Dollard raises his voice when Vida, Noxie and Chi Chi keep mispronouncing his name due to it being misspelled.
118	-->'''Vida:''' Well, it says "Dullard" on your name tag...
119	-->'''Sheriff Dollard:''' WELL, IT'S A MISPRINT!
120	* TapOnTheHead: It's worse than that. Vida simply ''shoves'' Sheriff Dollard, and he's out like a light.
121	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Chi Chi and Noxeema don't exactly hit it off. Before long, Chi Chi has stirred up bad blood with Vida, also.
122	* TitleDrop: The movie's title comes from an autograph Vida swipes from a ritzy Chinese bistro. We never find out who Wong Foo is, but he and Ms. Newmar are given a totemic reverence throughout the movie. [[spoiler:Ms. Newmar even appears at the very end.]]
123	* TokenTrio: White Vida, Black Noxeema, and Hispanic Chi-Chi. The movie tries to counter Vida being the leader (though she's the only one who ever drives the car) by giving the other girls' plots ample screentime and Wesley Snipes top billing, but the implication is still there. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] throughout the movie, as Noxie and Chi-Chi accuse Vida of being a meddling white woman, Vida and Noxie make constant reference to Chi-Chi's "Latin mess," and at one point Noxie claims to be Jesse Jackson's daughter.
124	* TransNature: One interpretation of Chi-Chi's taking offense to Noxeema's "little boy on a dress" quote is that she is actually transitioning and not just a professional drag queen. Same with Vida.
125	* TransTribulations: Vida faces discrimination from a sexist, racist dirty cop Sheriff Dollard due to being in drag and disownment from her rich parents due to being transgender.
126	* TransRelationshipTroubles: Vida has trouble maintaining friendships with people other than Chi Chi and Noxeema due to them discovering she is transgender and possibly rejecting her because of it. Chi-Chi fears this from Bobby Ray, which is why [[spoiler:she decides to cut it off before it gets anywhere. That, and Bobby Lee is clearly in love with him.]]
127	* TwoferTokenMinority: Noxie and Chi-Chi as gay men of color.
128	* UnconventionalWeddingDress: [[spoiler:When Carol Ann goes out to confront her abusive ex husband, she's wearing a wedding dress and veil that happens to be bright red. The [[BloodSplatteredWeddingDress subtext]] is obvious]].
129	* UnlimitedWardrobe: The three queens manage to fit a seemingly endless supply of clothes in their tiny car. Each of them wears a different, fabulous outfit in every scene, even though the movie only takes place over a couple days.
130	* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: A mild example, but when Jimmy Joe and Beatrice finally get over their [[TwiceShy mutual fear]] and have a dance, Jimmy Joe mentions that he's waited 23 years to pluck up the courage.
131	* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Sheriff Dollard reacts in the worst possible way when he finds out Vida is a man, but the townsfolk... not so much. They're fooled but eventually figure it out on their own, and accept the girls all the same.
132	** The men came close to gang-raping Chi Chi had yet to discover she is really a drag queen until Bobby Ray comes to the rescue.
133	** Sheriff Dollard returns to Snydersville with Virgil outing Vida, Noxie and Chi-Chi as drag queens to the townspeople. The townspeople defend them despite this revelation.
134	* VolleyingInsults: Vida and Chi-Chi start insulting each other and it probably would go all night like that if they weren't interrupted by Virgil's beating Carol Ann.
135	* WifeBasherBasher: Oh, [[spoiler: Vida. She beats the crap out of Virgil and kicks him out of his own house after she hears him hitting Carol Anne.]]
136	* WorldOfHam: Drag queens are flamboyant by nature. Add that the three actors (specially John Leguizamo) are ramping it up [[QueerPeopleAreFunny for comedy's sake]]...
137	* WrenchWench: Carol Ann fixes the girls' [[CoolCar Cadillac]] showing that she's not just a {{housewife}}.
138	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The trio take a detour to see Vida's home. An old woman, implied to be her mother judging by the tiny wave Vida gives, sees her and rolls her eyes before walking back into the house, prompting a minor HeroicBSOD in Vida.
139	* YourMother: A brief exchange of insults involving this between Chi-Chi and Noxeema.
140	-->'''Noxeema:''' Why do I feel like I'm in the tournament of roses parade?
141	-->'''Chi-Chi:''' Because you're big as a float?
142	-->'''Noxeema:''' Your mother.

Context Film / ToWongFooThanksForEverythingJulieNewmar