a review of 沙漠妖姬

i think this film is probably a different experience for white people who aren't super self aware and/or cis people. what is otherwise a pretty fun film is limited by some terrible writing decisions that i think are important to talk about, so here we go.

1. this is the definition of a white-centric film. not only are every single main character white...the people of color in the film are there to be the punchline of a joke. we have the scene with the aboriginal people who are painted to be bigots who play the didgeridoo. then we have the character cynthia who is written in honestly the most grotesquely racist way. kind of absurd even by nineteen ninety-four standards.
2. do not dead name trans women. for any reason. why is that happening repeatedly as a joke in this film? i think it really highlights the vastly different experiences between cis drag queens and trans women. please stop conflating these two groups, they are nothing alike. aside from these glaring issues, the rest of the film is pretty fun, probably a half star higher. we have some truly very cool costumes. we have some tender scenes. we have a few (seriously, only a few) good gags. and there actually is some heartfelt messaging in there between all the racism and transphobia. probably don't need to ever rewatch this, but even with the bigoted writing choices, it was still enjoyable at times.