The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

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Yeah, that about sums it up.

"That's just what this country needs: a cock in a frock on a rock." —Bernadette

This movie stars Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp as a spectacularly camp trio of drag performers who travel across Australia in a converted school bus named "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". Hugo Weaving plays Anthony "Tick" Belrose, a.k.a. Mitzi Del Bra. Guy Pearce plays Adam Whitely, a.k.a. Felicia Jollygoodfellow. Terence Stamp plays Bernadette Bassenger, birth name Ralph.

In the wake of Bernadette's husband's death, Tick agrees to do a drag gig for his estranged wife in Alice Springs, bringing Bernadette and Adam along with him. Along the way they crack stereotypically cutting jokes, reveal secrets about themselves, drink themselves stupid, party with a camp of Aborigines in the desert, meet an Asian woman with interesting talents and pick up her repairman husband Bob for the ride, experience intolerance and danger from violent locals, and, of course, practice their drag show.

Once the group get to Alice Springs, Adam and Bernadette are shocked to find that Tick also has a young son Benji, around whom Tick tries to act like the upstanding masculine dad. Benji turns out to know exactly what his dad does for a living and the fact that he's bi, and the two end up genuinely connecting. Benji comes back to Sydney with Anthony and Adam, while Bernadette stays behind in Alice Springs with Bob.

This movie, with its rather... niche premise, unexpectedly became an international success upon its release in 1994. It earned $11,220,670 in the United States market alone, where it was the 109th most successful film of its year. The film won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. Terence Stamp won Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, also being nominated for several other acting awards. It was also a critical hit, and remains highly appreciated. Rotten Tomatoes rates it 93% fresh. It's still regarded as a comedy classic -- even if you've never seen it, you've heard about it. Naturally, it's been adapted into a stage show as well.

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This film provides examples of:

• Agent Peacock
• All Musicals Are Adaptations: The stage musical.
• Attractive Bent Gender: Guy Pearce.
• Australian Movies
• Bedouin Rescue Service: The Aboriginal camp.
• Berserk Button: Do not call Bernadette by her birth name of Ralph. Just don't.
• Brick Joke: When the trio launches Priscilla, their going-away party drowns out a ceremony announcing a girl who plans to run across Australia. The girl shows up twice later in the film, once just after the bus takes a short cut, and again when she runs right past the group and takes no notice of them.
• Camp Gay: Adam. And Tick as well, but much less so.
• Cast Full of Gay
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Adam threatening to sing.
• Costume Porn: The musical, which won a well-earned Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume.
• Cut His Heart Out With a Spoon
• Deadpan Snarker: The above quote is just one of many of Bernadette's wonderfully bitter and snarky lines.
• Dirty Old Man: Adam's uncle in the flashback.
• Disappeared Dad: Tick.
• Drag Queen
• Embarrassing First Name: Bernadette's given name is Ralph.
• Flashback Cut: Used at various points for the main trio's histories.
• Flying Under the Gaydar: Tick tries to dress macho in Alice Springs in front of Benji, wearing a long-sleeved khaki shirt and a cowboy hat. Marion makes fun of him.
• Freudian Excuse: Subverted with Adam.
• The Full Name Adventures
• Groin Attack: Not only funny, but one of Bernadette's many Crowning Moments of Awesome.
• His and Hers: Upon learning that Tick is married, Adam says that he "would have bought you a lovely matching set of Hers and Hers bath mats."
• I Am Not Shazam: Before watching the film, lot of people mistakenly assume that Priscilla is the name of one of the characters rather than the bus.
• Impractically Fancy Outfit: And lots of them.
  • The only Oscar the film won was for Costume Design, and the only Tony the musical won was for...Costume Design.
• Jerkass: Adam has her moments.
• Land Down Under
• My Name Is Not Durwood: Adam's teasing of Bernadette, calling her Ralph... until she finally snaps and beats him up.
  • Incidentally, calling any Transsexual by their birth name is definitely not advisable. Not only will you piss them off, you may well be putting them in danger. The More You Know.
• No Bisexuals: Averted: Tick's wife Marion, and Tick himself to some extent (though he denies it).
• Nobody Over 50 Is Gay: Subverted. Bernadette is obviously not that young, nor really is Mitzi.
  • Hugo Weaving was 34 when this movie was made. It's just male pattern baldness.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bernadette is quite obviously based on transsexual former Les Girls performer Carlotta.
• Pimped Out Dress: So. Many. Dresses.
• Plot Driven Breakdown
• Popcultural Osmosis: For a film about three drag queens on a road trip through the Australian outback, this is a surprisingly well-known movie.
• Power Trio
• Double Standard Rape Male On Male: Brutally subverted. Just the suggestion of Felicia being raped by a homophobic man is horrifying. Luckily, Bernadette saves him with the Groin Attack.
  • But played straight in a flashback, where Adam stops his uncle from molesting him by pulling out the drain, Played for Laughs.
    • The build-up isn't played for laughs at all -- it's incredibly disturbing. The funny part is how Adam thwarts his uncle.
• Scenery Porn: is full of it during the three protagonists' trip towards Alice Springs. Combines this and Costume Porn during the climb to Kings Canyon.
• Shout Out: Hugo's prancing in a green dress as rescue arrives is said to be one to The Sound of Music on the director's commentary.
• Stage Names: "Mitzi Del Bra" and "Felicia Jollygoodfellow", obviously.
• Straight Gay: Tick falls somewhere between this and Camp Gay. Bernadette plays it strait, acting like an old woman (only qualifying for this trope on the grounds she used to live as a man).
• Transsexual: Bernadette.
• Traveling At the Speed of Plot
• Travel Montage: Used for comedic effect when Tick and Adam sing songs in a montage, only for it to be revealed at the end of it that they've only been traveling for four hours.
• Unlimited Wardrobe
• Wholesome Crossdresser: If you can call these three "Wholesome;" they're not Villainous Crossdressers, at least.
  • Well two. Bernadette is a trans woman, therefore it's not really crossdressing.