The Movie: Alaska is a Drag
The Director: Shaz Bennett
The Cast: Martin L. Washington Jr., Maya Washington, Matt Dallas, Margaret
Cho, Jason Scott Lee, Chris O'Shea, Kevin Daniels, Nia Peeples, Adam Tomei
The Story: Aspiring drag queen working at a fish cannery in Alaska struggles
with bullying while caring for a twin sister who has cancer.
The Interview:
The Review:
This movie might be about as unexpected and creative of a story as one could
imagine and what makes it even more fun is how director Shaz Bennett has drawn
from her own experiences growing up in Utah and living in Alaska to come up
with it all. This movie really is a lot of fun while also inviting you to take
a good, hard look at how we live our lives and how we perceive others whether
they are a flamboyant homosexual superstar, or a mild mannered seemingly
conservative business owner. You never really know how someone is existing
underneath all the walls and makeup and characters we use to try to get
through the day.
Bennett takes great care in sticking with an authentic representation of life
and how it's lived by everyone in the film. You can see humanity in every
single character and they all each have a meaningful place in the story, there
are no generic prop characters or shallow personalities that have no real
reason for existing other than to fill a space or deliver a line. Mostly, I
really love the relationship between Theo and Tristan, the twin siblings
played brilliantly by Martin L. Washington Jr. and Maya Washington
respectively. Their casting was very inspired and is an interesting story in
itself (Bennett talks about it in our interview on the TwoOhSix Podcast) and I
feel like there is no one else who could have filled these roles.
Any movie set in Alaska better have some amazing views of the wilderness and
mountains and snow and all the stuff that makes the state such a beautiful
place to look at and Bennett does not disappoint. Pretty much every exterior
shot is an example of just how good mother nature is at making art. The
interiors are also filled with so much life and everything looks like it has
been there forever and has seen so much over time like the fish cannery that
Jason Scott Lee's character manages and the bar that Margaret Cho's character
owns.
Bennett makes it easy to get to know her characters in a way that is very
natural and mostly because they are just people. This movie isn't about fairy
tales or Hollywood hyper realities or making bold statements about diversity
or representation, it's about people with hopes and dreams and aspirations of
doing amazing things. It just so happens that her characters aren't all
standardized in roles that populate societal norms, they are vibrant
individuals with different beliefs, preferences, and lifestyle choices. I
believe this is why Ava DuVernay selected the director, and her feature film
debut, to be a part of the Array family, her independent film distribution and
resource collective.
The Verdict:
Alaska is a Drag is a movie that is full of life and inspiration and a
cast that is just as impressive. Shaz Bennett's feature film debut puts her on
the map as a director to keep an eye on.
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