These gender rolls taste disgusting: Rouge
- Natasha Langridge-Thorpe
- May 7, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 15, 2022
Rouge (2018) is a fictional, drama script that takes place in the 1980's. The protagonist, Max, is a quiet man who finds joy in singing and listening to music on his Walkman. However, lead by alpha male, Justin, a group of men consistently bully Max for not fitting in with the other men around him. One member of the group, Kyle, used to be very close to Max, but abandoned him due to social pressures. Nevertheless, Max comes alive when he is on the stage and transforms into drag queen, Rouge. One night his Father recognises him during a performance and decides to take extreme measures to 'normalise' him. Kyle is asked to persuade Max to pursue a different lifestyle and realises that his own fear of social ridicule has caused him to abandon his own identity.
The World of the Story
I created a mood board to gather some visual references for what I wanted Rouge to look like.
Link to moodboard: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/natashalangridgethorpe/rouge/
Since I was born in the late 90's, it was important for me to research into what culture was like during a different time period. I explored various time periods before settling on the 1980's in which I discovered that drag was starting to become more developed than previous years. I also thought that research was a very important part of this project since I am not part of the drag community and I did not want to risk misrepresenting a community that I believe deserves to be represented in the media.
An article from the Independent about 1980's drag: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/aids-crisis-1980-eighties-remember-gay-man-hiv-positive-funerals-partners-disease-michael-penn-a7511671.html
• The 1980's was when drag was more developed, however homophobia and misunderstanding was still among people in this era
• The aids and HIV crisis (many of the victims effected were gay men), the virus was little understood – ‘the condition was mistakenly labelled “Gay Related Immune Deficiency”.’ ‘“People were ignorant. There was nothing known about the disease. No one knew how to treat it. The ordinary man in the street was very suspicious if he knew you were gay.”’
Max struggles to fit into the extremely religious and conservative society within the film, due to his libertarian beliefs. One way in which I have presented the differences within the script between Max and his society as well as the other people living in that society is during the exorcism scene.
I used this scene to show how toxic Max's environment for his development as an individual. For instance, Steven and Father Abraham conform to their religious and conservative society by using an extreme method that has religious connotations. By using this method, they are attempting to force Max to conform to the societal norms within their environment. Although Father Abraham and Max talk through dual dialogue; Max's protests are disregarded in comparison to Father Abraham's dialogue since he is the only person attempting to challenge the societal norms.
A reference that I used for the world of the story was Paris is Burning (1991) directed by Jennie Livingston. A documentary that takes place in New York and showcases the experiences of drag queens in the mid-to-late 80s. The film interviews a series of drag queens and explores the ball competitions, in which drag queens must walk with their style adhering to a certain category. According to Livingston, the film is ultimately “about survival. It's about people who have a lot of prejudices against them and who have learned to survive with wit, dignity and energy. It's a little story about how we all survive."
I was inspired by the language used in Paris is Burning that they used to describe particular situations and how a drag queen would address their audience:
For example, a lot of the language used in the film is rather theatrical and may not make a lot of sense to the average viewer, such as "Shake the dice, steal the rice!". I used references from Paris is Burning to help with the dialogue that Rouge would use when she addresses the audience. I also looked up 1980's slang to help with the type of language that the men would use when talking about her.
Rouge uses language such as "butt ugly" to describe her feet and says that she has to "book outta here". I wanted to use this 80's slang to enhance the 1980's setting and to reflect on the way drag performances may have changed since this time period. One of the antagonists, Justin, is unaware that Rouge is a drag queen and he uses 80's slang to describe his attraction towards her. He exclaims to Kyle "Dude, she's fine" and is confident that he can "get to third base with her". This is also reflective of the way a person would describe their attraction to somebody during this time compared to the 2000's where it would be seen as unusual if someone used these words in a serious manner.
The time period is also reflected at the start of the script given the fact that Max listens to his music on a Walkman and Justin uses the insult "dipshit" to refer to Kyle.
Characters
Max/Rouge
Max is the shy and vulnerable protagonist who finds comfort in being his drag queen persona, Rouge. Since Max is not the typical hegemonic male, he is quickly seen as an outcast in a society that values tradition. He likes to perform, but feels like he is limited to the choir at church when he performs as himself. Therefore, the Rouge persona is seen as a source of escapism where he can perform without limitations.
Max shows that he is anxious and insecure when performing as himself, but when he performs as Rouge he has a lot of confidence. It is not until Steven recognises Rouge as Max that he begins to falter.
Max also shows a passion for performing two years prior to these events in the flashback sequence with him and Kyle.
Reflecting back on the sequences with Rouge performing, I think that I should extend the scene of Rouge performing so that the audience can get a feel for how different Rouge is to Max. I also want to extend the flashback sequence between Kyle and Max so that I can focus on the idea that Max has wanted to be a drag queen for a long time, so that it does not seem so fortuitous.
Justin
Justin is the first antagonist who is introduced and he has the first line of dialogue in the script in which he insults the protagonist. Justin is the dominant male in his group of submissive friends who follow his lead. He verbally attacks Max with homophobic slurs and he becomes more aggressive when he realises that Rouge and Max are the same person. He physically attacks Max out of embarrassment that he was attracted to Rouge and takes advantage of his friends' submissive tendencies to know that they will not defend the protagonist.
Justin's extreme actions are comparable to some of the actions that drag queens have previously spoken about when people have been disrespectful towards them. For example, drag queen's, Peppermint and Nina West, have discussed being targeted by bullies on Rupaul's Drag Race (2009-Present).
Steven and Lily
Max's Dad, Steven, displays similar personality traits to Justin. He uses homophobic slurs like Justin does, but Max decides to talk back to him. Steven also expresses that he is embarrassed of his son for being a drag queen and demeans his performance by calling it "dress-up". He refuses to accept his son for who he is and claims that he needs to "fix" him, insinuating that his son is not normal.
It is clear that Lily, Max's Mother, is scared of Steven because she does not choose to defend Max despite him suggesting that she "never had a problem with it". She also looks sympathetically at Rouge, but chooses to remain silent to avoid upsetting her husband. However, just because Lily does not insult Max like his Father, it does not mean that she is innocent by any means. By choosing to not say anything, she indirectly plays a part in Max's fate at the end of the script. If she had decided to stand up to her husband and defend her son, then perhaps Max would be in a better position than he is at the end of the story.
Lily walks in on Max and Kyle kissing, yet she is much more concerned about Max not telling her where he was. Max also begs her to not tell his Father since he can guess that his Father's reaction to finding out about Max's sexuality would not be pleasant. When Lily tells Max that he can keep her shoes, she is telling him in an indirect way that she accepts him for who he is. However, even though Lily is secretly accepting of Max, she chooses not to express it in front of other characters. In this sense, I wanted to use her character as a prime example of how doing nothing can be just as bad as being the one to commit the negative act.
Father Abraham
Father Abraham is the priest at the church that Max attends and is also Kyle's Father. He agrees with Steven that Max needs to be "cured" and is the one to perform the exorcism on him. Although he is not intrinsically aggressive like Steven and Justin, the language that he uses at Max's funeral speaks volumes.
Father Abraham tells the audience that Max was "led down the wrong path due to his...alternative lifestyle" which shows his disapproval of Max being a drag queen. He praises Max for being a kind-hearted boy in one breath and insults him in the next. He goes on to claim that "God is forgiving", suggesting that God would forgive Max for what he perceives to be a sin. He refuses to listen to Max's protests in the exorcism scene because he believes that he is doing the right thing.
Kyle
Kyle is a member of Justin's gang and although he does not directly abuse Max, he observes it without defending him. It is revealed that Kyle and Max used to have a close relationship with each other two years ago, until Kyle began to fear for his own safety.
Kyle is eager to fit in with society out of fear of social ridicule. He shows through small actions that he does not agree with Justin's behaviour towards Max as well as the exorcism. Yet, similar to Lily, he does not actively choose to stop them. His fear is explored to a deeper extent during his discussion with Max in which the two have opposing points of view.
Kyle is a character who cares too much about what others think because he has people in his life that he is afraid to lose: his Father and his friends. Whereas Max no longer cares if people found out about their previous relationship cause he does not have anything else to lose at this point.
However, the final scene is a turning point for Kyle's character in which he pays homage to Max by dressing up as Rouge. In turn, he walks past the people in the script that he has been afraid of and is able to express himself for the first time. He no longer cares what other people think because he realises that Max's death was not worth it.
I wanted to tell the story of Rouge because I want to encourage people to think and speak for themselves, regardless of what others think. For instance, Kyle is too afraid to come to terms with his homosexuality due to societal pressures. He doesn’t defend Max, his ex-boyfriend, because he is afraid of being ridiculed due to the differences between himself and that of the stereotypical, hyper-masculine male. Additionally, Lily is aware of her son’s homosexuality but attempts to hide it from his Father out of fear. I also wanted to show a side of drag that is beyond the bold clothes and make-up and delve into the challenges that drag queens can face. One of these challenges being the extreme actions that people can take against one another because of their differences. Rouge explores not only the lifestyle of a drag queen, but also how easily people are influenced because they want to fit in with mainstream society.
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