In and Out of Place

Abstract

Males in the city and in the country can appear further apart than any measurable distance suggests. The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (1994) is a film about feminine masculinities and the social, affective powers of landscape. It maps emotional, ideological, financial and cultural differences between males in metropolitan spaces and those in desert terrains. Set in the harsh surrounds of the Australian desert, the film tells a fictional tale of four men’s journey through the country’s centre in a pink bus called ‘Priscilla’. Despite the title, the film is more about masculinities and space than it is about the bus — albeit an alluring vehicle, complete with a giant glittery silver shoe adorning its roof. The landscape that these men travel through inspires them, challenges them and brings them closer together. The local men these metropolitan tourists meet are as foreign as the landscapes around them. As their chosen means of transportation suggests, the men travelling across the outback are decidedly camp. Indeed, the silver stiletto adorning their bus is a remnant of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: a popular Gay Pride parade.