"I" Feel Pretty: 10 Great Thespian Turns in Drag

"The pleasures involved in watching a drag act in a movie are numerous and complex. On one level, it recalls the unselfconscious freedoms of childhood. Let me take you back now to the playroom of your youth. I understand you've got plans, but come with me anyway—it won't take more than a moment. Do you remember how, back then, all it took to change your identity was a plunge into the dressing-up box? You could never tell what you might find there. Perhaps you'd pull out a hat or a waistcoat. Or if you were very lucky, a beautifully ruffled evening dress with puckered sleeves and matching elbow-length gloves....
The standard Hollywood drag-as-acting-exercise, such as Mrs. Doubtfire and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, were excluded by dint of being too obvious and uninspiring. An exception is Tootsie, hardly obscure, but certainly a screwball masterpiece."
—Ryan Gilbey, in 10 Bad Dates with De Niro: A Book of Alternative Movie Lists (2007), edited by Richard T. Kelly.