Lady Camden shares her journey from the ballet in London to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race in the new documentary…
By David-Elijah Nahmod
Lady Camden, real name Rex Wheeler, lets it all hang out in Lady Like, a new documentary from filmmaker Luke Willis. The British drag queen, who now lives in San Francisco, was the runner-up in season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and although he didn’t win, the Drag Race gig made Wheeler’s drag persona a star in the drag world. At one point in the film, while walking down the street, people stop to say “I love you!,” while another hysterical young woman poses for a selfie with Wheeler.
Wheeler got his drag name from Camden Town, the neighborhood in London where he grew up. When he goes home for a gig, he walks through the old ‘hood, recalling a childhood which included being taunted by the local bullies and by the suicide of his older brother Ollie, which affected him deeply. It’s quite moving to hear Wheeler talking about Ollie, who was an artist. He speaks about how the world lost colour after Ollie died, and it becomes obvious that he’s still affected by Ollie’s death two decades later.
Wheeler began his performing career in the ballet, dancing with Sacramento Ballet in California for five years before joining Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. He loves ballet. It was a liberating experience that enabled him to start letting go of the pain he was still feeling about having been bulled. But the drag world called out to him. He had to make a change.
“Drag has me on fire,” Wheeler says in the film.
The camera follows Lady Camden as she attends a Drag Race watch party at a bar in Sacramento, California, where members of the Sacramento Ballet come to cheer her on. There are also watch parties at Beaux, a bar in San Francisco, where the crowd’s enthusiasm for her grows.
One of the more moving interludes in the film deals with Wheeler’s relationship with his parents. His dad, who was living in Kenya when the documentary was shot, is distant, coming across like he’s trying to avoid Drag Race at all costs. But mom is a different story. Mom, who totally accepts her son for who he is, takes the time to travel to the US to sit in the audience for the finale of Drag Race. In one laugh-out-loud moment, Camden’s drag mother explains to an amused mom what power tops and power bottoms are.
The film includes flashbacks to Wheeler’s childhood, where a young Rex, played by Shiloh Brody-Clarke, is seen surrounded by his tormentors. The younger Rex co-exists with the adult Lady Camden, trying to get into a club where his older self is performing, only to be turned away because he’s underage. There’s also an unnecessary animated framing device, narrated by Drag Race alumnus Nina West, which explains how Drag Race works, something viewers of a film like this most likely already know.
There’s plenty of footage of Camden working with her designers and managers to create her beautifully flamboyant costumes. Perhaps the film’s loveliest interlude is a sequence in which Lady Camden dances ballet in full drag and heels. There’s no question that she’s extraordinarily talented and excels in both of the art forms.
Lady Like ultimately stands as a powerful portrait of a queen who isn’t afraid to let the world see who he is underneath all the makeup. He’s unafraid to show his vulnerabilities, and this is what has endeared Lady Camden to drag fans everywhere.
Lady Camden in Lady Like is streaming on Amazon Prime. Watch the trailer below:
POST A COMMENT