Two Kings: Drag and Larry

Felicity Huffman is probably still wiping away the tears from her plunging Zac Posen neckline, but her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Bree Osbourne nevertheless inspired a clueless "Larry King" on Saturday Night Live to delve into the world of the transgendered.

The sketch was worth watching if for no other reason than to see host Natalie Portman as a drag king and looking more Vulcan than male.

[Watch video – 5:11, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 5:11, WMV format, low bandwidth]

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And seeing how this is a belated post about Saturday Night Live, it's appropriate that I should also include Rob Smigel's "Belated Black History Moment."

Host Dennis Haysbert takes us back to some of the seminal, if short-lived, moments of empowerment for African-American cartoon characters.

The sketch was worth watching if for no other reason than to hear Haysbert say: "humongous, steaming bowl of elephant piss."

[Watch video – 5:48, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 5:48, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Comments

[rod]

Calling a transsexual a drag king/queen is considered an insult by them. Like calling a Girl Scout a Brownie.

The More You Know ....

[Malcontent]

Newsflash:

1) None of the people in that sketch is a transsexual, so the women who are dressing as men are, by definition, drag kings. "The More You Know ..."

And 2) I don't care. I think transgenderism is a serious mental disorder, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

I know "they" used to say that about gays long ago too, and while it might not be PC to say it, there still could be an element of truth to that. How else to explain how many guys acme out as gay after going through horrible or non-existent relationships with their fathers or male authority figures?

Yes, I'm an out and proud gay, but I don't "celebrate" or "tolerate" everything gays do, just as I don't celebrate self-mutilation by anyone, even groups that have hijacked the political movements of others to try to make us think they're all A-OK upstairs.

[rod]

Portman was portraying a transgendered person, not a drag king.

I think perhaps encountering more people and not limiting your exposure to them to what you see on television might open up your opinion a bit.

[Malcontent]

Perhaps there are reading-comprehension issues at play here. As I said above, because Portman was only playing a transgendered person and not actually being one, she was therefore, by definition, a "drag king." Unless she is taking hormones, and whatever else it is that pre-op FTM transsexuals go through, and I'm not aware of it.

And everyone loves a good lecture, especially us 35-year-olds, so thanks for that.

[rod]

I had made the assumption that you had seen TransGeneration: http://www.sundancechannel.com/transgeneration/
Click "Students" and then click "T.J."

Natalie Portman is actually an "actress" portraying a transsexual. That does not make her a "drag king". As in, Wesley Snipes isn't a "drag queen" but is an actor who portrayed one.

It wasn't a lecture. It was an observation. By the same accounts I should make friendly with members of the AFA and not just judge them I suppose. But I'll stick to trannies.

[jeremy]

"I don't care. I think transgenderism is a serious mental disorder, and no one will ever convince me otherwise."

And some people think your ignorant, unresearched opinion is a disorder.

[Jey]

Tranvestism - mostly heterosexual male who dress up in female undergarments for sexual pleasure or sexual activity.

Drag Queens - usually gay males who dress up as females for fun. Drag Kings - women who dress up as men for fun.

Female Impersonators - gay or straight men who dress up as celebrities for fun.

Transexualism - nothing about sex or fun. Born one gender, the person feels that their physical body doesnt match their inner gender. They use hormone therapy and surgery to alter their physical bodies to feel complete. Transexualism is not a disorder.