MiniReview: "I Am Divine" (film)

What is it?

A 2013 documentary by American filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz.

What’s it about?

The life and career of Harris Glenn Milstead, actor and drag performer whose alter ego was the angry, violent, offensive Divine. Milstead was a film and theatre artist from the late 1960s until his death in 1988.

Were you already familiar with his life and work?

Not at all, even though I lived through much of the time when he was active. I get the impression his films are something of an acquired taste, and based on what I saw in this documentary, they’re not really my thing, which is probably why he wasn’t on my radar in the 1980s.

But did you enjoy watching this?

It’s interesting, and I love Schwarz’s documentary filmmaking style, which is lively and entertaining. But I must say, I found this pretty depressing in the end. It's my least favourite of the Schwarz docs I've watched so far. I don’t find Divine’s coarse, grating, loud persona to be entertaining (I could say the same about many American comedians; Joan Rivers springs to mind), and Milstead’s life, dominated by struggles with weight issues and drug dependence and a sort of desperate desire to be loved, just seems profoundly sad.   

Is there a special interest for queer viewers?

People who love drag will no doubt enjoy this way more than I did. But Milstead’s life doesn’t strike me as one that sheds light on queer issues in any larger way, so unless you’re interested in him and his career, you might choose to miss this one. It seems as though the message we’re meant to take from the documentary is that he followed his dreams and became a big star, but the whole life seems so imbued with sadness that I didn’t find it uplifting in the least.