Something that’s not talked about when it comes to reviewing movies is that it’s an educational process. The common misconception is that critics have watched everything in existence and know all that there is to know about the world of entertainment, but that’s not the case at all. For some reason or the other, the stuff that I gravitate towards and the things the algorithm recommends to me are mostly centered around horror or action. Hence, movies, TV series, and reality TV shows about drag queens don’t exactly fall into my field of vision. My awareness of the world of drag queens extended to knowing about the existence of RuPaul’s Drag Race and that video of RuPaul correcting Jimmy Fallon by saying that he isn’t a drag queen but the queen of drag, and that’s about it. However, due to the diverse nature of film criticism, now I have learned a bit about Lagoona Bloo and her rise to fame, and to be honest, I want to know more.
Austin Nunes’s Into The Bloo is centered around drag queen and musician Lagoona Bloo, who talks about the death of her parents during a make-up session for her upcoming show. According to Nunes, he had spent months documenting the lead-up to one of the biggest performances of her career at Irving Plaza. So, there are probably hours of footage of rehearsals, fittings, and studio sessions in the director’s arsenal. But he chose to focus on this 15 minute chunk as it highlighted the association between Lagoona’s art and her conservative upbringing. Lagoona was born to Roger Lawrence Brumfield and Aida Patricia Brumfield, and she has two siblings, Grace and Michael. Due to Roger’s love for singing, all the children had an affinity towards music. However, when Roger and Aida became aware of the sexual orientation of Lagoona, known as David back then, they began berating her by using her weight as an excuse. Things kept escalating until it was impossible for Lagoona to stay with her parents, and she had to leave the household to stand on her own two feet. That said, even after everything that she went through, Lagoona chooses to remember them in a bittersweet fashion via this tell-all interview.
Into The Bloo works best when the focus shifts back and forth between Lagoona’s interview and the footage from all the home videos that the Brumfields had recorded over the course of several years. That’s because the makeup session and those recordings depict some kind of transformation that Lagoona is undergoing, with one happening on the surface and the other happening underneath. Even then, you get only some parts of the bigger picture, because a major part of Lagoona’s life is unfolding on the stage and through her music videos. I think it’s a conscious decision on Nunes’ part to obscure Lagoona’s professional life and ensure that the spotlight is on who she is when she isn’t speaking through her art or performing in front of thousands of people. Hence, what you get by the end of the short film is a very intimate portrait of an extravagant artist. And, without spoiling anything, Lagooona’s life story is pretty traumatic and downright scary when you think about it. However, it’s Lagoona’s penchant for humor and expressive storytelling that keeps the short film from becoming some sort of pity party for her, because she wants to be defined by her art, her resilience, and her perseverance.
This part of my review of Into The Bloo is not a dig at Lagoona’s parents necessarily, but it’s a critique of parenting in general. Look, I’m not a parent. So, maybe I can’t speak to what it feels like when your child doesn’t adhere to the heteronormative rules of society. But I can’t imagine telling my child, any child for that matter, to suppress their identity because it’s tarnishing my image, whatever that means. I don’t understand how the human species decided gender and sex to be these monoliths that can’t be meddled with because doing so will weaken the fabric of the nation, or some other stupid excuse like that. It’s wild that queerness is equated with crimes against humanity while actual crimes against humanity are treated like a necessary evil. With each passing day, it seems like we, as a species, are regressing under the guise of traditionalism and protecting our culture. From people with actual legislative power to spineless keyboard warriors, everyone is on this odd crusade against queer people for reasons that I genuinely don’t understand. And maybe that’s why the existence of artists like Lagoona Bloo feels all the more empowering, because they aren’t getting bogged down by all that nonsense.
While watching Into The Bloo, I just kept thinking that if Lagoona managed to do everything that she has done, despite all the bad parenting and the uphill battle that the world of entertainment is, what could she have done if conservatism wasn’t used to deny a person’s right to make it big in this world? Yes, I think adhering to “orthodox,” “traditional,” or “old-fashioned” ideologies is just a shallow way of masking one’s inability to take on the responsibility of parenting a child. I also think that 99 percent of the parents out there start a family without wondering if they are cut out for the job. When they realize that they can’t form a single, independent thought, they rely on every kind of backward principle and doctrine because that’s what the masses are doing, and if you’re doing what the masses are doing, at least you’re feeling like you’re doing the right thing, even if everyone is collectively on the wrong path. It’s unfortunate that generation after generation of kids have had to endure so much to be where they want to be. On the flipside, I feel that all the kids out there who are currently figuring out what they want in life will see someone like Lagoona Bloo and get the motivation to cut through the conservative garbage that’s being peddled to them.
To be honest, if Into The Bloo was over an hour long and featured Lagoona Bloo talking about her life while preparing for her show, I would’ve totally watched that because she is such a great storyteller. The way she mimicked her father and mother’s voices to put us in her shoes was really impressive. I’m sure that she has plenty of anecdotes from her personal and professional lives that she can regale us with while imitating the people she has come across in the most genuine, albeit hilarious, fashion possible. If it’s not clear already, I want to make it clear that I liked Into The Bloo, and I’m totally up for a feature-length documentary on Lagoona. I think the music videos could’ve been incorporated into the narrative more seamlessly. Or maybe Nunes could’ve done away with them and used more footage from her live shows because they are more authentic and interactive. Anyway, please do watch Into The Bloo. Be a drag queen, if that’s what you want to be, or help someone who wants to be a drag queen and ensure that their path to success isn’t hindered by bigotry.
