Priscilla and Stereotypes
After reading Robertson's article, I found her view of how characters' stereotypes play out in the film and affect the drag queens to be very interesting. I do agree that the use of stereotypes play a significant role in the film, however, I don't think that these stereotypes make the drag queens afraid to be on the road or frighten them to go home. I agree with Robertson that these stereotypes are actually there to "normalize" the drag queens by having the butch woman, "mail-order bride" and the natives be exceeding outrageous and excessive in their actions. For instance, when Bob's wife, the Filipino "mail-order bride" does her act so to speak with her outfit and ping pong balls, the drag show that was put on before seems almost tame and not at all extraordinary. Both Bob and the drag queens find her act to be over the top and in Robertson's words even "perverse". Indeed the audience then identifies with Bob and the drag queens when they see this act and find the drag queens to be the "normal" ones in the situation and Bob's wife and the men in the bar to be perverse.
As the drag queens continue in their journey throughout the desert they run into homophobia such as when Priscilla is vandalized, however, they are not frightened off the road but continue on usually with a joke from Felicia. It is when they face this homophobia, they are seen as different or marginalized. But when they are confronted with other marginalized groups such as the natives or the Filipino woman, the drag queens are outshined by the stereotypes and the drag queens appear to be the "normal" ones that can better blend into society and the status quo.