DAY 16: To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything Julie Newmar

 

One of the hardest things to do is to admit when you are wrong. I am talking about those times when you have made a bad decision, when you bet on the wrong horse, when you invested too much of your time and energy on some-one or something that was never meant for you...when you lose yourself in the pursuit of an illusion. You probably realised early on that you have made a mistake, but you stubbornly stuck to your guns, simply because you didn't want to be proved wrong, because your ego couldn't handle the embarrassment, and you spiral out of control while you cling to the self created lies you are trying to defend. Then the time comes when you have to stop, reflect and forgive yourself, accept that you are human, that you are going to screw up sometimes, that your heart is going to get broken, and in return you will break a few hearts, realise that not all you dreams are meant to come true, forgive yourself some more, and then you let it all go.

Vida Boheme: Oh! No one say anything frivolous for the next few moments. I am having a significant experience. 
Vida Boheme: Look, Miss Julie Newmar has been watching silently over this entire conversation. And look at her, vintage Miss Julie. She is the perfect, the ultimate... oh! Try to describe her and not use the word "statuesque". Oh, Miss Julie, you are statuesque and you were the only Catwoman. Oh, read it please. 
Miss Chi-Chi Rodriguez: "To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar." Who was Wong Foo? 
Vida Boheme: I don't know but evidently they were close. 
Vida Boheme: We must take this message from Miss Newmar with us across the land as our sovereign token. 

The late Patrick Swayze was Miss Vida Boheme, a larger than life drag queen in the Movie "To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar." It is a movie about accepting who you are, and how important it is to let go of your past to fully embrace your future.

The title of the movie was derived from a signed poster of Miss Julie Newmar, but in my world it has taken on a meaning of its own. To me the words seem like a greeting, a way of saying Goodbye, a way of letting go. Thanks for everything it has been swell, now goodbye.
People will come and go in our lives, some will exit dramatically some will simply fade. Some will adore us, some will confuse us and some will unknowingly teach us things we didn't know about ourselves, and in the end we will have to let them all go, we can never own another, and we should be careful not to try and possess. Possession is the opposite of love, and we should love enough to be willing to let go if someone doesn't choose us. You can never force someone to choose you, you will be wasting your time and your energy and you will be betting on the wrong horse. Be brave enough to wipe away your tears and tell them "To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar"

Noxeema Jackson: [to Chi-Chi] Step four: Larger than life is just the right size.

Noxeema is also a character in the movie - a drag-queen played by Wesley Snipes. I just had to add this quote because I couldn't agree more.

In the spirit of letting go. I am also going to reference the movie "Moonlight and Valentino"  In this movie a young widow is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband. I know this sounds kind of morbid, but what makes the story so endearing is the relationship between all the female characters and how they support each other, and how all of them had something they were clinging to that prevented them from progress. At the end of the movie the four female characters go to the grave of the widows mother to perform a releasing ceremony.


Rebecca: "And I guess what I have to say is really simple. Ben, with all of my heart and with everything that I am, my love...goodbye."....and then in true Hollywood style right on queue it started to rain...to wash away the old and give birth to the new.


The words are indeed simple, because sometimes letting go is simple, sometimes it is just saying goodbye. Saying goodbye to people who make you doubt yourself, or simply saying goodbye to those parts of yourself that no longer serve you, those parts of yourself that you have defended for long enough, but if you are honest those parts simply aren't you anymore.  

May you all have glorious moments of letting go, and wondrous new beginnings.


"To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar"