PINK PALACE: AUNTIE MAME

Pink Palace presents the first of two seasonal festive treats, first up is the heartwarming joy that is AUNTIE MAME, a dazzling comedy lifted from a hugely successful Broadway stage play and later a musical, crafted by a queer adjacent production crew, and packed with visual delights, stunning sets and costumes, show-stopping performances, and a script filled with a thousand quotable lines and put-downs, and as Bianca Del Rio describes it as a textbook in throwing shade and reading for every aspiring drag queen. When a young Patrick Dennis is suddenly orphaned he and his nanny are sent to New York to live with his fabulous Auntie Mame, arriving in the middle of one of her wild parties, he is cast into a world he never knew existed. Mame creates a logical family of misfits around her, empowering them and lifting their spirits, the biggest message takeaway from the film is love and acceptance, bring tissues this film packs an emotional wallop, and its all the more relevant to these darker times with its message of joy and hope and not giving into the patriarchy and conservative oppression. "What is it about Auntie Mame that resonates so much with queer audiences? On a base level, our hero lives the opulent, self-determined lifestyle that so many of us crave. And think about the time-frame: being gay in 1958 wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. Perhaps seeing Mame thrive in spite of every hard-nosed conservative in her life allows us to connect with her on a larger, more fabulous scale. There are a handful of LGBTQ+ characters (mostly friends of Mame’s seen at her parties), but remember when the film was made. Mame actively surrounds herself with people who reject societal norms, pride themselves on being alternative and are, in some cases, clearly queer. A film that does so, in this era, deserves more credit for portraying otherness (or at least embracing a liberal, open-minded lifestyle) and celebrating what makes each of us unique. Then there’s Mame herself. The character is so perfectly written: witty and urbane, with the dichotomy of steeling herself against criticism as well as being sensitive and surprisingly vulnerable. Like every gay icon, Mame strikes the balance between strength and vulnerability. Of course, she takes Patrick under her wing and introduces him to the finer things that the other, stiffer adults in his life consider frivolous, distracting or even degenerate: Mame is the ultimate cultural wing-woman. Every LGBTQ+ person deserves that one person who grabs them by the arm and assures them that “I’m going to open doors for you, doors you never even dreamed existed.” We envy her lifestyle, her clothes, her wit, but more than anything we adore Mame herself, and we can hazard a guess that the feeling would be mutual. Auntie Mame possesses everything a queer classic needs: camp, humour, vulnerability, and heart (with the bonus of a glamorous leading lady)." SNACKMAG.CO.UK Please note there are NO ads or trailers, we start on time! Pink Palace is a super low fi highly relaxed event that takes place in the basement bar, its a safe queer space so come along and catch some queer film and pop culture history, each week the film is introduced by curator Andrew Woodyatt, and feel free to stay and chat afterwards, participation is encouraged!PINK PALACE: AUNTIE MAME showing at: December 4, 7:30 pm

Location: Rio Cinema107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB3

2024-12-04T19:30:00+00:00PT2H18M2024-12-04T21:58:00+00:0025

Rosalind Russell

Forrest Tucker

Coral Browne

Fred Clark

Roger Smith

Patric Knowles

Peggy Cass

Yuki Shimoda

Morton DaCosta

PINK PALACE: AUNTIE MAME"