Reflective Encounters

“In the iconic music video for Queen’s ‘I Want to Break Free', Freddie Mercury appears dolled up as a housewife, stifled by the number of chores she has to do as dictated by restrictive heteronormative structures, before Mercury strips off to reveal his true self. Luke Willis’ The Camderina Diner, starring drag queen Lady Camden, is both a spiritual and literal remake of this video, locating a new source of existential frustration within the life of a waitress. Shot with digital cameras and bathed in neon light, the film is equal parts Douglas Sirk and Sean Baker, with its titular diner populated by an oddball cast of drag performers. 

Throughout her day, Lady Camden’s waitress has to contend with indignities familiar to service workers: constant microaggressions, unreasonable requests and nonsensical queries. The allusions to ‘I Want to Break Free’ initially appear implicit, playing as the groovy muzak in the background, but the film eventually reaches the same conclusion as the music video, with Lady Camden releasing her frustrations and transforming into Mercury. The Camderina Diner effectively cuts to the core of why Queen’s song continues to resonate. As long as we’re in the slump of late capitalism, we’ll still be marching to our minimum wage jobs chanting  “I Want to Break Free”, “You Won’t Break My Soul”, or anything else to get through the day.”

— Matthew Chan