Streep's character has inspired countless drag queens, and even a challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race: The unabashedly evil, yet hyper-feminine characters at the center of this campy movie are adored by the queer community. "They're fighting for beauty," the executive producer of Drag Race, Tom Campbell, told Vanity Fair. "They're against the system. They're also villains, but we understand their complexity."
Vanity Fair's Kristy Puchko wrote, "Death Becomes Her is an elixir of life for its fans—one that not only spurs them to laugh at absurd vanity and suffocating heteronormativity, but gives them license to challenge those things. We can relate to Helen and Madeline's rejection of tedious norms, and aspire to their determination to get what's theirs."
These are certainly not the usual sentiments said about a Bruce Willis movie, as the actor is known for his hyper-masculine action flicks, but his performance earned praise at the time. Menell wrote for THR, "Playing against type, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis successfully create the unlikeliest of triumvirates [...] But it's Willis who comes off best here. Not only does he make us forget about his action-with-a-smirk flicks, he makes us forget Hudson Hawk — no mean feat!"
For a bit of campy, dark fun, you can stream Death Becomes Her on HBO Max.
