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"RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7"
On 5/12/2015 at 2:24:51 AM, Ostromite started the thread:
Fuck you, I know nobody watches this show but me and V87 here, but this is the worst season of this show so far. RuPaul must be loopy from some Vicodin addiction to make these insane eliminations week after week.
Msg #1: On 5/12/2015 at 3:18:07 AM, Velociraptor87 replied, saying:
She's also seemed on edge & meaner this season. Overall it really hasn't been enjoyable besides Untucked, which, surprisingly, I appreciate the move to digital-only.
Msg #2: On 5/12/2015 at 3:18:24 AM, Velociraptor87 replied, saying:
Ginger should've gone home tbpfh.
Msg #3: On 5/12/2015 at 3:26:05 AM, Ostromite replied, saying:
I actually don't like the new Untucked as much. There's a lot of filler with the random shots of them re-touching their makeup and shit, and there's no more big pink furry box.
Replies: 4
Msg #4: On 5/12/2015 at 10:38:36 PM, Velociraptor87 replied to Msg #3, saying:
True, I kinda miss that segment, but on the whole it feels a lot less artificial/designed for catty fights. It kinda just seems like a chill behind-the-scenes documentary crew. I kinda like that.
Msg #5: On 5/14/2015 at 1:11:24 AM, Phily replied, saying:
Viacom owns Logo which owns RuPaul's show and so we got to see her at our building here in Times Square. She's super tall!
Msg #6: On 5/15/2015 at 1:48:03 AM, Velociraptor87 replied, saying:
The taller the better. Push her over, dammit. She's ruining this season.
Msg #7: On 5/15/2015 at 2:35:55 PM, Ostromite replied, saying:
If Ginger Minj gets sent home this week I'm not going to watch the finale.
Replies: 8
Msg #8: On 5/15/2015 at 6:00:59 PM, Velociraptor87 replied to Msg #7, saying:
You want Ginger to win?
Replies: 9
Msg #9: On 5/15/2015 at 8:37:38 PM, Ostromite replied to Msg #8, saying:
It's not that I want her to win, it's that she's the only queen left that's actually entertaining.
Replies: 10
Msg #10: On 5/15/2015 at 10:28:12 PM, Velociraptor87 replied to Msg #9, saying:
True... and that says a lot about this season :X
Msg #11: On 5/16/2015 at 4:28:22 PM, Velociraptor87 replied, saying:
bakok
Msg #12: On 6/2/2015 at 3:07:32 AM, Ostromite replied, saying:
WHAT THE FUCK
Replies: 13
Msg #13: On 6/6/2015 at 6:32:44 PM, Velociraptor87 replied to Msg #12, saying:
Violet Chachki only won because she was the most likeable of the top 3. Sadly, that's not saying much, and I do like Violet. This season was kinda a shit show.
Replies: 14
Msg #14: On 6/6/2015 at 7:06:46 PM, Ostromite replied to Msg #13, saying:
Violet is boring and I think RuPaul picked her just because he's panicking over the idea that he might seem old and out of date if they didn't crown a young fashion queen this year. What was funny was all the jokes they kept making at the finale about how Katya could have and should have won and everyone kept cheering. I think RuPaul realized he fucked up, but Katya's going to be this season's Raven to Violet's Tyra Sanchez.
Msg #15: On 6/7/2015 at 12:53:04 PM, elementry replied, saying:
I'm genuinely curious about your opinions here. What is the draw and appeal of drag queens?
Replies: 16
Msg #16: On 6/7/2015 at 4:22:36 PM, Ostromite replied to Msg #15, saying:
Before I try to explain it, I just want to make sure you know what a drag queen even is. I don't mean this to sound insulting, but, in my experience, most straight people don't actually seem to know. There are a few exceptions, but, generally speaking, drag queens are neither transvestites nor transsexuals. They are men who live their lives as men but put on drag to perform. It's their job. It's not fundamentally different than a guy who puts on makeup and a ridiculous costume to work as a birthday clown or a punk rock singer.
Now, some things off the top of my head:
1. Drag is almost pure camp. If you don't know what I mean by camp, you can read Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp", which is more or less the definitive work on the subject. Of course, part of the appeal of camp is that it defies easy discussion; you can simply identify what is and what is not campy.
2. Drag queens defy and parody the gender structure of straight society. All gender is performance, but most people don't actually think about it that way in their day to day lives, so they take it for granted that, say, men don't wear lots of eye makeup and dresses. Transgendered people usually conform to these standards by trying to "pass" as the gender they identify as, but drag queens exaggerate it to the point where you have to confront how ludicrous the whole thing is to begin with.
3. For gay people, and gay men in particular, drag queens represent the most flamboyant celebration of everything rebellious and fun about gay culture. Part of the ethos of drag culture is that a drag queen has to be strong, and most drag queens have put up with a lot of personal tragedy (both related to homophobic bigotry and not). Even if they're still emotionally in shambles off-stage, to see someone who has experienced the difficulties most gay men experience and emerged as a confident, flamboyant, defiant performer is important and empowering. Some gay men don't like drag, which is fine, but I consider them our mascots.
4. Like any field, there is a lot of creativity and technical skill required to be a top notch drag queen. Their makeup not only has to cover up the masculine features of their face, but also be theatrically expressive to a live audience and be visually distinct from the makeup styles of other drag queens. Costume design and sewing is also difficult, and a lot of drag culture revolves around competition for who can create the most original and memorable looks.
5. Many drag queens are simply very funny, charismatic performers. Even if you don't care about all the other stuff I mentioned, the best drag queens can put on a great show while you have a couple of drinks: they dance or sing, tell jokes, M.C. for musical performers and pageants. It's one of the last vestiges of vaudeville and burlesque.
6. This doesn't speak to drag as a whole, but RuPaul's Drag Race (and its supplementary behind-the-scenes show, Untucked) are almost a parody of reality television the same way drag itself is a parody of gender performance. The show is essentially structured like America's Next Top Model or any of those other creative competition shows, but what the contestants are doing is trying to be the funniest, craziest, sexiest, bitchiest man in a dress.
If you're interested in it more, there is a lot of literature on the subject, but I would start with the documentary Paris is Burning, which is available on Netflix Instant.
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