‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Recap: Choices, Confusion And Casual Racism
It turns out the true dinosaur, all along, was Jeff Goldblum.
Is this a Róisín Murphy tribute drag night? Because I’m feeling mighty overpowered by Drag Race‘s 2.5 hours of television this week, thanks to the introduction of Celebrity Drag Race.
For the next three weeks — aka through to All Stars 5 — we’ll have plenty of drag to consume: just like Sherry Pie’s political campaign this week, we’ll be overfed. Surprisingly, though, Celebrity wasn’t half bad. Ahem, sorry — that’s “Secret” Celebrity, as per the last-minute name change and voice-over work. They probably realised that it wasn’t a great idea to reveal the list before people tuned in.
The format’s silly and the challenges are dumb, but the show lets us spend more time with Drag Race superstars and has the potential to have some really sweet moments. Consider it another holiday special: forgettable, fun, not canon.
Indiah Ferrah’s impact… prison, honey!
As someone who finds the overbearing hetero-high production of Lip Sync Battle a complete turn-off, this show doesn’t stip the queerness from drag, and balanced out the ‘straight dudes putting on heels’ vibe after getting it out of the way in the mini-challenge.
At least, that’s how it feels episode one, thanks to excellent casting: Jermaine Fowler’s storyline about his mother was quite moving, and Riverdale actor Jordan Connor had a sweet connection to the show, re; his two queer siblings.
There’s been a bit of hate thrown at Nico Tortorella for doing the absolute most at every opportunity they were on camera, though we’re here to defend them (also #TeamJosh, duh). Firstly, their foolery was reminiscent of almost every queer person I know when they put on a wig and instantly feels their Jantasy.
Secondly, they grounded the show and provided this really sincere (if not somewhat emotionally overwrought) insight into how drag can break down the barriers of masculinity — for straight men, too, who are bound to that prison like no one else.
Is it Drag Race at it’s best? No, it’s basically celebrities being force-fed lines and given make-overs (by Shannel, Laila McQueen and Mayhem, not that the show featured them on-screen). It’d be easy to go on a rant about Celebrity being Drag Race: Sanitised, but honestly? Kim, there’s people that are dying! To quote Charli XCX, “I don’t care! I am ambivalent!” Let’s move on!
This week, Drag Race returned to its political debate challenge, and, as per S4, it was an absolute mess. Unlike S4, no-one was racist or had a catchphrase that will haunt me eight years later — well, no one was racist in the challenge, at least.
…up… do….
“Keep Your Ass Right, And Your Mind Will Follow” – Marianne Williamson
Before we get to the main challenge, RuPaul humiliates the girls by making them act as cats in some kind of furry fetish spon-con for kitty litter. Sell the garment!
Me, watching Widow chase a red dot across the set.
Jackie Cox wins for her parody of Eartha Kitt, which is her second mini-challenge win in a row. She’s still struggling to break through in the maxis though, and this week cements why: she overprepares. In Snatch Game, that worked well, but elsewhere, she’s felt a little too rigid.
Me day 2049 of quarantine during cat hour, the hour of the day where the UN says we all have to pretend to be cats. Jason Derulo, a trained cat actor, leads the session via mandatory Zoom chat.
While they prep, the girls are greeted by Ru and Raven, who, as Ru’s make-up artist, has been watching the season off-camera. It’s clear that they aren’t exactly sure what to do with the challenge, as most don’t have a “campaign message” when prompted — thankfully for Heidi, Ru gives her one for the second week in a row. To paraphrase Latrice Royale, “the level of favouritism is…” just right and well-deserved.
Ru keeps hammering in this idea of going for the “most obvious” joke, and Raven stresses they stay stupid, but it feels like iffy advice. The most obvious joke isn’t necessarily the best — and when queens like Sherry rely on an old-faithful character, they’re critiqued.
Gigi, too, tries to repeat past success by adopting a ‘secret robot’ character, but it’s a little too convoluted and flat to succeed. It’s interesting that the two top queens have faltered in the past two weeks, perhaps having gotten a little complacent: we’re glad, because it both gives Gigi a bit of a more empathetic arc and allows other queens like Crystal and Heidi to shine.
Putting your entire personality into having a mullet is incredibly 2020. What’s next, a photography project where Crystal takes ‘raw’ photos of white twinks she fucks? (I would like to be it…)
Not to mention Jaida, who has long been a personal favourite, but this week began what’s hopefully an ascent to the crown. Her performance in the debate was head and shoulders above everyone else, to the point it completely disrupted the challenge by breaking it apart — aka exactly what politicians do.
Of the bitches, for the bitches.
Widow also did exactly what politicians do — yell and carry on, but missed the humour and lightness of the challenge. There were jokes (the ‘hokey pokey’ intro was funny, and a classic example of how the show can edit something to make it bomb), but overall, she missed the mark.
It was hard to watch her go this week, as I had Widow pegged for top 4. Earlier in the season, I wrote that I hoped she’d be able to drop the self-defensive bravado to let herself shine, but it remained a through-line, right from her frustration during E1’s choreography. That didn’t happen, though as she shared more about her upbringing, it was clear where it came from. Then, on Untucked this week, we learnt she was a little reserved with the other queens, and hadn’t really connected with them much. She’s clearly incredibly talented, but wasn’t quite able to get out of her head this season.
Widow looked so hurt on the main-stage during critiques. My heart.
Rachel Bloom offered excellent advice about separating the critiques from herself, but Widow couldn’t hear them, already submerged in defeat. Or, as psychologist RuPaul put it, like “the thorns of a rose turned in on itself”, thinking about how great it would be if only there was some sort of way that nature could somehow cave in on itself.
It’s a really unpleasant arc to watch, and seeing her more or less give up on the mainstage was heartbreakingly relatable.
The Dinosaur Doctor Shows His Age
Speaking of guest judges, Jeff Goldblum was a real mixed bag.
On one level, his fedorable ‘quirky old man’ irreverence works well on Drag Race, but his celebrity status swallowed the show a little bit — we saw more of him than we did most of the queens this episode. Similar to Joel McHale on All Stars 4, he took up a bit too much space, even if it was by and large in the spirit of the show: perhaps that’s more the fault of editors.
And then there’s his comments around Jackie Cox’s hijab runway, where he asked whether Islam’s “anti-gay and anti-woman” stance complicates the outfit. As expressed on Twitter by queer Australian poet Omar Sakr, the question is a double-standard, one rarely held to Judeo-Christian societies.
Islamaphobia die challenge (wow, my allyship…)
“Jeff Goldblum felt the need to say ‘but isn’t Islam anti-gay and anti-woman’ to Jackie because she was wearing a stars-and-stripes hijab, as if America hasn’t been anti-gay and anti-woman from the outset, or killed and displaced millions of Muslims, including women and queers…,” he wrote.
Elsewhere, others have pointed out that white queens often play with religious iconography too without these questions, which are tied in with neo-colonial (not to mention ahistorical) views of the Middle East as backwards and needing Western liberation. It also felt somewhat cruel to have Jackie be forced to defend her own cultural heritage, which, goes without saying, is complex, and remains valid in its complexity.
the “is there something homophobic or misogynist about this religion” discussion as soon as someone puts on a hijab whew
tired of a discourse that tries to cut queer people off from their own religious culture. they’re ours to celebrate, lampoon, and glory in too. #DragRace pic.twitter.com/E8VzluepjE
— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) April 25, 2020
The moment stands out even among A Very Political Episode, but it also was a teaching moment, as Jackie eloquently explained how she thinks Muslim-American visibility is incredibly important in the Trump era.
On one level, it was frustratingly simple to have the question raised. On another, unfortunately, that’s where much of Drag Race‘s audience is probably at, and allowing Jackie to speak on the question that was probably in a few viewers’ minds at least attacks the basis of the question.
If the show felt the need to tackle this misleading narrative, it probably would’ve worked better as a werkroom conversation. On the main stage, it was a little too much of an interrogation.
Jackie’s runway was so beautiful, and this Untucked shot… hang it in the AGNSW!
In short, the queens were wrong to shut down Widow during the challenge when she called Jeff “uneducated”.
“That’s A Question” – Joe Biden
This was a bad week for Gigi, as she was painted as an ignorant West Hollywood twink. Then again, she was the one who dressed as a coloniser for the runway: no matter how tailored it is, it’s not a good look.
There’s arguably a way to “subversively” dress as a coloniser/punch up, but this outfit and presentation lacks that edge.
Crystal’s runway wasn’t well-received as it was “too busy”, but to me, it’s the essence of drag: not custom-made looks but distinct aesthetics cobbled together from scraps. My obvious crush aside, I’ve got a lot of time for Crystal’s genuine creativity, as week-by-week she holds her own against queens who arrived with a lot more resources.
:))))
Heidi looks a very sad, demure version of Beyoncé in the ‘Telephone’ music video.
Meanwhile, Jaida Essence Hall. That’s it. That’s the post.
The hair tufts! She made this herself, as with most of her outfits. The Essence of drag!
With two wins, Jaida is statistically on par with Sherry. Of the remaining, the top 4 is definitely her, Sherry and Gigi, with the final spot either Heidi or Crystal’s, though probably the former. Jackie, as amazing as her runway was this week, hasn’t quite cracked the code yet. Maybe she will, but from a cynical point, the show more or less completed her arc this episode.
For the time being, I leave you with the politicial debate moment of all-time.
RuPaul’s Drag Race streams on Stan, with S12 and Celebrity episodes available from 1pm and 2pm Saturdays, respectively.
Jared Richards is Junkee’s night editor, and is on Twitter.