RuPaul&#39;s Drag Race

I couldn't get into the show last night. Like I like the purpose and what woman wouldn't want a gay guy to make her over, but Raven killed the episode for me. I really don't see what is compelling about someone being a treacherous b*tch.

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Me neither. That wasn't interesting. And Raven did a really great job with the biker chick, so the additional drama was not necessary.

But I liked the episode (there were unicorns! and Jujubee + Rayna were hilarious together) even though I find some of the messages it sends to be really problematic. Such as that Shaya's marriage problems were somehow her fault. (It was nice to see her so happy at the end, but I think it would have been more helpful for her husband to have been given an attitude makeover. Or for her to have been given the tools she needed to leave him).

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xgrinch.livejournal.com

Editing makes my brain hurt.
And Raven really knows when to make a good show by starting a fake drama.

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Agreed. I think Raven was just trying to make the show a bit more dramatic since tomboys don't have bitchiness and drama oozing out of them.

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keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com

Yeah... I was a little confused by Raven's drama. I know she's generally dramatic, but it felt very put on. And it didn't help that JuJu didn't seem so much angry as confused by her antics.

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I figured it was fake when Raven "found" the blonde wig and threw it on the floor. It didn't seem real. The tomboys were really focused on themselves and not a lot of drama was going on... which we all know is what makes drag race so damn interesting.

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keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com

Yeah, that just seemed so out of character. Even for Raven. And I agree. I love the Drag Race drama, lol.

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xgrinch.livejournal.com

I guess there was no drama at all this episode. So it went like this: Show producer: "Raven, we really need something semi-dramatic. You have to think of something out in 2 minutes while the cameras are still rolling, but don't slap anybody, call anybody bad names or get into a spotlight for too long. Okay?"

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bahahahaha!
hi-larious!

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Maybe they need strategies to force the women to compete with each other (make the judging even more unpleasant? Get the women to give each other grades?). Because yeah, they were all focused on the work, and didn't seem to want to tear each other down. Imagine that!

which we all know is what makes drag race so damn interesting

Hrm. I loved the relative lack of drama in season 1 of Drag Race compared to season 2. I wish they wouldn't try to manufacture conflict and just focus on the drag instead.

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xgrinch.livejournal.com

"Because yeah, they were all focused on the work, and didn't seem to want to tear each other down."

I know! I expected a heel in an eye socket at 7th minute and an ambulance at 17th. What was Logo thinking with creating a show where people are actually ... nice?
: )

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If they do a 2nd season of Drag U, they might actually have the women judge each other... make it feel more like a competition. But like almost all 1st seasons, I think it's mostly about getting your feet wet.

In Drag Race, I don't think the drama was manufactured. I think the queens were speaking their minds and sharing their opinions which tends to offend people if things are said the wrong way. And in season 2, I think things were said the wrong way a lot.

in Drag U, I think the drama might be manufactured just because there are only 3 queens in an episode. It's a lot easier for drama to break out if there are 7 to 10 opinionated queens in one room together competing against one another. But in Drag U, it's supposed to be about the women going through a transformation.

What I don't understand is something JuJu (i think) said. Something about not wanting to get kicked off? I don't know... I can't remember.

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your icon is adooorable

What I don't understand is something JuJu (i think) said. Something about not wanting to get kicked off? I don't know... I can't remember

Haha yeah I was a bit confused by that too. Maybe the Profs don't exactly know the rules either, yet? :)

I'd love to see more of a 'drag boot camp' sort of deal, with the Profs giving more specific instruction to the women on performance and makeup and how to feel the drag. It was fun, but felt like some of the time was wasted on things like how to walk in heels and project runway-style sequences in the workroom with making the dresses. Which is OK but not what makes drag fun.

Also, more of Ru talking! I love his office.

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aw.. thank youuu! [and imagine that said in the most southern accent possible]

And I love the boot camp idea. Like... getting about 10 women in a boot camp with 10 queens. And then each week, they have a challenge. These women (especially the tomboys) don't necessarily know how to put on make-up and how to pick out the right outfit and do girly things and just present themselves with grace, power, and elegance like a true queen can.

I kinda like seeing Ru not in drag. I think he's a gorgeous man and a gorgeous woman. He's just hot all around.. and hilarious!

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I guess I am the only one who doesn't care for "fake drama". The show is to help low esteemed women fell more empowered (according to the synposis anyway lol). I am sure they don't care to make drama. Well, at leas the low esteemed women I know don't (like me).

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I agree.... the women on the show are there because they need a very strong pick-me-up. Something in their lives isn't working out and they need a drastic change.
But producers and stuff know that society as a whole like watching other people's drama. That's why reality shows are such a big hit.

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I agree with this so much.

And the fact that they all really *needed* an esteem boost made me wish that the grading part of the judging had been left out. Because the women obviously all felt so great about themselves after the runway bit, and it sucked to see them suddenly confused and hurt when the guest judges gave them low grades on aspects of their performances.

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I felt the same way about the grading part. These women haven't done anything this girly their whole lives. And then they get graded pretty harshly. I really felt like Reya (the one in the pink) got her feelings hurt. And it seemed like the judges almost graded the women on different scales.

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Yeah, it felt too early to be giving them harsh critiques. Let them enjoy it for a bit!

And I think you're right about Rayna. She did so well (that wig was bad, though. Which was Juju's fault, not hers) and was so funny (Juju: "but you do feel like a *powerful* sausage?").

I got the sense that Mia Tyler felt uncomfortable with having to give them each grades.

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But when does Jujubee use a good wig? Especially that salt and pepper bob in the first run way. Lord, help that Gaysian. That was my biggest irk with her during drag race.. But Tati got dogged for having non-dramatic wigs. haha

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I got that exact same feeling about Mia Tyler.

I don't really think it's fair that the women get graded on their overall look when they're not the ones who completely picked out the dress, the shoes, and the hair. So maybe there is something else that's gonna happen with the queens... we just don't know yet.

And the plot thickens... dun dun dun ;]

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kapvik.livejournal.com

I wasn't wowed by the premiere. And I really think the show doesn't quite know what it wants to be yet, at least not effectively. Because if the goal is to make dumpy, frumpy women look glamorous and feel more self-confident, why have the competition element and pit them against each other? Heaven help the showrunners if one of the makeover candidates is really emotionally fragile and gets graded really harshly.

Except for Ongina (who got lucky with that golden "angina" moment with her girl and RuPaul) I think the professor-queens are kind of wasted here. The queens are performers more than anything else, I think, and seeing them in this sort of "sage role" that RuPaul himself is now so fond of doesn't really have the same effect for them as it does for him. Ru is such an established icon that it makes sense to have him here as a mentor figure. But Jujubee, and even Raven, I felt were just constrained because the focus had to be on the women and not on them.

I'm going to give it about two more episodes, but at this point Dragu (Spaghetti sauce for queens!) isn't nearly as compelling as Drag Race at its worst.

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