I like to often pretend, for the sake of my own dignity, that I have some sort of taste or pride when it comes to television shows. Yeah, okay, I watch all that trashy crap on VH1, but that’s it. I don’t 16 and Pregnant it, and I’ve never seen more than five seconds of Jersey Shore. That makes me classy, right?
I’d been resisting RuPaul’s Drag Race on that very premise. Don’t get me wrong, I love love love my gays, but drag queens? That’s like a whole new level of camp I just wasn’ t sure even I could stand up to.
And then one morning I was flipping channels and I happened upon an episode, and I was hooked. This show is genius. Genius!
All good reality shows have good catch phrases. Like “make it work” for Project Runway or Tyra always telling the girls to “smile with their eyes” on America’s Next Top Model. And lord, does this show have the best damn catch phrases ever. From the girls getting “she-mail” to announce the challenges to Ru telling the girls, “Good luck, and remember, don’t fuck it up,” or telling the loser to “sashay away.” As the audience we’re practically gagging on (that’s what Ru says, isn’t it cute? If he loves something he “gags on the extravaganza eleganza”) fun catch phrases and awesome gay lingo. Did you know that makeup has to “cook” or settle into the face? Did you know that women are referred to in the drag world as “fish” and when a drag queen chooses to look more feminine as opposed to going the androgynous route, they call it “serving fish.” Where do they even come up with these delightful twists of the English language? How much do I not know that I still have to learn?
There is never a boring episode on this show because there’s no such thing as a boring drag queen. There are overly-dramatic drag queens, there are bitchy drag queens, there are catty drag queens. But drag queens are exactly who we want to see on our televisions by very nature of being drag queens. They’re dramatic, dedicated, outspoken, flamboyant, and opinionated. Honestly, it’s like just by making a show about drag queens, half the show’s done for you. You don’t even need all these challenges, if we had some sort of documentary following any of these queens, the show would still be completely riveting. And then putting half a dozen of them in the same room is like reality television gold.
And let’s admit it — all reality shows are campy, really, on various levels. They’re delightfully trashy and dramatic and that’s why we love them. This show goes with the philosophy that more is more. Have a “pit crew” of two well-oiled African-American gods to bring in whatever materials are necessary for the challenges. And yes, please, please, please, can every reality television have the bottom two lip-sync for their lives?
There’s a lot that can be learned from these queens. Not just about what reality television should aspire to be, but about confidence, and fabulousness, and glamor, and how to be yourself no matter how unpopular and ridiculous you are. As the ever-wise and glamorous Ru Paul always says, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love someone else- – can I get an amen up in here?”
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Feb 18, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
