RuPaul's Drag Race

[Phantomhive 1,870]

Adore finally won a challenge. Very well-deserved because she freakin' SLAYED.

 

 Milk went home... welp...

I at least love what she wore on the runway for the very last time tho.

 

My top 3:

 

1. Adore Delano

2. Bianca Del Rio

3. Laganja Estranja/BenDeLaCreme/Courtney Act (still torn)

 

Tho I'm unexpectedly a bit disappointed with Courtney so far. Aside from her performance on the Rusical challenge, she's been a little flat.

[ALX 170]

 

Bianca only had about 3 looks in the previews and trailers. The person with the most looks from the trailer, the Untucked intro and the first episode of the season was Courtney with 8 looks, then a couple of girls with 5 and 6 looks. And at this moment there have been 6 weeks and 5 different looks from each of them. I dunno just my observations lol.

 

There's a running chart on the RPDR Reddit with caps of each queen's upcoming looks and that basically determined the elimination order

[JanPianoMusic 730]

I think in the US they have a LOGO tv app where they show a 10 minute preview to the next week episode. That would be enough time to show the mini-challenge and Ru telling them what the main-challenge is. :)

 

 

Bianca only had about 3 looks in the previews and trailers. The person with the most looks from the trailer, the Untucked intro and the first episode of the season was Courtney with 8 looks, then a couple of girls with 5 and 6 looks. And at this moment there have been 6 weeks and 5 different looks from each of them. I dunno just my observations 

 

Oh yes, they have a LOGOtv app and I've seen those previews, but that app only shows the first ten minutes of the next episode. I was wondering how they know what the challenges of the episodes after that were. Yesterday the challenges for episode 8 and 9 had also been posted on Wikipedia, before they were deleted.

[Staryu 6,162]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywt7YYd82Sk

 

 The ultimate read of it all.

[JanPianoMusic 730]

There's a running chart on the RPDR Reddit with caps of each queen's upcoming looks and that basically determined the elimination order

 

I can't find it, could you link me to it?

[Dave Cookie 2]

No, the editing is making it as to where she's more tolerable to watch

 

But she still gets heavily criticized on the runway and always messes up in challenges but appears perfect in the finished product

 

She's getting a "most improved" edit rather than a winning edit

 

 

I kind of agree, but she is still one of my favorites because I love her personality. Her runway looks are where she's weak, but I hope she steps it up in future episodes.

[cometoogg 0]

I can't find it, could you link me to it?

http://i.imgur.com/FJ5O8wz.jpg

[JanPianoMusic 730]

http://i.imgur.com/FJ5O8wz.jpg

 

Oh thank you! I don't really get this scheme though... For example, how do you know that Adore's look with the white wig ("This is the name of the ****ing game!") doesn't belong somewhere else?

[ZacharyyyM 0]

Oh thank you! I don't really get this scheme though... For example, how do you know that Adore's look with the white wig ("This is the name of the ****ing game!") doesn't belong somewhere else?

I agree, And how do you know the order of the runway looks. I mean for example, how is it you would know the 'black and white themed looking' runway isn't top 5 and the one that predicts

Trinity

 

is 7th isn't actually the next episode.

 

Edited April 2, 2014 by ZacharyyyM

[heavyMetalGAGA 65]

heavyMetal, did you perhaps mean to quote somebody else?

 

Regardless, I'll comment on the issue at hand, because I do think the discussion that has arisen out of this mini-challenge is valuable and needs to happen.

 

I myself DEFINITELY had issues with the Female or Shemale game, although I don't personally feel it's my place to tell a professional transvestite that they can't use the word "shemale," or even "tranny" for that matter.

 

I find the academic left's approach to language and politically correct terminology woefully simplistic. Just as simplistic as the idiot bigots who are like "if black people can use the 'n' word, then so can I."

 

Both of these approaches to language erase the nuance of context. They hang language's meaning and use entirely on whether or not somebody is part of a minority. Don't get me wrong: who uses a word absolutely can inflect its meaning. But so does whom it is said to, what the user's intent is, the specific time and place in which it is used, the context of the rest of the conversation, and so on and so forth. Language and its meaning is determined through context, and context has a near infinite number of facets. To say you have to be a member of a minority that a slur is targeted at to investigate or alter that term's meaning treats language as a monolith, and treating language as a monolith reifies the very epistimological systems and paradigms that treat identity as a monolith. And those systems and epistemes are where the violence truly stems from.

 

Not to mention that the whole conversation around these terms also supports the idea of trans and cis as a strict binary, and strict binaries are usually overly simplistic and unhelpful (I think recognizing the difference between cis and trans is important, especially in terms of understanding privilege, but we also need to recognize that cis and trans can exist on a spectrum so-to-speak, too. For example, where does somebody who identifies as bigender, or agender, or genderqueer fall?) Again, drag queens--professional transvestites--might not be trans, but they could be classed under the larger trans* umbrella. And, like I said, I don't think it's my place--or anybody else's--to tell a professional transvestite that they can't play with those terms, especially because--and this I can guarantee you--those terms have been lobbed at queens as slurs. Do I think drag queens have it as bad as trans men and women? No, of course not. Do I think we've completely lost the script when our rhetoric turns into an "oppression pissing contest?" Yes. I should note, this doesn't mean I'm okay every time I hear one of those words come out of a queen's mouth. Again, that depends on all sorts of other aspects of context.

 

My problem with the Female or Shemale game was that I found it pretty traditionally misogynistic (especially where Chyna was concerned), and that the emphasis on the game was on "clocking" and "passing," which are obviously very delicate subjects that I think should be treated with a greater level of intelligence and understanding. Not all trans people feel it necessary to try and pass (or actually might be unable to for any number of reasons), but that doesn't mean we should treat their gender identity as any less authentic, and games like this work against that idea. And, of course, being "fishy" for a queen may be an artistic statement or point of pride, but for a trans person it can actually be a matter of being exposed to life-threatening physical violence. So, I found the game deeply problematic, but I found a lot of the outrage sadly misplaced and emphasizing the wrong things.

 

If anybody's really interested in further exploring some of these complex issues--and some of the complex issues at the heart of drag, period--I recommend hopping over to Netflix and watching Paris is Burning and really taking some time to process it (my guess is a lot of people in this thread have seen it), and then seek out bell hooks' response to the film. And then seek out Judith Butler's response to both hooks' response and the film itself.

 

 

I'm sorry, Kupo! I didn't mean to come off as so rude on that last post. I was just really offended by the Female or Shemale game.

 

But would you mind explaining something to me (and possibly with simpler terms )? When you say, "I find the academic left's approach to language and politically correct terminology woefully simplistic," do you mean that whenever someone uses f*ggot as a slur (even if they aren't gay), that language is too complex to say that that is wrong? And by saying that it is wrong, it is "woefully" simplistic?

 

Also, when you say, "To say you have to be a member of a minority that a slur is targeted at to investigate or alter that term's meaning treats language as a monolith, and treating language as a monolith reifies the very epistimological systems and paradigms that treat identity as a monolith. And those systems and epistemes are where the violence truly stems from" what is the epistomological system? Are you saying the intention and place where someone uses that word is where the violence truly stems from? I'm sorry, just a little confused haha. I want to be able use language in a safer & kinder way :)

Edited April 3, 2014 by heavyMetalGAGA

[ALX 170]

I agree, And how do you know the order of the runway looks. I mean for example, how is it you would know the 'black and white themed looking' runway isn't top 5 and the one that predicts

Trinity

 

is 7th isn't actually the next episode.

 

 

Black and white themed was shown in this week's teaser

 

And one episode this week is supposedly a non-elimination and then a single elim or a double but that makes sense

 

Regardless she's one of the next two to go

Edited April 3, 2014 by omgitsandrew

[EthanPamyu 2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywt7YYd82Sk

 

 The ultimate read of it all.

and thats why Alaska is my favorite 

[kupo 201]

I'm sorry, Kupo! I didn't mean to come off as so rude on that last post. I was just really offended by the Female or Shemale game.

 

But would you mind explaining something to me (and possibly with simpler terms )? When you say, "I find the academic left's approach to language and politically correct terminology woefully simplistic," do you mean that whenever someone uses f*ggot as a slur (even if they aren't gay), that language is too complex to say that that is wrong? And by saying that it is wrong, it is "woefully" simplistic?

 

Also, when you say, "To say you have to be a member of a minority that a slur is targeted at to investigate or alter that term's meaning treats language as a monolith, and treating language as a monolith reifies the very epistimological systems and paradigms that treat identity as a monolith. And those systems and epistemes are where the violence truly stems from" what is the epistomological system? Are you saying the intention and place where someone uses that word is where the violence truly stems from? I'm sorry, just a little confused haha. I want to be able use language in a safer & kinder way :)

 

Yep. :) That's what I'm saying. Language--and the way its meaning is constructed--is just far too complex to reduce down to simply the one factor of: "do you belong to this minority or not?" If you say you have to belong to a minority to use a word, you're purposely creating extremely rigid (and artificial) boundaries on language. And since language, as a tool, not only reflects our collective thought processes, but helps shape them, if you are creating rigid boundaries on identity language, then you are also creating rigid boundaries on our very understanding of identity.

 

It's the whole queer argument that s-xuality isn't as simple as "gay/straight/bi," and what has made that fight so difficult is because our language conditions us to think those are the only options, because for a long time those were the only words we had. So, that's why I find it problematic when well-intentioned, socially conscious academic types say stuff like "it's not your word to reclaim." Because that kind of rhetoric absolutely both reflects and enables a point of view that sees identity as fixed and unmovable, as clear-cut. Us vs. Them. And it's that type of thought and understanding of human identity that engenders prejudice, discrimination, and violence against all minorities. So, even though most of these impassioned social warriors are very well-intentioned, I think their quest for political correctness often reduces and oversimplifies the meaningful discourse we could be having on these subjects, and is often more troublesome than the initial use of the offensive terminology they are lodging complaints against.

 

However, I'll be more than up front and say that my opinion is a pretty radical one, and lots of academics don't share it. And I'll also say I try to avoid most offensive terminology myself. Mostly just because, like you, I just want to try and find a way to use language and create discourse that is kind, and if I know something's going to offend someone, I usually just defer to that out of a baseline respect.

 

But I'm also not going to villify those that don't follow my path. Nor am I going to let slide the lazy and problematic rhetoric of those that do call them out.

 

What I will say is, if somebody wants to use slurs or possibly-offensive language, I think they need to educate themselves on the history of those words, understand why people find them offensive, think strongly about the precise context they'll be using them in, and then decide whether or not it's still a word that they find valuable to use. Basically, people should think before they speak, and know how and why they're using a word.

[Sesshomaru 4]

Oh thank you! I don't really get this scheme though... For example, how do you know that Adore's look with the white wig ("This is the name of the ****ing game!") doesn't belong somewhere else?

If you don't mind me butting in, I've seen an updated chart where they place Darienne's look (where she's fake crying, the goldish one) and the Adore one together. The "Ball episode" this year is called Glitter Ball and Adore's looks like it would fit and also  the corset looks pretty homemade. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/eLlXh3l.jpg

Edited April 3, 2014 by Sesshomaru

[ZacharyyyM 0]

If you don't mind me butting in, I've seen an updated chart where they place Darienne's look (where she's fake crying, the goldish one) and the Adore one together. The "Ball episode" this year is called Glitter Ball and Adore's looks like it would fit and also  the corset looks pretty homemade. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/eLlXh3l.jpg

 

I still don't believe this order is correct though.

 

The ball episode is usually the final 4. The Diva awards was final 4 season 2, the million dollar outfit was season 3 final 4, Bitch Ball was final 4 season 4, the Sugar Ball was final 4 season 5. Top 5 is generally the makeover challenge.