Ru-Evolution: ‘Drag Race’ Queens on How the Show Can Rethink Its Rules

[Bling 31,370]

18 minutes ago, degenerate said:

Is there a link to this article...?

Ya babes, above the iconic Laganja bussy gif 

[Sneaky Oliver 22,101]

I think the chocolate twist is funny, I don’t mind longer seasons as long as they are not dragging unnecessary queens and I think Season14 deserves to be a little longer 

Drag Race is one of my biggest entertainments of the year so I really enjoy long seasons (better than multiple seasons tbh)

For the All Stars and International editions, I like the Guest lip sync assassin format better than queens eliminating each other

[Chlorine 47,976]

The competition has not advanced for four weeks straight so yeah I'm gonna have something to say about that. You don't need to read every comment. 

[streamstarcrossed 409]

2 hours ago, Babel said:

And there’s the fanbase that has turned queens into kindness robots, cause anything barely shady said by them is a free pass for queens to be harassed and hated on.

A lady Gaga fan who has a problem with kindness robots? 

No, but I agree. On the other hand though, I think queens should just do/say whatever they want and stop coming on the internet making a fuss about how “toxic” the fan base is. Yelling into the void that is social media about how people need to behave themselves online is pointless regardless if it’s true. 

 

[Bling 31,370]

14 minutes ago, streamstarcrossed said:

A lady Gaga fan who has a problem with kindness robots? 

No, but I agree. On the other hand though, I think queens should just do/say whatever they want and stop coming on the internet making a fuss about how “toxic” the fan base is. Yelling into the void that is social media about how people need to behave themselves online is pointless regardless if it’s true. 

 

I see both sides, but I think you can be shady and entertaining without being a c*nt and have a bad attitude. Bianca is a perfect example. She showed the perfect mix of vulnerability and kindness as well as wit and shadyness. Alyssa and Detox are other examples of queens able to spill the tea and be shady but still be real and not a diva. Even Violet opened up after she realized the bitch route was not the way to go. And I think that's what makes a superstar queen and also good television: a transition.

What's odd is two of the earliest winners, Tyra and Raja, were literal c*ntresses and still won. Raja I've seen in other shows and she owned up to her faults, so I enjoy her a lot more now. But for me, what we see on Drag Race is a representation of gay culture in general. It's "cool" to cut each other down and literally bully, but we've reached a point as a minority group that we need to bond together instead of tear each other apart.

Also one of the reasons I don't have many gay guy friends I guess. I just don't put up with the "clap back" attitude 

[Enigma 7,182]

Sometimes twists stick, sometimes they don’t. At the core the show is a messy reality TV parody of ANTM, so I like them. For instance, the Porkchop twist last season was a flop and had no point. The chocolate twist one is fun and keeps us on our toes. As long as it’s entertaining, I say keep it. The lip synch smack down for next episode sounds super fun. Season 14 in general feels less formulaic, they’re really throwing curveballs at them based on how they’re doing and it keeps it fun. 

The only time I remember having a problem with rules recently is on UK vs the world where the cast was so small that it didn’t make sense to have the top 2 format and a top 4 finale. Losing Jimbo and Pangina just ruined the season entirely. They need to figure out a middle ground between rigging it too much and letting the show go to ****.

[Tinnitus15 51,570]

7 hours ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

“It’s chocolate.” Imagine going back in time and telling any Drag Race fan that those two words — “It’s chocolate” — would become inextricably linked to the Emmy-winning, trailblazing reality competition franchise. They’d look at you the way RuPaul looks at anyone who plays a makeup YouTuber on Snatch Game: complete disinterest with a tinge of bewilderment. But here we are, halfway through Season 14 (or are we a quarter through… or has it just started?!) and “It’s chocolate,” accompanied by the Price is Right sad horns, is as much part of the canon as Tuckahoe.

That’s because those two words are part of a twist on the format, a new rule/promotional opportunity wherein the eliminated queens get one final chance to stay before sashaying away. They pull a RuPaul candy bar from their bra (or, come on, they’re handed the bar from offstage and then pull it out, right?), open it up and, if it’s a golden bar, they shantay. If it’s chocolate, they sashay. It’s so ridiculous, superfluous, and humiliating that it circles around to being highly entertainting television; the sad horns really push it over the top. But will this rule stick around, or is it a one-season wonder? How many more unwrappable tie-in items RuPaul has to promote?

...

For this dissection of the Drag Race rules, we interviewed five alumni separately by phone and email: BenDeLaCreme (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, 5th Place, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3, 6th Place), Laganja Estranja (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, 8th Place), Honey Davenport (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11, 13th Place), Priyanka (Canada’s Drag Race Season 1, Winner), and Choriza May (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3, 6th Place). Here are their combined thoughts and feelings about the twists and turns of the franchise. Interviews have been edited, combined, and condensed for clarity, mama.

...

What about Season 14’s big twist: the chocolate bar?

Laganja: I think it’s pretty lame to be quite honest (). It’s already unrealistic to think that lipstick would stay in someone’s bra, so there’s no way a chocolate bar would stay in someone’s bra. It would get all smushed. But hey, props to RuPaul for finding another creative way to continue to promote her products. I totally understand why she’s doing it. Can’t hate on her for that.

...

Season 5 was the last time a queen was given immunity after winning a Maxi Challenge. Should immunity make a comeback?

Choriza: I don’t think so! Every day counts when you are on Drag Race. Winning a challenge is already a great reward, especially in the American seasons where they get a cash tip of $5,000 ()! Giving immunity would only make people relax, and there is no time for that in such a fierce competition.

...

Drag Race has a lineup of challenges that appear every season — Snatch Game, the Rusical, the makeover, etc. Do you think any of these challenges need a break?

DeLa: With so many seasons coming on, it has to be the same [challenges and format] over and over again. There’s no time to reinvent. At some point it becomes an assembly line where it has to be plug and play, just because of sheer volume. I would love to see the whole thing slow down and take its time ().

...

Season 14 has had multiple episodes where no one was eliminated. Do you like to see episodes where no one goes home?

Laganja: No. I think that’s boring. I’m here to watch bitches go home every week. (!!!!!!!!!!!!)

https://decider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/decider.com/2022/03/14/rupauls-drag-race-rules-format-change-interview/amp/?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16472971086902&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fdecider.com%2F2022%2F03%2F14%2Frupauls-drag-race-rules-format-change-interview%2F

 

OK HOW MUCH DO WE LOVE LAGANJA FOR SPILLING THE ABSOLUTE TEA!!!!! 

(The entire article is really interesting for Drag Race fans as they incorporate international seasons. But I posted the juicy bits for you bottoms )

  Reveal hidden contents

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[Bling 31,370]

19 minutes ago, Tinnitus15 said:

[Levine 23,562]

The chocolate thing is stupid because Ru decides who is in the bottom and Ru decides who goes home lmao it's literally pointless. Why giving a second change to a person who YOU eliminate? There are big brothers in which the public has to vote to eliminate people and some edition used the golden ticket and that's make sense, but not in this case.

I've always dreamt an edition with two parallel worlds where the eliminated queen is actually the one who won the lipsync and then they'll form this group of 5-6 quens against the 5-6 remaining queens to creat the actual top 5. Imagine the surprise of the top 5 queens when they'll find out they are actually still in the top 10 and they can all go home repleaced by the other ones. 

For the rest I won't change other things. The show has it's own winning formula and people like it. In my opinion I'd just cast more older queens but that's based just on my taste. An edition old vs young queens? lmao

[littlepotter 75,097]

10 hours ago, Babel said:

Sometimes it feels like Drag Race is past its prime. Maybe it’s more popular than ever, but the show quality has downgraded a lot. The writing on acting challenges and rusicals has become stale. Those used to make you laugh, now comedy is forced by production, jokes hardly land. 
 

Also, the judging and placement of queens every week are always questionable and most of the time doesn’t make sense.
 

And there’s the fanbase that has turned queens into kindness robots, cause anything barely shady said by them is a free pass for queens to be harassed and hated on.

Nostalgia is probably clouding your memory. There has always been questionable judging, the acting challenges have always been horribly written, and the fans have always been nasty. This season they hired some new writers and I actually think they're doing a pretty good job, the superteaserd, save a queen, and daytona winds challenges felt fresh and smart. The judging has been mostly fair apart from like jorgeous' win. 

[littlepotter 75,097]

1 hour ago, Levine said:

I've always dreamt an edition with two parallel worlds where the eliminated queen is actually the one who won the lipsync and then they'll form this group of 5-6 quens against the 5-6 remaining queens to creat the actual top 5. Imagine the surprise of the top 5 queens when they'll find out they are actually still in the top 10 and they can all go home repleaced by the other ones. 

Isn't this what they tried to do with the AS4 Lalaparuza? It would be gaggy but it also would feel unfair. Imagine for example someone like Jimbo competing on that season and winning throughout the first 5 epsiodes. Then a queen who did bad and won the lipsync on episode 1 returns to lipsync against her and takes her place bc Jimbo can't lipsync for shit. She becomes top 5 even though she put no effort into the first 5 challenges. The fanbase would probably have a lot of resentment for this queen.

[phantasmas 10,505]

That was a fun read! The queens that were interviewed def gave me perspectives of the show I never really thought about 

I don't have complaints with the show really.. more upset at network tv not having more queer shows 

thanks for the tag! 

[Bling 31,370]

34 minutes ago, phantasmas said:

That was a fun read! The queens that were interviewed def gave me perspectives of the show I never really thought about 

I don't have complaints with the show really.. more upset at network tv not having more queer shows 

thanks for the tag! 

Of course! 

I love extensive Drag Race content outside of the show whether it be YouTube videos and interviews, or articles. I find it so fascinating because I grew up in a time where I rarely even saw gay people on TV, let alone all the different types of people we've seen on Drag Race.