Did any of you watch the premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4? I'm always wanting to write about it because, more than most performers, drag stars love to mash up pop cultural influences including movies. It's not only the typical Gay Films that get referenced but camp classics of all sexual persuasions (Waterworld classifies as a straight camp classic, right? I mean it's dreadfully serious about itself but it's terrible) and even regular classics, albeit usually the feminine ones. The theme of the first episode was the apocalypse and the first part of the contest was a photoshoot in which the queens were sprayed with "toxic waste" while Ru shouted out instructions. At one point Ru yelled "give me Karen Silkwood!" I can't picture The Great Lady Streep watching this sort of thing but I bet she would have chortled.
Despite all the cultural referencing its evident (sometimes) that many queens are merely parroting the past without actually knowing what they're referencing. So I tend to gravitate towards the smarter queens who are a little more savvy about drag as art and understand gay culture's magpie qualities
WillamIt's dangerous to choose favorites early on in competition shows but I love Willam (Willam Belli) because he seems smarter than the room and could actually back up the bravado and name dropping. He's got a long list of film and TV credits.
I'm a successful drag queen. I'm not some bitch who has to show for a dollar."
"I've worked with Oscar Winner Diane Keaton," Willam bragged in the after show. Not just Diane Keaton, bitches. Oscar Winner being a title like Dame, see.
My other instant favorite was Sharon Needles who won the apocalypse challenge by understanding what they were looking for: creative scary theater. The winning look and more movie notes after the jump.
Nosferatu posing while doing a typical diva catwalk was a shockingly strong juxtaposition. And the blood suddenly pouring from her mouth during closeup was a total surprise and thus really great theater / television. Sharon Needles described her persona prior to even knowing the challenge as "Beautiful. Spooky. And Stupid." The last part is definitely an act.
Bizarrely she never referenced Nosferatu while building this look instead describing it like so.
I'm kind of going for Linda Hamilton Beauty and the Beast trapped under the city because of a nuclear dust cloud."
Which. Well. Points if you can see that.
Many of Sharon's competitors didn't really understand the challenge. One, Lashauwn Beyond, couldn't even pronounce it mangling 'post-apocalyptic' every time and saying 'I don't even know what that means but I'm going to do an end of the world look.'
Ummm.
Other pop culture bits, history, movie and celebrities tossed around carelessly in words or performativity in this episode included Cher, Black Swan, Grace Jones, Mahogany, Escape From New York, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here", Waterworld, Magellan, and The Devil Wears Prada... "That's all"
Oh wait, there was one more. Elvira got herself into trouble with the other judges when she dissed one look by saying that it reminded her of Showgirls (1995) "the worst movie ever made."
You just don't use Showgirls as a negative around the queens, no shade.