“To be camp is to present oneself as being committed to the marginal with a commitment greater than the marginal merits” Discuss in relation to Rupaul’s Drag Race, Past and Present.
Danial Worrallo BA (Hons) Art & Design Contents
START YOUR ENGINES - INTRODUCTION PAGE 2
CHOICES PAGE 4
BAM PAGE 5
#SEASON 6 PAGE 6
YAS GAWD MAWMA! PAGE 8
VH1 SHANTAY YOU STAY, LOGO SASHAY AWAY PAGE 9
YOU AIN’TNO SASHA VELOUR!! PAGE 12
CONCLUSION PAGE 13
BIBLIOGRAPHY PAGE 14
1 Start Your Engines Introduction
“To be camp is to present oneself as being committed to the marginal with a commitment greater than the marginal merits” (Mark Booth,1983). During the 1960’s camp was used as a generic negative term for individuals who did not fit within the definition of mainstream societal norms and was used to include , but not restricted to the LGBT community. However in recent years camp has arguably been exploited by mainstream media leading to camp becoming fashionable and in itself mainstream. This Dissertation will explore how the perceived image of camp is affected when media attempts to “involve”a wider audience. To achieve this, I will first outline the understanding of Camp and Camp fad and the differences between the two concepts. I will then be applying the findings and understandings to multiple seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, an American TV Show based upon Drag Queens competing in weekly episodes in order to be crowned America’s next Drag Queen superstar, as a case study. As previously stated, Camp has been intertwined with Gay culture, of which Drag Queens portray a significant part. “RuPaul’s Drag Race has become a global phenomenon in the ten years it’s been airing in the US”(Meghan Sutton, cited, good house keeping, 2019). I will analyse seasons, throughout the ten year airing period, starting with marginalised subcultural earlier seasons, progressing through to the Emmy award winning, mainstream show. I will examine the shows method of branding and marketing to expand on their targeted audience.
What is Rupaul’s Drag race?
“RuPaul was born RuPaul Andre Charles on November 17, 1960, in San Diego, California”. (find cite). His merits include:- acting, modelling, singer, song writing, television personality and author. “Prior to the 2019 Emmy Awards, RuPaul’s Drag Race earned nine Emmy Awards and a handful of nominations”(Julia Dzurillay, cited showbiz, 2019) and is perceived as the most successful drag artist to date.
Rupaul produced the reality television show Rupaul’s drag race. “Season 1, had its premiere on the Logo network on February 2, 2009” (Evan Ross Kats, cited paper magazine, 2019).
2 The TV show is centred around drag performance. At present the show has completed 11 years. This includes 11 main seasons, where, currently, 12/13 queens come to compete for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar and a cash prize of $100,000. The television show has also enjoyed four seasons of the ultimate Drag Queen All Stars title, which sees the seasonal most popular queens coming together to compete for the crown and be inducted into the Drag Queen Hall of Fame. Drag Race has expanded into Thailand and also the United Kingdom, with no difference in production of the show. Rupaul is now focused on a celebrity Drag Race, inviting celebrities to take part in the original concept. The original American based series culminated in a grande finale where the “America’s Next Drag Superstar is crowned. Each week the “queens” compete in a number of challenges which include designing and making their own outfits, acting and comedy sketches. The Queens are challenged with parading their outfits on a catwalk/ Stage and performing acts which can also include comedy. The queens are encouraged to bring their outrageous outfits, characters and personalities to the forefront of the show leading to a contrived and camp production.
Fig.1 Photographer(2018) Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 10 Cast
With the assistance of guest judges, Rupaul then chooses the top performing queens and the two bottom performing queens. The two bottom performing queens will then have to
3 “lip sync for their lives”, which consists of the queens performing and lipsyncing to a song chosen by Rupaul, which is normally associated with queer culture. Repeal then decides which queen gets to stay in the competition and which queen has to “Sashay away” leaving the competition.
“The essence of camp is it’s love of the unnatural:of artifice and exaggeration” (Susan Sontag, 1964). The show, Rupaul’s Drag Race, in itself, is a camp aesthetic. The program celebrates queer history and amplified gender fluidity, which is an exaggeration of the “unnatural”. However, throughout the seasons of Drag Race, the show has become increasingly popular and it can be argued that it has become a worldwide phenomenon within mainstream media. Rupaul’s Drag Race TV show has allowed the emergence of an otherwise subversive region of Queer Art and camp to be brought to mainstream media. Formerly, the art of drag was so underground that nobody could have envisaged it being featured in mainstream media, going on to become a quintessential part of modern media. The question is, has the race to please mainstream media overtaken the queer aesthetics of Camp?
Choices Originally, the show was presented via the television network, Logo TV. Whose target audience was the gay community. As proudly quoted in their bio on their youtube channel - “Entertaining a savvy audience of gay trendsetters and straight friends who are ahead of the curve, Logo TV is BEYOND! “ (Logo, 2007). Logo TV, via their own quotation, has effectively confirmed that they cater to the marginalised. Logo TV is also owned by the company Viacom, which is an exclusive “Pay as you view” network, committed to the marginalised community. As the show was aimed at the camp/queer community, the network facilitated the option of using “eye Candy” for the queer community. The “eye Candy” is known as “the Pit Crew”. The Pit Crew are a group of men, and transgender men, who wear skimpy underwear and assist Rupaul in the series mini challenges. The Pit crew feature in 90% of episodes. The aesthetic of men in underwear is very common and can be seen in queer clubs across the world, in night clubs and venues catering to the queer community, and is also classed as a cultural aesthetic to the queer community. As logo is an exclusive, pay as you view, network channel, providing to the queer community,
4 they do not have to conform to regulations of the FCC. “The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states”. (Federal Communications Commission, 2019) The FCC regulate mainstream television to appease the mainstream viewers. In addition to logo tv being a pay as you view channel, the watershed laws would not apply to the content and, therefore, allowed Rupaul’s Drag Race to abide by fewer rules.
BAM!
When drag race viewers are asked the question “which is the defining season of Rupaul’s Drag Race”?, season 3 is one of the popular answers due to the nostalgia factors . But, why not season 1 or 2? With a low budget, snapchat filter (Overpowering), as seen in figure 2, and a winning prize of $20,000, “the first season of Rupaul’s Drag Race left a lot to be desired and was described as the lost season. As quoted by Paper Magazine “Season 1 of the series was regarded even by it’s own network as "The Lost Season unavailable for purchase or for viewing on streaming platforms, relegated to memory,"(Evan Ross Katz, cited Paper magazine, 2019).
Fig.2 Rupaul On Main stage
5 Steady progression was made throughout season 2, where an increase in budget allowed for a bigger prize pool of $25,000, better facilities and a more defined format of the show. Season 3 saw a surge in the popularity of the show, within the queer community itself. Many more queens were inspired and more were inclined to audition for the show. Many of the queens were the more renowned and better known queens. The better known queens brought with them their own, large, fanbases which helped increase the popularity of the show. For instance, the winner of season 3, Raja, had featured on numerous episodes of another popular reality tv show “America’s Next top model”, as a make-up artist, working alongside household name Tyra Banks, who was an American supermodel. As a result of the popularity the show was achieving, it also enjoyed an increased budget. The winner’s prize money had increased from $20,000 to a much more favourable and encouraging $75,000. The number of queens participating in the show also saw an increase from an initial count of 10 to 13. The fan base was steadily increasing and expanding, gaining more recognition. However, the content of the show was still very raw and very real. Social media was still, relatively new during this phase so many queens did not have a large media fanbase, which in turn did not facilitate a fan feedback system. Thus allowing the queens to maintain their unique identities, themselves, which in turn maintained their commitment to the marginal. Drag race, at this point in time, was still very camp.
#Season 6 When presented with the letters A, B, C, the majority of people would automatically think it is with reference to the start of the alphabet. However, die hard Drag Race fans would, and do, know differently. Season 6 of Rupaul’s Drag race is arguably the best season of the main television series show, as quoted by Gay Times “Now this is peak drag race. Season 6 was the perfect blend of comedy and drama and had a perfect mix of design and performance” (Sam Damshenas, cited Gay Times, 2019). Additionally, the success of the top three queens was affirmed by the increase in their respective followings. Season 5 saw the inclusion of “powerhouse” queens such as Jinx Monsoon, Alaska and Alyssa Edwards. As a result, fans had higher expectations of season 6 and from the higher viewing ratings, we can assume season 6 delivered on those expectations. Not only had the prize money increased a further $25,000, up to a total of $100,000, season 6 also enjoyed two
6 premieres showcasing 14 queens. As with season 3, the queens of season 6 already had established fanbases, which again, increased the viewing numbers and popularity of the show.
The C in A, B, C, pertained to the drag Queen Courtney who was already an established household name in Australia. She had achieved second place in Australia’s Next Top Idol show and brought with her an international flare to Rupaul’s Drag Race. However, Courtney was not the only idol contestant. Adore (The A in A,B,C) had competed on America’s next top idol. Bianco Del Rio (B in A,B,C,) brought her own fan base with her including a fashion based following as she came from the fashion industry , creating costumes for broadway.
Season 6 also saw an increase in popularity due to the fairly new introduction of social media. The growth of social media had spread like wildfire. With the introduction of instagram and hash-tagging the facility to “Spread the word” was even more available. Creating the hashtag allowed anyone to post into the same category as the said hashtag. For instance by typing #rupaulsdragrace, any post with the said hashtag would show people more of Rupaul’s Drag Race, which then reached more people, which in turn increased the fanbase. This advertising allowed, what was once a selective marginalised show, to become more visible, which in turn became increasingly more mainstream. Access to the show was no longer restricted to platforms such as “pay as you view”. The advertising of the show was also increased due to the use of the hashtag (#) by guest judges of the show. Of course, guest judges also brought their own fanbases with them. Rupaul would invite celebrities onto the show as guest judges. Celebrities such as the Kardashians, allowing them to promote their own brands in exchange for them advertising they had been on Rupaul’s Drag Race, by using the hashtag facility. The age of social media had begun and was maturing at an incredible speed. The show was now becoming visible and becoming increasingly popular. Reaching far corners of the world and more cultures.
As previously stated, the introduction of social media facilitated Rupaul’s Drag Race to be seen across the world. However, this did introduce drawbacks. Social Media, such as
7 Instagram, gave fans a platform upon which they could voice their opinions and make comments about individual queens. Obviously, this now meant Queens could see the comments made, some of which will have had adverse, aswell as positive effects on the queens.
YAS GAWD MAWMA!
One of the most controversial queens, on Rupaul’s Drag Race, was Laganja Estranja, who was a contestant on season 6 of the show. Laganja’s Drag mom, Alyssa Edwards, had already been a contestant on a prior season and had been praised by many fans for her quirky traits and bubbly personality. Even Rupaul recognised and acknowledged how special she was by later referring to her as “Drag Race Royalty”. However, from the beginning of Season 6, many fans questioned whether Laganja Estranga was “playing up” to the camera, as every other sentence she said either ended with the notorious “tongue pop”, which her Drag mom Alyssa Edwards had been praised for in the previous season, or for making over theatrical quotes such as “YAS GAWD MAWMA”. Unfortunately, the fans were not the only ones to be making controversial comments. Her peers, with whom she was competing with in the competition, also questioned whether she was being “Fake”. Adore Delano (who started drag with Laganja) even shared her views in “untucked” along with other queens. Delano asked “is this the girl she hangs out with when the cameras are off?”. The question is, was Laganja committed to the marginal camp image and being herself, or was she trying to gain audience merit? As stated by Mark Booth “to be camp is to present oneself as being committed to the marginal with a commitment greater than the marginal merits” (Mark Booth,1983). Laganja appears to have created a persona to please the audience, by using some of what her drag mom had used prior. The persona Laganja created was camp, but, it was a superficial persona created to please, such as a decorative mask or a camp fad. However, there are other elements we need to take into consideration. For instance, the editing of the show. How the editors chose to portray certain queens. But the issue is still the same. Was the show trying to please the audience by over producing and editing to increase popularity?
8 VH1 Shantay You Stay , LOGO Sashay Away.
At the beginning of 2017, Rupaul’s Drag Race show moved from Logo TV to VH1. Viacom had decided to revamp their properties, they had cut a lot of tv shows, but they transferred Rupaul’s Drag Race to VH1. The Senior Vice President for Original Programming and Development said ““Broadcasting the show on VH1 will allow more fans to experience the energy, heart and talent these fierce Queens bring to the stage every week”. She was right! VH1 was a much larger channel, mostly known for pop culture, with a much higher tv rating and audience. Rupaul’s Drag Race - All Stars now had a much bigger budget to spend on the show. VH1 also had a much more diverse audience, meaning Rupaul’s Drag Race was viewed by many more people, and not directed to a singular culture. VH1 also gave Rupaul’s Drag Race a prime time slot, of 8pm, on Thursday evenings.
From a marketing point of view this was an extremely beneficial move due to the fact that more people would be able to watch the show.
Fig.3 Graph showing percentage of people watching tv on a given day (Bureau labour statistics, 2013-2017)
The above graph, Figure 3, shows on average 58.9% people, in America, watched TV between 8pm-9pm, between the years 2013 and 2017, which quantifies that Rupauls’ Drag Race was given the best prime time slot. As previously stated, VH1 is known for Pop Culture and is branded more for mainstream media rather than just a subculture.
9 Therefore, a great deal many more people were introduced to and made aware of the gay scene and the drag culture. Rupaul’s Drag Race was now entering into mainstream media. However, the drawback of being on prime time tv is that Rupaul’s Drag race was now being aired before the watershed. The show now had to conform to FCC regulations. Meaning only non genital, mild nudity was allowed. Sometimes bordering on the extreme, as in one case the show had to “blur out” the showing of a queen’s nipple. As stated in a quote from LA Weekly “While Valentina's nipple was blurred when she was in full drag, in the episode that aired the following week, she is seen on camera topless getting ready. She has a wig on but is not yet in full makeup or in female clothing. This time the nipple was not blurred and was shown uncensored. So where is the line drawn? As a culture, are we so uncomfortable with a woman's nipple that we even have to censor a man's nipple when he looks like a woman? If that's the case, in this modern age of gender-nonbinary, gender-nonconforming and even transgender identifications, then what classifies as a woman? If it's just presenting as a woman, wearing full makeup and “women's clothing,” as was the case with Valentina, then that doesn't seem right” ( Michael Cooper, cited LA weekly, 2019)
Fig.4 Valentina nipple blurring image (2019)
As shown in Figure 4, Valentina’s nipple was blurred out as she was portraying a woman. However, as she was getting changed into her drag costume her nipples were not blurred out. This is due to the female nudity regulation the FCC has in place.
10 As the quotation suggests, drag is now having to conform to regulations and legislation to ensure the comfort parameters of mainstream media, and their audiences, are met. It is now restricting Drag as an art of Gender fluidity.
Due to the FCC regulations, Rupaul’s Drag Race are now having to censor parts of drag to ensure they meet with the expectations of the masses. By bending to the expectation of mainstream to gain more viewers and merits they are losing sight of the camp marginal and bordering on the benefits of merits. This can also be seen in the more recent seasons of Rupaul’s Drag Race because of how the producers are selecting the queens who are invited to participate in the competition. For Example, let’s compare two queens on exactly the same season. Shuga Cain although very talent and she received the biggest response to her performance, from the audience, was sent home as her follower stats were not as impressive as her competitors.Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, who was a competitor on a prior season, was invited back due to her having a much larger following, contrary to her not appearing to be as entertaining as Shuga Cain in the challenges.
Producers have been known to push story lines of certain drag queens and/or give more air time and consideration to queens if they fell into one of the following three categories:-
* their number of followers on social media prior to the show;
* whether or not a member of their family has already been on the show - for instance Alyssa Edwards being the drag mom of Plastique Tiara; and
* Whether they are aesthetically pleasing.
By using this model of selection it is allowing drag race to grow as it is giving the viewers what they like. However, due to the show becoming more mainstream the show is restricted to only showing a small portion of what Drag is about, rather than continuing with the whole concept of drag and all of the art associated with drag. As a result of having the benefit of watching prior seasons of Rupaul's Drag Race, and being more aware of what their “customers” wanted to see, many, but not all of, the new and upcoming Queens were
11 more educated and informed on how they were now expected to act and perform to expand their following. More fans meant a larger income.
You Ain’t No Sasha Velour!!
In the season 9 grand finale, the underdog Sasha Velour took the crown with a wig reveal, which incorporated roses falling from the wig as the reveal was acted out. As shown in Figure 5 she created a perfect scenario for “i get so emotional” by Whitney Houston and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Sasha became an internet sensation spreading across every social media platform and even becoming an iconic gif .
fig.5 Dane Oddly, Sasha Velour finale (2019)
Since Season 9, in order to please the audience, you can expect at least three queens to do a reveal, in each subsequent season. Season 10 finalist, Asia O’Hara, was one of the unfortunate queens to try and recreate a momentous reveal in order to try and snatch the crown. However, unlike Sasha Velour, who had already won a title using a dramatic reveal, Asia O’Hara’s reveal went dramatically wrong and resulted in a very embarrassed Asia O’Hara. Asia’s attempt to complete a prodigious reveal was to use live butterflies(Rupaul’s drag race ,season 10 ,season finale,2018). Unfortunately, throughout the lip-sync “ordeal” each attempt to bring the butterflies into the act fell flat as the butterflies were very unresponsive and would not fly free of their enclosures.
During Season 12, contestants attempted their on wig reveals, in an attempt to win over
12 the audience, instead of playing to their own unique strengths, which was instrumental in them losing the crown. The point is proven as in season 12, Yvie Oddley, who had the least number of challenge wins, won the crown by maintaining her unique drag style and committing to the marginal.
Conclusion
Rupaul’s Drag Race is increasingly becoming more mainstream with every season and an ever bigger worldwide phenomenon. Along with winning nine Emmy awards it is highlighting queer and camp culture to the mainstream of society, to an extent. Although Rupaul’s Drag Race is enjoying an amazing success story, on the flip side of the coin the show is not showing drag to it’s full camp potential. Viewers are seeing a “watered down” version of what camp is, a light hearted approach so as not to offend, keeping it clean, pretty and not offensive. Mainstream restrictions are only allowing Rupaul’s Drag Race to educate people on what they want to be educated on and not the actual concept of camp and queer culture. Queer and camp culture will always be a marginalised culture. However, the formula to profit from Rupaul’s Drag Race has allowed for minimal content of the culture to be shown in order to please mainstream society. The commitment to marginal praise has become bigger than the commitment to the marginal, and the show is becoming more and more a camp fad for the masses.
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13 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Booth, M.W.(1983), ‘Campe Toi..On the Origins and Definitions of Camp’, Fabio Cleto, Camp Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject.. A Reader, page 69 02/10/19
Damshenas, S. (2019) Heres Our Ranking of All 16 Seasons of Rupaul’s Drag Race. Available at:https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/101002/ooh-gurl-heres-our-ranking-of-all- seasons-of-rupauls-drag-race/ 08/01/20
Dzurillay, J.(2019) How Many Emmy’s Does Rupaul’s Drag Race Have? Available at: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/emmys-rupauls-drag-race.html/ 29/12/19
Federal Communications Commission (n.d) What We Do. Available at: https:// www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/what-we-do 08/01/20
Green, A.(2013) Rupaul American Entertainer. Available at : https://www.britannica.com/biography/RuPaul 13/10/19
Kats, E.R.(2019) Revisiting Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 1, The ‘Lost Season’. Available at: https://www.papermag.com/rupaul-drag-race-season-1-2639822060.html 03/01/20
Krantz-Kent, R. (2013-2017) Television, capturing America's attention at prime time and beyond. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-7/mobile/television-capturing- americas-attention.htm?fbclid=IwAR3X3XZ5FHR4XQWrlnDoLWG5dQSiZxmHcU588NPct- C0sqh9nokA9bxRtxQ 09/01/20
Lewcyd (2018) DID THEY JUST BLURRED VALENTINA’S NIP ?????, Tumblr, 22nd december. available at: https://lewcyd.tumblr.com/post/181317855720/did-they-just- blurred-valentinas-nip 12/01/20
Logo (2007) Description. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/LogoTV/about 05/01/20
14 Oddly, D. (2019) Sasha Velour vs Shea Couleé (So Emotional) Lip Sync | RPDR Season 9 Finale HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q754qyFs2OA 10/01/20
Sontag, S.(1964) ‘Notes on “Camp”’, Fabio Cleto, Camp Queer Aesthetics and the Performing Subject.. A Read, page 53 05/10/19
Sutton, M.(2019) Rupaul’s Drag Race UK: Everything You Need to Know. Available at : https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a28633163/rupauls-drag-race-uk-cast- news-air-date-spoilers/ 09/10/19
Valencia, A.(2018) Asia O'Hara vs Kameron Michaels Lip Sync Performance. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwyPauHsvg8 11/01/20
Zarlengo, A. (2016) I would like to live my life in the RuPaul's Drag Race season 1 filter. Just painted and blurry AF @RuPaul #RPDRTwitter, 7th March. available at:https:// twitter.com/alexzarlengo/status/706894825904336896 12/01/20
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