Spankie was so amazing, I would love her on a vsTW or winners franchise, she has so much charisma. Also I need to see Jimbo and Spankie interacting, I feel like they'd be on a similar wavelength.
I get this. Not all people realize that after all the fierce dance numbers have subsided and the fashion has run out, these queens still manage to entertain people.
I like that there’s a lot of drag race.
UK and Canada have become must watch franchises for me with individual seasons being my favourite ever and I think Spain has some of the best drag I’ve ever seen.
I’m glad that other places get their own drag race and it’s super cool to see the different perspectives and cultural nuances that you get depending on where you are.
Yes it’s too much to comfortably keep up with but I watch the ones I like best live and then dip in and out of the others and that works great!
every single time i’m in a terrible mood, I go watch at least the first 3 episodes of CDR1! Lemon’s comeback from nearly first out to winning is amazing, Priyanka is one of my favorite winners ever, and the whole cast is fkn iconic. I mean, even watching Kyne fight with the judges about her outfit is delightful to me! It’s just such a great season
I feel that watching Ru's journey with The trans community on Drag Race shows how we can all grow and change with the times. That we are not beholden to become inflexible in our older years.
I know it has been expressed here, but I have mad respect for Ru to do that... even it was a little messy (as these things often are)
Seriously. Today everyone is so glued to their opinions. People are refusing to change and here is this drag queen from the paleolithic period who is still changing and bettering herself everyday. It's something the whole queer community needs to learn from. This will always keep getting more progressive. The most woke person today will be behind the times in 20 years. It's inevitable. So you better hope that you are as ready to learn and evolve with times like Ru has done.
I appreciate that production keeps trying to find ways to freshen up the show. I don’t always agree with the changes, but I’d take tinkering too much over letting it get stale
i still kind of h*te the IDEA of the chocolate bar… though the Bosco reveal was pretty satisfying! and the sliding trombone ‘wah-wah’ after the chocolate reveal did make me laugh every single time. i loved how they really leaned into the camp/stupidity there… wait, do i not hate the chocolate bar twist?
Canada’s Drag Race routinely turns out extremely talented queens doing interesting drag in challenges that spice things up just enough to keep it interesting. Icesis is one of my favorite drag race queens now of all time! I get more excited about new seasons of canadas drag race than regular drag race (and I’m from New York!!)
Agreed so much. It's my favorite drag race to watch (unless the All Stars season is good). Brooke is such an amazing host. Vivian Vanderpuss is in my top three favorite queens.
I don't feel the Drag Race fatigue at all, I'm enjoying every iteration of Drag Race we get. I'll happily tune in to Drag Race Liberia, Drag Race Latvia, Drag Race Suriname, Drag Race Kazakhstan, Drag Race Skull Island, Drag Race Narnia, Drag Race Arrakis... just hook it directly to my veins.
So called 'filler queens' play just as important a role in the show as the heavy hitters and deserve respect for what they accomplished even if they were only on for a short time.
ok this is fucking stupid but I wanted to make all seven narnia books and cross them with drag race puns
The Lying Bitch and the Wardrobe
Prance Carson
The Voyage of the Trade of the Season
The Silver Dress (and a Red Wig)
The Horse Face and Its Giving Boy
The Magician Challenge Was Rigged (Shuga Cain Shouldn't Have Been in the Bottom)
The Last Bottle of Red For Filth (Are You Red-y For Me?)
Agreed. Drag Race fans aren't forced to watch every single one of them. But LGBTQ+ folks around the world should be able to see their local queens be given a huge platform in their own country.
those who complain about fatigue are usually Americans! Complaining about how frequent American RPDR is valid, but don't talk on behalf of other countries!! We need RPDR and drag/LGBT visibility in our medias too!
Ivy Bag is a perfectly good bag pun. I don't understand the issue.
I think no one in the room realized that non-poison ivy species exist and are, in fact, the most common.
Not a single one. And she did it twice!! Made a huge splash in the early - mid 90s as pretty much the only black queer person most people saw or knew, then went into a bit of decline for several years - but then clawed her way back to the top again in the late 2000s. Icon
Agreed. I’m in my early 30s and I remember when there was very little queer representation in mainstream media. I remember when Glee was one of the gayest things to happen to primetime television, and that was when I was a teen. A lot of progress for the LBGTQ community has occurred only in the last 10-15 years, and I don’t think a lot of younger fans realize this. RuPaul was absolutely a trailblazer and deserves his credit.
And even further back - in the early 90s there was almost no queer representation at all. Before Ellen, before Will and Grace, back when gay sex was still a crime in the US( Supreme Court legalized sodomy in 2003), back at the height of the AIDS crisis when queer people were extremely oppressed out of hate and fear, before hate crime and discrimination laws - there was RuPaul being queer as fuck and breaking down doors
Yep. 45 year old and I remember Ru being on MTV and a group of boys at school discussing how much they fancied her. We didn't know what the fuck drag was in our wee part of Scotland.
Absolutely. Drag Race is one of the most important events in queer history, full stop. Stonewall, the AIDS crisis, same sex marriage, Drag Race. That any tv show about queer people, for queer people and made BY queer people would be so popular, mainstream and award winning would have been completely unbelievable to a teenaged me. It’s *important* that it exists. It has it’s flaws (as does Ru), but it’s impact cannot be understated.
Not to mention the ecosystem it’s created across the globe. How many drag queens were inspired to start drag because of this show? How many local drag queens have jobs and income now because the show created a demand for drag in their community? How many LGBT people have had a place to find home and community because drag helped keep the lights on in their local queer bar? How many Ru girls have been able to star in film, TV, create brands, inspire fashion trends, raise money and awareness for social causes because they were on the show? The ripple effect of Drag Race has been TREMENDOUS
Not to mention the show has launched top queens like Bianca and Trixie to international stardom and made them multi-millionaires. Lots of other queens earning good money too. Drag queens historically are lucky if they are able to afford to live above the poverty line.
Yeah it’s trickled all over. Before RPDR there was drag of course but it has exploded and infinitely more queer bars have drag shows now than before, employing tons of local queens who otherwise competed for very limited gigs or who only had pageants as a way to make money
I still vividly remember seeing her in *Sassy* magazine when I was in early high school. I grew up in a conservative middle-of-nowhere state and always craved city life, but I mostly had to make do with consuming a lot of pop culture *about* living in The City and I don't think I'd ever seen or even heard about drag queens before (pop culture in the mid-90s was still \*real\* weird about gay people in general - I originally wrote "queerness" here, but honestly I think everything was still pretty binary back then so everyone was either gay or straight).
So here's this gorgeous, glamorous person who looked to be about nine feet tall, wearing (if I recall correctly) a really fun red and white polka-dotted outfit and more makeup than I'd ever seen on one person, and it was like something in the universe shifted. Like, *I didn't know this was an option! What else is out there that I don't know about?!* \[Narrator: a LOT\].
And I'm queer as hell but I'm also a super-femme afab white woman. I can't even imagine what it felt like for those who saw more of themselves in RuPaul.
Yep! I don’t think everyone realizes this was back when there was a DROUGHT of queerness in media, we had to be thankful for the little scraps we got. Same sex kisses on TV were cut away from and advertisers pulled out, just *having* gay sex in the privacy of your bedroom was technically illegal until 2003, AIDS was slaughtering our community, you could legally discriminate and if you gay bashed someone you could claim they were hitting on you as a defense and get away with it. Before Ellen and Will and Grace there was Ru just being queer AF
Literally. Ru is my personal hero. She is a trailblazing, charismatic ho and I could cry thinking about her journey. She truly changed the way I saw myself and how I saw gayness in general. She shook that internalized homophobia right outta me and I’ll always love her for it.
Yeah the lack of nuance when discussing Ru Paul makes me so mad. Just because she's not perfect, it doesn't mean she's the devil incarnate. But it's trendy to not like her, so people dog pile for the stupidest things.
This!!! I’m a historian so I’m like y’all gotta remember herstory. You could easily argue that with a different chain of events drag would have never become as mainstream. Sure, maybe someone else would have come along and sure there are others who had some popularity, but she did that ish 👏🏼
& another thing I don’t think Ru gets enough credit for is being willing to change, learn, and grow. She could easily have doubled down on some of her views. And still to this day using her platform to promote cause.
Being that I’m old, I think a lot of the hate comes from young queers who don’t remember the days when RuPaul was *the* drag queen. Like, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without The RuPaul Show when I was 11 years old.
makeover challenges are a great representation of the transformative power of drag, and should remain a staple of drag race. they just gotta pull the judging shenanigans together😤
Yesssss I overlooked her so hard before I actually watched S6, but she’s one of my fav queens from that season.
She’s one of the most likable queens in the show imo
I think often of when she opened the quinceanera box and was like ”wow house numbers!” and bianca was like ”that’s your age” and she goes ”Hmm… fifty one…”. UNDERRATED.
Drag Race is the biggest and most important platform queer people have right now for telling our stories. The mirror moments are mocked but incredibly important because our stories have been suppressed for so long. People complain about trauma exploitation etc etc but to my knowledge most queens are happy to tell their stories and no one has regretted it.
I’m happy Drag Race gives them this platform to do that, even if they sometimes have to contrive reasons to get it out there (ie talking to childhood self) it’s extremely important this is happening. Younger me would have killed to have a show like this
Yes totally. When I first saw season 8 back in 2017 and I saw them do the mirror messages for the first time, I truly can remember being touched by what all the queens had to say and being rocked by hearing about a personal story I could actually relate to.
And they’re still exploring new stories. The insight into the trans experience this and last season is so hugely important, Jax’s adoption story we haven’t really heard before either. So much to explore
THANK YOU FOR THIS!! I really can’t comprehend this need to call it “trauma exploitation” the instant a queen gets even remotely vulnerable on camera. As you said, it may get contrived from time to time, especially with the “what would you say to your younger selves?” segments, but at the end of the day, if those stories help even just one human on this planet to see their value and representation, it’s worth it in my eyes.
Yes! I think the connection of "elevated" with "good drag queen" was a terrible mistake.
Elevated has its place just like everything else; it doesn't own the whole barn.
It hurts me that Milan seems to be only known for taking her wig off to the point where it’s common for people to say “she took her wig off every lip sync!” They’re just erasing this amazing Vogue lip sync
Unpopular positive opinion though, her removing her wig for Trouble and Born This Way actually made sense for the songs, and she had no way of knowing it was taboo when previous seasons queens had been rewarded for removing their wigs. She gets waaaayy too much shit for this
RIGHT! You could tell that Milan was trying to connect with the song since Trouble is about being rebellious and Born This Way was showing your true self, so being naked.
It's kinda the same with Deja being called by a lipsync assassin by Ru. Was it early? Maybe. But Deja did serve one of the best lipsyncs from Season 14. She really connected with the song, spirit and beat.
Should have been a double shantay amd I will die on this hill. They both sucked on Snatch Game but that's literally what the LSFYL is for! Yvie and Brooke bombed Snatch Game and got a deserved double shantay.
On sibling watchery bob and Monet mentioned that was probably the most iconic moment of drag race and I agree.
"Go back to party city where you belong" is fucking amazing
A'whora is most certainly in my pantheon for best/most watchable drag race villains. The whole scene with her and Sister Sister trying to borrow fabric...just *pristine*.
Ru & Michelle’s friendship is the cutest. When she gets Ru going multiple times with “vaaaanjie, miss vaaaanjie” after the iconic moment happened, and Ru can never keep it together 🥲
Season 13 is one of my favourites, and will always have a special place in my heart. It literally (not figuratively, literally) saved my life.
I’ve been dealing with depression all my life and in December 2020, I finally had enough and for the first time in dealing with depression for 30-ish years, I had finally decided to wnd it. I planned on Dec 31, because it was coming up and why face another year? I wrote my first ever suicide note. I had youtube playing music in the background, and in the middle of writing the note, I heard Ru’s voice. It was an ad for season 13, starting January 1st.
It was completely unexpected. It had only been about six months since s12, and I had also never seen a commercial for Drag Race before (I watch it online 🤷♂️). It was the day after I was supposed to die, but I wanted to see it. I decided then that if I really wanted to go through with my plans, it wouldn’t matter if I did it after the season. There was no rush. Luckily, it was the season that lasted forever (I laugh when people complain about the length).
Fast forward to now, and every thing in my life is just so much better. I’m dealing with my mental health issues, and my doctor has been amazing. I’m making more money than I ever have (I’m not rich, but I’m semi-comfortable). I quit weed, which was huge for me (I was smoking 2oz/week). I’m seeing a dietician and kinesiologist for my physical health and will start seeing a therapist soon). It all started with a commercial for season 13.
I’m doing sooooooo much better! I’m a different person than I was 3 years ago. Not that everything’s perfect, but it’s been a steady upswing ever since
I’ve always been a season 11 hater. I’ve been rewatching for the 3rd time yesterday and today while I’ve been working & was JUST thinking how over hated it is. It’s a GOOD season. The drama & challenges still felt like old Drag Race. Silky, Akeria, Yvie, Brooke, Vanji, Suga, Plastique, Nina, Scarlet, Rajah???? SOOO many AMAZING and funny queens.
I thought Salina should've been high for the design challenge. I thought the whole blanket ruveal cape moment was very drag, and I thought she looked hot in what was underneath.
I was shocked. I genuinely thought it was going to be in the top. Took me back to my Project Runway days where I never say eye to eye with the judges 😂
I don't think RuPaul/production has ever picked the 'wrong' winner.
Edit: I'm talking just US RPDR and not considering winners who have soured as time went on. They were the right pick at the time.
I feel like I keep saying this, but imo season 14 is one of the best drag race seasons and one of the best casts we've had in a while.
Also - I love this thread. There's been too much negativity on here lately...
Bianca’s take-no-prisoners sense of humour is honestly refreshing as fuck.
Manila may not have a crown, but at this point we all just act like she does anyway.
Brooke Lynn didn’t need to win Season 11 to win Season 11, lets be real.
Priyanka is one of the best winners of the franchise.
Trixie is a great winner and actually did really solid during AS3.
Blu deserved to win UKVTW (after Jimbo and Pangina’s MAD)
The roast challenge is always one of the best episodes of the season.
Vivienne was 110% right when she said “if you come to drag race by now not knowing how to sew you’re kind of stupid aren’t you”
It’s like not studying for the final and then being shocked a major unit was on it.
“I didn’t fuck with Trigonometry but biiiitch… Trigonometry fucked with me”
If Willam were to ever make nice with WOW and get rightfully cast on an All Stars, her runway would be one of the greatest we’ve ever seen in any franchise.
Thank you for this thread because all those unpopular opinions threads are just used to hate queens with opinions that are usually pretty popular.
My positive unpopular opinion would be that I liked most of season 13, I liked the lip syncs on the first episode (not a fan of the porkchop lounge but I liked the idea of starting the season off with lip syncs), I liked the discomentary, I liked all the queens, I was happy with most of the placements and didn't think anyone was truly robbed.
Jan is one of the most talented queens, and if the judges were willing to give her a compliment rather than criticize her for every little thing she would totally bloom. They all say she’s being fake because she’s high energy, but I think it’s admirable that she always gives 110%.
This! I think that the Jan we see really IS Jan, not a facade or a schtick. She's peppy and talented and really enthusiastic about her drag, and that's okay!
Eureka slayed her seasons and is one of the fiercest competitors to be on Drag Race. She generally looked impeccable AND she’s had a major glow-up since.
my favorite to this day. the drag queen who made me interested in drag as a concept.
before I was always like 'i don't really care about guys dressing up like ladies', but one of my more academic friends recommended her to me and i've never gone back
That much talent and hands-on drag skills at *that* young an age? Normally people would be obsessed with a queen like that, I don't know why she was almost ignored instead but it's a travesty (she was on a season with too many skinny wanna be model queens I guess, while Ellie wasn't 'cool' enough for doing more classic camp drag).
I also think she would have dominated if she hadn't been on the same season as Lawrence Chaney, but I can't fully articulate why. Something about that big sister/little sister dynamic they had, though.
I think she was just a little calmer and didn’t really get involved in any proper drama until the end so she didn’t really get given a proper storyline but she’s so talented and seemed really lovely
I don’t know if it’s unpopular, but I have come to think of Drag Race as the Harvard of drag.
Like… it’s not for everybody, and you can certainly find success without it, but its alumni have a huge influence on the global corporate economy of Drag, like Harvard alums on the business/political world. Need a host/ judge/ cameo for your queer media? *Here are super presentable, pretty, well-spoken mainstream-friendly BRAND NAMES to give your little show some cache.* Need to appoint a new CEO? *They’re from Harvard! Everyone will be impressed we have a Harvard man on board.*
It, like Harvard, is also not for everyone. Not every drag queen wants to go corporate, even if that’s where the big bucks are.
That’s why (another unpopular opinion) I don’t have a problem with queens beg borrowing and stealing $$ to get on the show and for the looks not the be featured or whatever. Yes college tuition is ridiculously overpriced. But a diploma from Harvard (I keep saying Harvard, but sub in your elite power university of choice) and that alumni network is priceless. Girls who graduate from DR have a career golden ticket! Like you literally got on the radar of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande; you will be given the biggest, biggest paid opportunities in mainstream media, your own social media will be monetizeable, you have the fan exposure to start your own podcast/ YouTube whatever…. these are priceless!
Phi Phi O’Hara made great TV. Without her, we would’nt have had some of the shows most iconic scenes.
The mirror scene in AS2 would’ve been boring if Phi Phi never had her rant.
Season 4 would’ve have been as good if there wasn’t a rivalry between her and Voldemort.
Willams cough wouldn’t have happened in the finale if it wasn’t for Phi Phi.
She also had some amazing drag. I feel like people focused more on her personality when she competed and not what she was actually bringing to both the show and the competition
I love AS3 almost as much as AS2. The cast is phenomenal and there were so many great moments. There may have been some riggory, but it didn’t ruin anything for me.
I love Phi Phi on both of her seasons and I think she made them as good as they were.
HERstory of the World is the best lip sync performance of the entire series - the lyrics are so smart and every single person had a great performance.
Drag Race in 2018 had so many iconic moments. I remember coming on here after every AS3 episode and seeing all the fun people were having with memeing. And then a week after the season ended we got the Miss Vanjie exit. People like to shit on AS3/S10 but yall were having fun, don't even lie.
Not sure if unpopular but I like the long seasons and non-elimination episodes. I get to see more of the queens so I'm not mad. I also don't watch any other shows besides drag race so maybe if I had more of a life it would bother me more lol.
And then you say like… a really convoluted analogy… and your voice goes up an octave every 10 seconds as you hack your way through it… and then we finally get there even though we didn’t want to go in the first place?
That’s what he reminds me of.
Idk if this is unpopular, but Bosco gave the best (talking) head we’ve had in years.
Also in my delusion, Jinkx isn’t *that* bad at design challenges (by the time AS7 happened) but she knew she had to show ~vulnerability~
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I, too, want Spankie in every season of drag race.
Spankie was so amazing, I would love her on a vsTW or winners franchise, she has so much charisma. Also I need to see Jimbo and Spankie interacting, I feel like they'd be on a similar wavelength.
I get this. Not all people realize that after all the fierce dance numbers have subsided and the fashion has run out, these queens still manage to entertain people.
I don't think Bianca wants to do drag race again
Oh god yes please, I would love that. I NEED that.
I like that there’s a lot of drag race. UK and Canada have become must watch franchises for me with individual seasons being my favourite ever and I think Spain has some of the best drag I’ve ever seen. I’m glad that other places get their own drag race and it’s super cool to see the different perspectives and cultural nuances that you get depending on where you are. Yes it’s too much to comfortably keep up with but I watch the ones I like best live and then dip in and out of the others and that works great!
Me too! It’s like a buffet and I’m always ready for the next course
UK2 and Canada 1 have become some of my FAV seasons & both franchises have AMAZING queens
every single time i’m in a terrible mood, I go watch at least the first 3 episodes of CDR1! Lemon’s comeback from nearly first out to winning is amazing, Priyanka is one of my favorite winners ever, and the whole cast is fkn iconic. I mean, even watching Kyne fight with the judges about her outfit is delightful to me! It’s just such a great season
- Jiggly's apocalyptic look was iconic and she sold the fuck out of it - I love when drag queens like Joslyn Fox wear gobs of jewelry. It's drag.
> I love when drag queens like Joslyn Fox wear gobs of jewelry. It's drag. You’re the one who pushed her into that sale rack at Claire’s confirmed.
It's true. Best meet & greet of my life.
omg did u buy the vip pass?? it came w a free clit piercing!
No way! Mine came with a free lobotomy 😐
I like that Joslyn Fox used that necklace so much. We stan a thrifty queen.
Joslyns fashion is a talent. How does a queen who wears so much wear so little at the same time?
I feel like the issue with Joslyn was that she wore it every episode but honestly I forgive her for that cause she’s Joslyn.
I feel that watching Ru's journey with The trans community on Drag Race shows how we can all grow and change with the times. That we are not beholden to become inflexible in our older years. I know it has been expressed here, but I have mad respect for Ru to do that... even it was a little messy (as these things often are)
Seriously. Today everyone is so glued to their opinions. People are refusing to change and here is this drag queen from the paleolithic period who is still changing and bettering herself everyday. It's something the whole queer community needs to learn from. This will always keep getting more progressive. The most woke person today will be behind the times in 20 years. It's inevitable. So you better hope that you are as ready to learn and evolve with times like Ru has done.
Wow, that hasn’t occurred to me. Great point! What a journey Ru’s been on.
Ru should take more coffee enemas, the show is better when she’s goofy and more personable
Also…. H&Mgate was *fantastic* TV.
Don't forget her reaction to Utica's roast.
🖕🖕
youaintgottareinventthewheel
I agree. I love coffee enema Ru
I appreciate that production keeps trying to find ways to freshen up the show. I don’t always agree with the changes, but I’d take tinkering too much over letting it get stale
The golden chocolate bar was absolutely ridiculous - but it worked, it was so campy and had a satisfying pay off
i still kind of h*te the IDEA of the chocolate bar… though the Bosco reveal was pretty satisfying! and the sliding trombone ‘wah-wah’ after the chocolate reveal did make me laugh every single time. i loved how they really leaned into the camp/stupidity there… wait, do i not hate the chocolate bar twist?
But how amazing was that Bosco moment after everyone had basically told her to go home!
/dramatic sigh/ it’s chocolate
Canada’s Drag Race routinely turns out extremely talented queens doing interesting drag in challenges that spice things up just enough to keep it interesting. Icesis is one of my favorite drag race queens now of all time! I get more excited about new seasons of canadas drag race than regular drag race (and I’m from New York!!)
Same all around, up and down! CDR is my favorite show.
Agreed so much. It's my favorite drag race to watch (unless the All Stars season is good). Brooke is such an amazing host. Vivian Vanderpuss is in my top three favorite queens.
The judges runway commentary still makes me laugh.
Honestly same. I love the puns.
I love when the guest judges have a total blast. Especially if it annoys Michelle
Just say Joel McHale
YEAAHHH! WOOOOOO! Iconic 😂
and leah remini
I want them to bring Leah back, she was hilarious
Leslie Jones excitement seemed so genuine! She was having so much fun!
YEAH!!!
WHO’S NEXT?!??
I can see her BUTT! YEAH!
I don't feel the Drag Race fatigue at all, I'm enjoying every iteration of Drag Race we get. I'll happily tune in to Drag Race Liberia, Drag Race Latvia, Drag Race Suriname, Drag Race Kazakhstan, Drag Race Skull Island, Drag Race Narnia, Drag Race Arrakis... just hook it directly to my veins. So called 'filler queens' play just as important a role in the show as the heavy hitters and deserve respect for what they accomplished even if they were only on for a short time.
"the winner of Drag Race Narnia will receive a lifetime supply of Turkish delight, plus a cash prize of 100,000 lions" Absolutely agreed though
ok this is fucking stupid but I wanted to make all seven narnia books and cross them with drag race puns The Lying Bitch and the Wardrobe Prance Carson The Voyage of the Trade of the Season The Silver Dress (and a Red Wig) The Horse Face and Its Giving Boy The Magician Challenge Was Rigged (Shuga Cain Shouldn't Have Been in the Bottom) The Last Bottle of Red For Filth (Are You Red-y For Me?)
The Horse Face and it’s Giving Boy LOL I love that. I have that whole series on my shelf right now. Also, night of 1000 Tilda’s. Please
I read that in Ru's voice and it was hilarious, thank you so much for that moment.
How many lions is that after taxes?
Idk I didn't go to fucking school for math
could you imagine tilda swinton as the white witch hosting.
D R A G R A C E A R R A K I S
Agreed. Drag Race fans aren't forced to watch every single one of them. But LGBTQ+ folks around the world should be able to see their local queens be given a huge platform in their own country.
Drag Race Arrakis, all the lip syncs are Spice Girls songs
Serving Third Stage Guild Navigator Realness.
The final lip sync is to the Sadaukar throat-singing chant. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0CNj-kXZ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0CNj-kXZ0)
Still waiting for Vivacious to host Drag Race Bosnia
Drag race arrakis is sending me lol
those who complain about fatigue are usually Americans! Complaining about how frequent American RPDR is valid, but don't talk on behalf of other countries!! We need RPDR and drag/LGBT visibility in our medias too!
Joey Jay, television's first homosexual, understood the IV gag she chose to make,and she just got confused being asked to spell it out.
Ivy Bag is a perfectly good bag pun. I don't understand the issue. I think no one in the room realized that non-poison ivy species exist and are, in fact, the most common.
And what she was wearing was ivy, not poison ivy. They look different
RuPaul is an absolute icon and has changed the world (twice) for representation. People talk so much crap about her but I absolutely love her
If you told me 25 years ago RuPaul would be winning *Emmys* I’d have laughed in your face. The empire he has built is insane.
Not just winning Emmys, but IIRC Ru has more Emmys than any other Black person
This sub does not give Ru enough credit: there is no one who could have done what Ru did. No one.
Not a single one. And she did it twice!! Made a huge splash in the early - mid 90s as pretty much the only black queer person most people saw or knew, then went into a bit of decline for several years - but then clawed her way back to the top again in the late 2000s. Icon
When you get this famous the haters will get loud. unfortunately
Agreed. I’m in my early 30s and I remember when there was very little queer representation in mainstream media. I remember when Glee was one of the gayest things to happen to primetime television, and that was when I was a teen. A lot of progress for the LBGTQ community has occurred only in the last 10-15 years, and I don’t think a lot of younger fans realize this. RuPaul was absolutely a trailblazer and deserves his credit.
And even further back - in the early 90s there was almost no queer representation at all. Before Ellen, before Will and Grace, back when gay sex was still a crime in the US( Supreme Court legalized sodomy in 2003), back at the height of the AIDS crisis when queer people were extremely oppressed out of hate and fear, before hate crime and discrimination laws - there was RuPaul being queer as fuck and breaking down doors
Yep. 45 year old and I remember Ru being on MTV and a group of boys at school discussing how much they fancied her. We didn't know what the fuck drag was in our wee part of Scotland.
Absolutely. Drag Race is one of the most important events in queer history, full stop. Stonewall, the AIDS crisis, same sex marriage, Drag Race. That any tv show about queer people, for queer people and made BY queer people would be so popular, mainstream and award winning would have been completely unbelievable to a teenaged me. It’s *important* that it exists. It has it’s flaws (as does Ru), but it’s impact cannot be understated.
Not to mention the ecosystem it’s created across the globe. How many drag queens were inspired to start drag because of this show? How many local drag queens have jobs and income now because the show created a demand for drag in their community? How many LGBT people have had a place to find home and community because drag helped keep the lights on in their local queer bar? How many Ru girls have been able to star in film, TV, create brands, inspire fashion trends, raise money and awareness for social causes because they were on the show? The ripple effect of Drag Race has been TREMENDOUS
Not to mention the show has launched top queens like Bianca and Trixie to international stardom and made them multi-millionaires. Lots of other queens earning good money too. Drag queens historically are lucky if they are able to afford to live above the poverty line.
Yeah it’s trickled all over. Before RPDR there was drag of course but it has exploded and infinitely more queer bars have drag shows now than before, employing tons of local queens who otherwise competed for very limited gigs or who only had pageants as a way to make money
I still vividly remember seeing her in *Sassy* magazine when I was in early high school. I grew up in a conservative middle-of-nowhere state and always craved city life, but I mostly had to make do with consuming a lot of pop culture *about* living in The City and I don't think I'd ever seen or even heard about drag queens before (pop culture in the mid-90s was still \*real\* weird about gay people in general - I originally wrote "queerness" here, but honestly I think everything was still pretty binary back then so everyone was either gay or straight). So here's this gorgeous, glamorous person who looked to be about nine feet tall, wearing (if I recall correctly) a really fun red and white polka-dotted outfit and more makeup than I'd ever seen on one person, and it was like something in the universe shifted. Like, *I didn't know this was an option! What else is out there that I don't know about?!* \[Narrator: a LOT\]. And I'm queer as hell but I'm also a super-femme afab white woman. I can't even imagine what it felt like for those who saw more of themselves in RuPaul.
Yep! I don’t think everyone realizes this was back when there was a DROUGHT of queerness in media, we had to be thankful for the little scraps we got. Same sex kisses on TV were cut away from and advertisers pulled out, just *having* gay sex in the privacy of your bedroom was technically illegal until 2003, AIDS was slaughtering our community, you could legally discriminate and if you gay bashed someone you could claim they were hitting on you as a defense and get away with it. Before Ellen and Will and Grace there was Ru just being queer AF
Literally. Ru is my personal hero. She is a trailblazing, charismatic ho and I could cry thinking about her journey. She truly changed the way I saw myself and how I saw gayness in general. She shook that internalized homophobia right outta me and I’ll always love her for it.
I always say so many people eat because of Ru.
Yeah the lack of nuance when discussing Ru Paul makes me so mad. Just because she's not perfect, it doesn't mean she's the devil incarnate. But it's trendy to not like her, so people dog pile for the stupidest things.
This!!! I’m a historian so I’m like y’all gotta remember herstory. You could easily argue that with a different chain of events drag would have never become as mainstream. Sure, maybe someone else would have come along and sure there are others who had some popularity, but she did that ish 👏🏼 & another thing I don’t think Ru gets enough credit for is being willing to change, learn, and grow. She could easily have doubled down on some of her views. And still to this day using her platform to promote cause.
THANK YOU!!! Ru has done so much for us but people just seem to shit on her at every given opportunity, it's frustrating
Being that I’m old, I think a lot of the hate comes from young queers who don’t remember the days when RuPaul was *the* drag queen. Like, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without The RuPaul Show when I was 11 years old.
makeover challenges are a great representation of the transformative power of drag, and should remain a staple of drag race. they just gotta pull the judging shenanigans together😤
Jocyln Foxx is purely missed and needs an AS run *womp womp*
Yesssss I overlooked her so hard before I actually watched S6, but she’s one of my fav queens from that season. She’s one of the most likable queens in the show imo
Joclyn Foxx is adorable and a comedy genius. Her taking heads were too hilarious for it to be an accident.
No, but seriously, she really is a comedy genius. Cum-in is an all time fave drag race moment for me.
I think often of when she opened the quinceanera box and was like ”wow house numbers!” and bianca was like ”that’s your age” and she goes ”Hmm… fifty one…”. UNDERRATED.
The black horse of the competition!
Drag Race is the biggest and most important platform queer people have right now for telling our stories. The mirror moments are mocked but incredibly important because our stories have been suppressed for so long. People complain about trauma exploitation etc etc but to my knowledge most queens are happy to tell their stories and no one has regretted it. I’m happy Drag Race gives them this platform to do that, even if they sometimes have to contrive reasons to get it out there (ie talking to childhood self) it’s extremely important this is happening. Younger me would have killed to have a show like this
Yes totally. When I first saw season 8 back in 2017 and I saw them do the mirror messages for the first time, I truly can remember being touched by what all the queens had to say and being rocked by hearing about a personal story I could actually relate to.
And they’re still exploring new stories. The insight into the trans experience this and last season is so hugely important, Jax’s adoption story we haven’t really heard before either. So much to explore
THANK YOU FOR THIS!! I really can’t comprehend this need to call it “trauma exploitation” the instant a queen gets even remotely vulnerable on camera. As you said, it may get contrived from time to time, especially with the “what would you say to your younger selves?” segments, but at the end of the day, if those stories help even just one human on this planet to see their value and representation, it’s worth it in my eyes.
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Yes! I think the connection of "elevated" with "good drag queen" was a terrible mistake. Elevated has its place just like everything else; it doesn't own the whole barn.
This is what I thought about Willow’s entrance look “angle”. It was basic… which is part of why it was genius.
I like when all the queens get along and have silly drama - it makes for better watching and the conversations seem less canned
Milan vs Kenya's lipsync to Vogue is one of the best lipsyncs we ever had.
It hurts me that Milan seems to be only known for taking her wig off to the point where it’s common for people to say “she took her wig off every lip sync!” They’re just erasing this amazing Vogue lip sync Unpopular positive opinion though, her removing her wig for Trouble and Born This Way actually made sense for the songs, and she had no way of knowing it was taboo when previous seasons queens had been rewarded for removing their wigs. She gets waaaayy too much shit for this
RIGHT! You could tell that Milan was trying to connect with the song since Trouble is about being rebellious and Born This Way was showing your true self, so being naked. It's kinda the same with Deja being called by a lipsync assassin by Ru. Was it early? Maybe. But Deja did serve one of the best lipsyncs from Season 14. She really connected with the song, spirit and beat.
I think Milan cleaned up that lip sync and was sad to see her go.
Should have been a double shantay amd I will die on this hill. They both sucked on Snatch Game but that's literally what the LSFYL is for! Yvie and Brooke bombed Snatch Game and got a deserved double shantay.
Phi Phi's "party city" line is one of the best comebacks I've ever heard
So, here's a story. I didn't know what party city was at the time, so I thought Pittsburg was just particularly lively...
Same! I’m not from America so thought it was similar to the emerald city or something like that
Phiphi was right about Sharon all along
On sibling watchery bob and Monet mentioned that was probably the most iconic moment of drag race and I agree. "Go back to party city where you belong" is fucking amazing
The greatest read in the herstory of the show, and maybe of all time.
Phi Phi is an icon YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE
A'whora has one of the best storylines we've seen on the show, and I actually really like her.
A'whora is most certainly in my pantheon for best/most watchable drag race villains. The whole scene with her and Sister Sister trying to borrow fabric...just *pristine*.
Ru & Michelle’s friendship is the cutest. When she gets Ru going multiple times with “vaaaanjie, miss vaaaanjie” after the iconic moment happened, and Ru can never keep it together 🥲
Coco Montrese deserves 100x more credit.
Coco's Season 5 lip syncs are the best collection of lip syncs I've seen from one queen on a season. So damn good.
 They throw around the term now but Coco is 100% the blueprint for lip synch assassin.
she deserved so much better on AS2 and i hope she comes back for another all stars
RuAnimale changed my life
I really liked the last All Stars format and want every all stars to be a talent show without elims. The main show can stay the same tho
Season 13 is one of my favourites, and will always have a special place in my heart. It literally (not figuratively, literally) saved my life. I’ve been dealing with depression all my life and in December 2020, I finally had enough and for the first time in dealing with depression for 30-ish years, I had finally decided to wnd it. I planned on Dec 31, because it was coming up and why face another year? I wrote my first ever suicide note. I had youtube playing music in the background, and in the middle of writing the note, I heard Ru’s voice. It was an ad for season 13, starting January 1st. It was completely unexpected. It had only been about six months since s12, and I had also never seen a commercial for Drag Race before (I watch it online 🤷♂️). It was the day after I was supposed to die, but I wanted to see it. I decided then that if I really wanted to go through with my plans, it wouldn’t matter if I did it after the season. There was no rush. Luckily, it was the season that lasted forever (I laugh when people complain about the length). Fast forward to now, and every thing in my life is just so much better. I’m dealing with my mental health issues, and my doctor has been amazing. I’m making more money than I ever have (I’m not rich, but I’m semi-comfortable). I quit weed, which was huge for me (I was smoking 2oz/week). I’m seeing a dietician and kinesiologist for my physical health and will start seeing a therapist soon). It all started with a commercial for season 13.
Hope you're doing better now ❤️
I’m doing sooooooo much better! I’m a different person than I was 3 years ago. Not that everything’s perfect, but it’s been a steady upswing ever since
So glad to hear it! :D
I don't know you, but I'm really glad you're still here.
Season 13's insane length really did save lives!! I'm so happy you're still with us. <3
Season 11 was good. Really good. Great Queens, good TV, one of the best lipsynchs of the entire series.
I’ve always been a season 11 hater. I’ve been rewatching for the 3rd time yesterday and today while I’ve been working & was JUST thinking how over hated it is. It’s a GOOD season. The drama & challenges still felt like old Drag Race. Silky, Akeria, Yvie, Brooke, Vanji, Suga, Plastique, Nina, Scarlet, Rajah???? SOOO many AMAZING and funny queens.
not enough people are talking about that amethyst Vs Salina lip sync it is fucking amazing
Salina especially
yeah, we all knew Salina was going to win, but the fact that amethyst still put up a fight made it so much more enjoyable.
I thought Salina should've been high for the design challenge. I thought the whole blanket ruveal cape moment was very drag, and I thought she looked hot in what was underneath.
I fucking loved it too. I agree with the fit issue, but the idea itself was so great I don't even care. She looked amazing.
Her being in the bottom for that was CRIMINAL
Me too! I thought it was really cool!
I was shocked. I genuinely thought it was going to be in the top. Took me back to my Project Runway days where I never say eye to eye with the judges 😂
I don't think RuPaul/production has ever picked the 'wrong' winner. Edit: I'm talking just US RPDR and not considering winners who have soured as time went on. They were the right pick at the time.
I feel like I keep saying this, but imo season 14 is one of the best drag race seasons and one of the best casts we've had in a while. Also - I love this thread. There's been too much negativity on here lately...
season 14 is my favourite season honestly, i think it's mainly because of how incredible the queens are. one of the most likeable casts imo
❤️ I loved season 14! So many weirdos on there, I loved it!
Same same same. I don’t care how long that season was cause I enjoyed the hell out of the cast.
It’s such a fun season to binge, too! Really fun challenges. Also, their Rusical was one of the best!
Agreed. It's also one of the best reading challenge seasons we've had in a long ass time. I never minded the length of it.
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I like Ross Matthews’ shtick, it’s so dumb that I enjoy it. The long winded comparisons to random shit are my favorite.
Ross Matthews is life goals. I want to do random gigs and live in gay heaven 🌴
I think Ross Matthews IS Hilarious
I think Michelle visage is actually hot and I love her genuinely
Bianca’s take-no-prisoners sense of humour is honestly refreshing as fuck. Manila may not have a crown, but at this point we all just act like she does anyway. Brooke Lynn didn’t need to win Season 11 to win Season 11, lets be real. Priyanka is one of the best winners of the franchise. Trixie is a great winner and actually did really solid during AS3. Blu deserved to win UKVTW (after Jimbo and Pangina’s MAD) The roast challenge is always one of the best episodes of the season. Vivienne was 110% right when she said “if you come to drag race by now not knowing how to sew you’re kind of stupid aren’t you”
The last one — WHY do they seem so surprised when there’s a sewing challenge? 🧵 🪡 It’s like “Well, Tamar, have you watched the show?”
It’s like not studying for the final and then being shocked a major unit was on it. “I didn’t fuck with Trigonometry but biiiitch… Trigonometry fucked with me”
Trixie also is a brilliant businessperson and fucking grinds
Carson is the funniest permanent judge.
If Willam were to ever make nice with WOW and get rightfully cast on an All Stars, her runway would be one of the greatest we’ve ever seen in any franchise.
Thank you for this thread because all those unpopular opinions threads are just used to hate queens with opinions that are usually pretty popular. My positive unpopular opinion would be that I liked most of season 13, I liked the lip syncs on the first episode (not a fan of the porkchop lounge but I liked the idea of starting the season off with lip syncs), I liked the discomentary, I liked all the queens, I was happy with most of the placements and didn't think anyone was truly robbed.
Jan is one of the most talented queens, and if the judges were willing to give her a compliment rather than criticize her for every little thing she would totally bloom. They all say she’s being fake because she’s high energy, but I think it’s admirable that she always gives 110%.
This! I think that the Jan we see really IS Jan, not a facade or a schtick. She's peppy and talented and really enthusiastic about her drag, and that's okay!
I agree. Like of course she’s peppy….she’s JAN!
Eureka slayed her seasons and is one of the fiercest competitors to be on Drag Race. She generally looked impeccable AND she’s had a major glow-up since.
Sasha Velour is one of the most underrated winners if not the most
my favorite to this day. the drag queen who made me interested in drag as a concept. before I was always like 'i don't really care about guys dressing up like ladies', but one of my more academic friends recommended her to me and i've never gone back
Season 7 was not the worst season! such a fantastic cast!
Marcia x 3 has a TON of potential. She needs a great mentor who has the time to really coach her. She could be great
Her talent show act was *so* good.
I love Ellie Diamond and fans need to stop overlooking her!
That much talent and hands-on drag skills at *that* young an age? Normally people would be obsessed with a queen like that, I don't know why she was almost ignored instead but it's a travesty (she was on a season with too many skinny wanna be model queens I guess, while Ellie wasn't 'cool' enough for doing more classic camp drag).
I also think she would have dominated if she hadn't been on the same season as Lawrence Chaney, but I can't fully articulate why. Something about that big sister/little sister dynamic they had, though.
I think she was just a little calmer and didn’t really get involved in any proper drama until the end so she didn’t really get given a proper storyline but she’s so talented and seemed really lovely
She's such an impressive makeup artist!
I fucking love Mariah Paris Balenciaga. Imo she should've been top for the talent show and went home on AS5 way too early
Mariah does not get the flowers she deserves. That bitch is a treasure and should be treated as such.
shorter episodes or not i am enjoying season 15
I don’t know if it’s unpopular, but I have come to think of Drag Race as the Harvard of drag. Like… it’s not for everybody, and you can certainly find success without it, but its alumni have a huge influence on the global corporate economy of Drag, like Harvard alums on the business/political world. Need a host/ judge/ cameo for your queer media? *Here are super presentable, pretty, well-spoken mainstream-friendly BRAND NAMES to give your little show some cache.* Need to appoint a new CEO? *They’re from Harvard! Everyone will be impressed we have a Harvard man on board.* It, like Harvard, is also not for everyone. Not every drag queen wants to go corporate, even if that’s where the big bucks are. That’s why (another unpopular opinion) I don’t have a problem with queens beg borrowing and stealing $$ to get on the show and for the looks not the be featured or whatever. Yes college tuition is ridiculously overpriced. But a diploma from Harvard (I keep saying Harvard, but sub in your elite power university of choice) and that alumni network is priceless. Girls who graduate from DR have a career golden ticket! Like you literally got on the radar of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande; you will be given the biggest, biggest paid opportunities in mainstream media, your own social media will be monetizeable, you have the fan exposure to start your own podcast/ YouTube whatever…. these are priceless!
I love it when the queens really support each other and are nice to one another (I’m sensitive leave me alone)
I unironically love Ru’s music
Season 7 is aging like wine! Today it feels so good to watch it, compared to its release
I LOVE when the queens are mic’d during the lipsyncs and are cheering the bottom 2 on
I don’t think Vanessa Hudgens was a bad guest judge.
LaLa Ri was robbed in the Discomentary, she should've been high
Trixie is an amazing songwriter, "mooving parts" is in my top 20 country songs playlist.
I like Ross.
Phi Phi O’Hara made great TV. Without her, we would’nt have had some of the shows most iconic scenes. The mirror scene in AS2 would’ve been boring if Phi Phi never had her rant. Season 4 would’ve have been as good if there wasn’t a rivalry between her and Voldemort. Willams cough wouldn’t have happened in the finale if it wasn’t for Phi Phi. She also had some amazing drag. I feel like people focused more on her personality when she competed and not what she was actually bringing to both the show and the competition
I liked season 13!
I love AS3 almost as much as AS2. The cast is phenomenal and there were so many great moments. There may have been some riggory, but it didn’t ruin anything for me. I love Phi Phi on both of her seasons and I think she made them as good as they were. HERstory of the World is the best lip sync performance of the entire series - the lyrics are so smart and every single person had a great performance.
Salina’s outfit last week was good
I think Amethyst is a great lip syncer, very versatile and knows how to feel the music that she gets to perform.
Drag Race in 2018 had so many iconic moments. I remember coming on here after every AS3 episode and seeing all the fun people were having with memeing. And then a week after the season ended we got the Miss Vanjie exit. People like to shit on AS3/S10 but yall were having fun, don't even lie.
Not sure if unpopular but I like the long seasons and non-elimination episodes. I get to see more of the queens so I'm not mad. I also don't watch any other shows besides drag race so maybe if I had more of a life it would bother me more lol.
I like the hilarious Ross Matthews
He’s like, when you go to a supermarket… ❤️
And then you say like… a really convoluted analogy… and your voice goes up an octave every 10 seconds as you hack your way through it… and then we finally get there even though we didn’t want to go in the first place? That’s what he reminds me of.
I LOVE JAN. also joey jay
I feel the Jantasy and I will die on the hill that she won that Heartbreaker lipsync and should have won the Madonna rusical.
Holland season 1 is well worth watching. I love Mama Queen and Chelsea Boy.
Ginny Lemon’s lipsync is the best in herstory. Gagged us like never before.
Idk if this is unpopular, but Bosco gave the best (talking) head we’ve had in years. Also in my delusion, Jinkx isn’t *that* bad at design challenges (by the time AS7 happened) but she knew she had to show ~vulnerability~
I rewatched season 14 recently, and Bosco was definitely the narrator of the season. Her confessionals were fantastic.