Rupaul’s Drag Race revolutionizes television

The year 2009 was one that brought us the infamous Kanye versus Taylor feud, the emergence of Lady Gaga and Avatar. Less well known among 2009’s cultural artifacts is a piece of television history: the first season of Rupaul’s Drag Race.

Now referred to as “The Lost Season” due to its complete removal from all media viewing websites and television outlets, the first season of Rupaul’s Drag Race premiered in March 2009 on Logo TV in complete obscurity and to a very minor audience. In its nine years on television, the show has grown to reach an audience of over a million people and now runs on popular television station VH1.

Understanding that a large part of our readership may be unaware of what exactly I’m going on about, allow me to clarify. Rupaul’s Drag Race is a reality television show in which famous model, artist and drag queen Rupaul judges a group of drag queens in various areas of performance skills.

For those unaware, drag is an art form in which queer people use makeup, clothing and mannerisms to transform into another gender. In general, drag queens are queer men who transform into female characters. Drag is a large part of queer culture and showcases the artistry and creativity within the community.

Rupaul’s Drag Race is a beautiful mix of America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, Big Brother and the Adam Lambert scenes of American Idol. Every episode Rupaul assigns the queens a challenge, usually related to singing, dancing, sewing or some form of drag entertainment, as well as a runway theme.

On the runway, each queen shows off the outfit she picked to fit the theme and is critiqued on her performance in the main challenge. Rupaul then chooses a bottom two, who are forced to “lipsync for their lives” in a one-on-one battle. The winner is allowed to stay in the competition, and the loser must “sashay away.”

The increasing popularity of Rupaul’s Drag Race marks the growing inclusion of queer culture in mainstream media. Along with that, it is simply insanely entertaining.

Twelve flamboyant gay men, heightened stakes, daunting sound effects and a lot of glitter make for an experience unparalleled by anything else on television. Rupaul’s Drag Race offers personal insight into a niche community of queer artists in a way that is as amusing and funny as it is informative.

In the interest of keeping this article under 12 pages, I will refrain from summarizing the entire series from heart as I know I could. Instead, I will give a brief synopsis of one of my favorite Drag Race moments with the hopes it will persuade you to watch a few episodes yourself.

During the fifth season of Rupaul’s Drag Race came one of the show’s most iconic lipsync performances. Queens Alyssa Edwards and Roxxxy Andrews performed to Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair” and, unbiasedly speaking, completely changed the world of music, dance and art forever.

In all seriousness, this performance was truly one of the most entertaining two minutes of my life. Edwards, a trained dancer, took over the stage with spins, kicks and death drops (a dance move often performed by drag queens in which the dancer falls to the floor dramatically in a way no mortal could do without breaking a hip).

Conversely, Andrews chose to perform more conservatively, covering much less of the stage than Edwards. As the song and performance began to climax, Andrews dramatically reached for her wig and lifted it from her head to reveal, get this, another wig underneath it.

Typing this out in words feels almost blasphemous, as I know no English class in the world will give me the proper means to describe the absolute shock and awe that accompanied this moment. No performer had pulled a stunt like this in the show’s history, and it left the audience absolutely floored.

The episode, now five years old, is still held up in the community as one of the most iconic moments in the show’s history. But it is also one of countless amazingly entertaining moments to occur on the show.

To anyone looking for a small insight into one of the most creative and unique subsets of the queer community, or simply an astoundingly entertaining new reality show to start, I give my wholehearted endorsement to Rupaul’s Drag Race. Go watch a few episodes and thank me later.

Rupaul’s Drag Race season nine aired on VH1 in March 2017. It was the first season to air on VH1 after the series moved from its original channel, Logo TV.

VIDEO COURTESY OF VH1