tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post3425819471146537691..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Drag as high artDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59621825317685555432015-01-15T14:50:35.284+00:002015-01-15T14:50:35.284+00:00Can't tell you how thrilled I am, Elizabeth, t...Can't tell you how thrilled I am, Elizabeth, that someone took up the challenge - and expressed what I find most wonderful about this more-than-game-show, the slowly revealed layers of supreme talent and truth, in much more eloquent words than I have. <br /><br />The diplo-mate has insisted on watching it all again, and while I haven't always joined him, I can see that it's rich enough to take more details. So we are coming up to the final of Series 6 again (after which I have suggested, since I can't enforce, a total break until Series 7 arrives) and I marvel at the supreme wit of JinKx and Alaska, not to mention Ru and Michelle Visage. It does make me think that the polished comedians are the only ones I'd want to see in one-woman shows, for I can't think what ultimately would sustain the rest. This format, though, is the perfect package for the outlandish make up and creativity in dress design...and it's truly joyous and life-affirming, no? <br /><br />I agree about the wedding episode, so subversive in every way. But I also like the other dressings-up of straight dads and gay veterans from the armed forces (Jinkx with Dave is such a highlight, and how sensitively he handles him).<br /><br />Finally, your homage to Ru is so beautifully put and grants him the seriousness he deserves. I'd missed the episode first time round where he lost it and got genuinely angry, but it didn't make me think any the less of him for that.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-71345097612393162762015-01-15T14:21:43.243+00:002015-01-15T14:21:43.243+00:00Went for the Drag, stayed for the Race! On New Yea...Went for the Drag, stayed for the Race! On New Year's Eve, we were treated to a marathon of the most recent Season (Six); and, never having seen the show, I recorded all of it, to be viewed one episode every night possible. Here, what I think of as arts contests (dance, singing, fashion design, even some visual arts, for a couple of years), are categorized as reality shows, grouping them with Real Housewives and other programs where people allow a view into their personal lives. The first few episodes were pure entertainment, with lots of posturing and pulling of comic faces added to the performance, as competitors vied to claim positions, while judging the others in a way that was partly good-natured and partly sly. Except for my attaching to an immediate favorite - who was eliminated early - lots of fun. I was delighted to find that the two up for elimination competed in lip-sync (kind of Project Runway meets The Voice and So You Think You Can Dance!).<br /><br />Lip-syncing was all I had really thought to expect on the show. To begin with, it had never occurred to me that the drag queens designed and sewed their own costumes. RuPaul's mentoring in the workroom reminded me of how good he is at interview. As the weekly eliminations distilled them into a shrinking group, the "reality" aspect increased. Onstage, we were shown how multi-talented are the ones who endured. Offstage, we began to witness them being less "on," as they talked more about themselves and interacted more with each other, some seeming to form the beginnings of friendships. I found it interesting that RuPaul, as well as some other judges, even advised the queens to show more of themselves, while their profession involves disguising themselves completely.<br /><br />So glad you recommended this series! Favorite episode: Drag My Wedding. RuPaul and I have different personalities. He is as outgoing as I am shy and quiet. He looks deeply into individuals and, under the guise of entertainment, helps more people than he will ever know. I can relate to him especially because of my favorite quote, from Ru while mentoring in the workroom: "Emotions don't scare me." -- Elizabeth<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-33050603325157915622015-01-05T12:04:08.814+00:002015-01-05T12:04:08.814+00:00I borrowed the phrase from Robert Byron's The ...I borrowed the phrase from Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana. For foreign travel, however adventurous, is most often an 'armistice with the truth', too. But it does bring you face to face with an awful lot of human kindness and hospitality, too, especially in the Middle East. Or did...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-17643635649813407112014-12-25T16:48:05.010+00:002014-12-25T16:48:05.010+00:00"Our armistice with the truth" is such a..."Our armistice with the truth" is such an important observation. The Edu-Mate has been reviewing entries in WWI war diaries that describe incidents we've come to know under the rubric of "Christmas truce."<br /><br />When I think of drag--and particularly its history--I think of how knowing it is, and yet how joyful of life, against all odds. The phrase "armistice with the truth" contains that clear-eyed recognition, too.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-44546851431442116702014-12-24T22:38:30.072+00:002014-12-24T22:38:30.072+00:00Gallant of you, as ever, to step in to the breach,...Gallant of you, as ever, to step in to the breach, Sue. Maybe, as David pointed out above, there simply wasn't anything to say. <br /><br />My link WAS those outrageous costumes - many as crazy and inventive have been seen in rounds of RuPaul's drag race - but perhaps most common to both worlds is a sense of sheer, unadulterated, even childlike joy. I can't think of better tonics at this time of year, our armistice with the truth.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-16692536117216708412014-12-24T21:10:24.386+00:002014-12-24T21:10:24.386+00:00What I wrote on the more recent post really does b...What I wrote on the more recent post really does belong here most of all--for drag IS high art: I thoroughly enjoyed the juxtaposition of RuPaul and Cinderella. Perhaps it was those marvelous OTT Cinderella costumes, but a post of what might have been quite disparate elements ended up seeming all of a piece.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.com