This week on the couch we have the always gorge Claudette Murphree, the not-so-secret-L-Word watcher Felice Trirogoff, and artist/provocatuer Ben Aqua. Let’s get to our read of this week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Ben Aqua: Rebecca? REBECCA?? Girl, you need to go back to your job at Forever 21, cuz you lazy and not crazy enough to be in the race. Grow some balls, then shed them really fast. Use your imagination, girl.
Claudette Murphree: Ok, first things first: RuPaul, I sorta love you, but REALLY? Ongina? WTF? You folks (judges) need to expand your mind. I think the reason you let Ongina go is Drag Politics. It’s like you can’t handle that she doesn’t tuck, wear a wig or change her voice. It’s time to expand your definition of DRAG. Last time I checked this wasn’t the female impersonator’s race. Drag is more than just passing as a woman.
But seriously, I’m still over the moon for Nina Flowers. Nina and her fighter were a perfect blend of male and female. The Drag Daughter (doll?) really looked like Nina, like a man and woman together… the future sex. That is hot. They were smokin’ and with the two of them, the evening could go anywhere. I’m in… all the way. Androdrag forever. Nina CALL ME!!
Felice Trirogoff: Selfishly, I wish I had these dragsters around when I was learning how to walk in high heels; it still would have been similar to a newborn giraffe learning how to walk, but at least it would have been against the backdrop of fabulous. Now, my friends know I love a good butch girl, but if it’s at the expense of my beloved Ongina, I will rage. Were the judges and I watching the same show? Was it opposite day and no one let me on the joke? Let me tell you what RuPaul did during her dramatic time out: a bump of coke, shook her magic 8-ball, and threw a dart on headshots that mistakenly landed on my true Filipino love. I wish I knew how to quit this show, but I simply can’t. Even though it will be tough, I’ll soldier on for Ongina, because I know she would want me to. Ongina, wherever you are in the universe, I feel like the best woman already won.
Andy: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I thought it was going to be Ongina and Nina at the end: the reign of the Inas! But no, Bebe had to throw her wig off and lip sync like she was passing a kidney stone. Ugh. I concur with just about every testimonial here, because the show the judges saw WAS NOT the same as the show I saw. Drag is about playing with the rules of gender, taking up positions which sometimes confound and confuse. Berating my loves Nina and Ongina for not being feminine enough is perpetuating the very rules drag performers often claim to break or bend. I expect better of my drag professionals, is that too much to ask? I think not.
This article appears in February 27 • 2009.