In the Queen’s opinion, this season of Untucked was different than the past two, in that the focus was at least equally split between stereotypically bitchy queen behavior and a thoughtful exploration of Drag. Somewhere in between Jiggly and Phi Phi’s borderline schizophrenic and juvenile tirades; we also got some heartfelt discussions on bullying and acceptance of differences.
This was not an episode involving the latter.
The Queen has been trying his best to do a recap of Untucked which would include a linear rundown of the contestant’s adventure’s in the Lounge. And truthfully there is often a cohesive story line which makes that process easier. However as the dolls dwindle, the show seems less interested in telling a story and more in creating drama. And what’s the point in trying to recap the same old shit?
If you need an actual recap, it goes something like this:
Phi Phi continued her narcissistic bullying. Sharon unwittingly got caught up in it for a second. Dita Von Teese’s schedule couldn’t sync up with the show taping, so they just filmed her alone in the Gold Lounge, and edited it to appear as if the queen’s fighting ruined the surprise. Latrice cried because the producers were making her leave, and setting up the drama for Phi Phi’s win.
There Miss Things.
Now we can talk about why we’re even bothering to think of this show as anything but scripted television.
Miss Things, you don’t for one minute think that if RuPaul and Dita’s agents at Global Talent had contracted with World of Wonder to have a conversation with the queens–she would have had a conversation with the queens.
Latrice’s emotional plea to the lady boys was a clear indicator that she knew she was going home. None of the other queens disputed her at all. Not once did anyone say: “What makes you think that it’s YOU that’s going home? Poor bitch was taking a dive like Rocky, and she didn’t even have Burgess Meredith in her corner to give her a pep talk.
Phi Phi was put in the center because she is a short bitch. If she wasn’t in the center, then her tired ass would not be seen. End of discussion.
“It’s like a mixture between Prison and Summer Camp.”
Maybe this Fierce Black Queen is truly in the minority (no pun intended, bitches), but I really think that the best of Untucked had nothing whatsoever to do with bitch fights. We know that queens do this. What most of us (and sometimes, even the queens themselves) don’t know is who they are outside of the makeup and bravado. We don’t know that their needs and desires are very much the same as the rest of humanity: to be loved, to be supported, and to live out their dreams. I am just as much a sucker for a good bitchy line as the next gay man (“Your Mouth is louder than your Outfit”); but I’d RATHER know what’s BEHIND the bitchy line. Maybe something is wrong with me. I’d rather not have a clinically narcissistic bitch trigger me with every line until all I can think of is busting her punk-ass dead in her face and give her a bloody nose to make her shut the fuck up. I don’t want to live out of that part of me. It sickens me.
If you’re reading this producers…PLEASE take us middle of the road viewers into consideration next season and give us less Prison, and more stylishly Gay Summer Camp.
Let the dogs be the only ones acting like animals.
Have at it, you Fierce Miss Things.
FBQ 
I’ve been really disappointed by this season as a whole. There have been some queens that I love, but I feel like this is the first season that the producer manipulation has been so blatant. It seems like they think that the only way people will keep watching is if there’s a bunch of bitchy drama to watch. I’m not really here for that.
I like watching the challenges and seeing what the queens will come up with, and I would love it if I didn’t have to hear Phi Phi spew her insecurity and vitriol all over the place. I think that plenty of people would have been happy to see the final three be Chad, Latrice, and Sharon. I definitely would have. I think plenty of people would have been happy to see Phi Phi go home weeks ago when it was apparent that she’s not in the same league as some of the other queens.
I agree, top 3 should not have included Peepee, her look is tired, her body is not that amazing and his style is bleh!! I’m just so tired of hearing him go offf on the slightest of things, he’s just so insecure and it really shows. His banters are not even funny, they just sound mean and hard to watch, I actually found it hypocritical of the show to push the It Gets Better campaign, when they have the biggest bully in their own show.
You are right, this show has more than enough going on to keep us entertained without showing us the battles those gals have. BUT I do take a little guilty pleasure in watching my favorite, Sharon, talk circles around little Miss yells alot.
Hell, yes – I almost quit watching last year because of the whole Heathers/Boogers thing. These are grown damn men, please tell me there’s more to them than old-fashioned high school bullying.
I was just thinking about that whole Heathers/Boogers thing last season with everyone taking sides & huge fights on the internet: “Shangela is a b!tch” and “No, the Heathers are the b!tches” but I never got caught up in it because it always seemed kind of obvious to me that all of them were actually nice people who were playing roles — heck, Shangela was brought back from S2 just to stir up things exactly like she did. (OK, Carmen is probably as vapid IRL as on the show, but the girl is so gorgeous she kind of can get away with “resting on pretty.”). This season, however, Phi Phi’s jabs against the others seem so much more mean-spirited and lack the humor that the “fights” previous seasons had (at least in my view) I don’t know what to think. Sure, she’s probably playing a role too, but she’s got some much deeper issues that the role is bringing out in her and it is unpleasant to watch. She really is the first queen on this show that I honestly do not like and that has never happened to me before (and I even feel weird writing that because I don’t *know* her). I guess I don’t mind the reality tv “b!tches” (in fact, they’ve been among my favorites — Raven, Shangela, Shanel, Willam) but the difference with them and Phi Phi is while they were playing up the b!tchiness, they did it with some wit & humor. I just don’t get that from Phi Phi at all.
I hear what you’re saying, but I think the Heathers/Boogers thing went too far even when it was contrived (and I agree, Carmen was the one who really put me off.) I thought the “resolution” at the reunion show showed who was playing along for the producers, and who had actually bought into it. One thing to have a bit of catty fun, another thing entirely to show the world that you don’t actually value your fellow human beings.
It’s a shame to me that Phi Phi remained to up the drama factor: I agree that what she’s showing is in some way real and deep – and should be private. It takes away from the fun and makes the show feel exhibitionist and manipulative. I’m not usually a reality TV fan for that express reason, this show is an exception – but if they aren’t careful, they’ll lose me.
Well said! I think a lot of people enjoy that discomfort of watching interactions drift into that intimate area of psychodrama. I’m not one of them. Personally I’d rather raise my endorphin levels by riding a roller coaster, or watching a scary movie.
This Untucked annoyed the bejeezus out of me for pretty much the reasons you listed. Do the producers really think we’d believe that RuPaul would let “her girls” ignore her and continue to argue while a guest star was cooling her heels in the next room–and that said star would simply leave without a word? If this had been legit, all Dita Von Teese had to do was walk into the next room, which would definitely have brought the already overdone bitchfest to a halt, and been far more entertaining.
Count me in on the “Chad, Latrice and Sharon” bandwagon. I had pretty much figured it would be them from the start, with Willam a possible fourth. Of course, we all know what happened to Willam (if not why), which appears to be where the hard sell of Phi Phi began. Seems the producers also seem to think that no one will watch the show if there isn’t some catfighting involved, and Chad, Sharon and Latrice get along too well to go all hissy-fit on each other.
Personally, I have always watched Drag Race because I do find the queens fascinating and would love to know who they are behind the makeup and how they came to be part of the world of drag. Despite having some of the strongest queens ever, in my opinion this season has been the weakest because of the shoddy way that they have been handled. Nothing wrong with a little drama breaking out now and then, but not if it’s manufactured drama.
Had they eliminated PeePee, they would have had a chance to push for some more important issues on the gay community, I actually really like that they injected some of that in the show, sadly they were more focused on the drama.
I agree. It seems they focused on those issues more this season than in previous seasons, but I would have to preferred to see even more than we did. What could be more important than listening to experienced queens talk about being bullied, or hearing about their family lives and how their parents/siblings/etc dealt with their son’s sexuality. It actually disappoints me that Ru has her own soapbox through which she can say anything, and she chose to go with the drama.
So much of this season has been edited and manipulated to the point of absurdness. I also wanted a top three of Sharon, Chad and Latrice. I found their candor and communication to be a great deal more mature and relevant. Again, I am sure that editing played a huge role in this. Whether or not the producers continue with their script and whether or not Phi Phi wins or not, the entire show has lost. The only season worse than 4 was 3 with the Heathers vs. Boogers bullying. But season 4 is really close to even eclipsing all of that nonsense.
You know, this got me thinking of the problems of LOGO in general as a network for the LGBTIQ community. If the producers of a LOGO show can’t get past the crass stereotyping of queens as bitchy, insecure homosexuals, then I don’t know who can.
Sharon had it so right when she suggested that the next drag super star treat her queen family with respect and dignity. Why hasn’t anyone called Phi Phi out on her horrible treatment of Jiggly in the episode when Jiggly went home? The bitch set Jiggle up through a series of lies.
But the point ultimately is that I was hungry for a postive finale between Sharon, Chad, and Latrice. It would have re-enforced Ru’s message of love and positivity. Instead, they opted for a pagent queen with a modicum of talent (she’s racist and not funny) and a caty series of fighting that makes the show uninteresting and puts it at the level of a Bravo/Desperate Housewives train wreck.
“Seems the producers also seem to think that no one will watch the show if there isn’t some catfighting involved, and Chad, Sharon and Latrice get along too well to go all hissy-fit on each other. ”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I think you are absolutely right. It’s obvious that Chad, Latrice and Sharon have real respect and appreciation for each other. They also have a level of maturity (and I don’t just mean age here) that transcends the likes of Phi Phi and her shitshow bitch fighting. Phi Phi is in the top three for drama/ratings purposes alone. We need to see more Chad, Latrice, and Sharon. Drag Queens that really represent that community in the best way possible.
And that makes me sad. When I watched Drag Race last season and season 2, I only caught one or two of the Untuckeds. I think I enjoyed the show more not seeing the edited craziness that goes on in Untucked.
The producer decisions on this show are always kind of obvious. Ever since Season 1. It was obvious Ongina was set to be sent home, but then she revealed she had been struggling with HIV in an emotional moment, Ru left and went back stage- obviously to go beg to the producers to change things so Ongina wasnt sent home. But oh well, Ongina was sent home anyways.
Same thing here- They are only keeping PhiPhi around because her arguing is “entertaining to watch” tv. But if she ends up winning, I would be seriously disappointed. I think she will be in 3rd place- unless the producers really want us to watch Sharon and PhiPhi lipsync AGAIN. In which case, Sharon will win and there will be some sort of “mean people will never win” undertones and either way it is totally unfair to both Latrice and Chad that they don’t have a fair chance just because the producers think we watch the show just to see PhiPhi and Sharon argue.
RuPaul is definitely building an empire on the shoulders of this show, not to say she doesn’t deserve her place in the history books. But, on that subject what’s with the lack of history on this show? This is the first season I’ve heard anyone sound intelligent enough to school me on the history of Stonewall. RuPaul keeps talking “fashion forward” and “the future of drag”. How can we grow without learning the roots of the matter? I feel like RuPaul is becoming the Tyler Perry of the drag world. We’re getting close to exploitation to the masses when I want to see more growth. Chad, Latrice and Sharon embody that this season more than any. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth frankly, that I have to wade through the Phi Phi’s and Heathers to get to the heart of what a real Queen should be.
Listen to Sharon’s interview on FOFA or whatever that blog is called. I was truly moved.
I have to say that if Phi Phi wins, I will probably never watch again. It is a shame that the recurring theme seems to be “Oh Chad, you are too polished.” Isn’t professionalism and poise exactly what the heir to the throne should embody?
Let’s face it. Drag has come so far and is becoming practically mainstream. (Look at the pro athletes and country stars who have graced the judging table–holy hayseed, that would never have happened 10 years ago.) Why present such amateur antics when the cast has such a wealth of emotional intelligence from which to draw?
I agree!! I’m on the verge of not watching the next season because of all the emphasis on bitchiness. Come on, we live in a time when gays, drag queens, transgender folk, and hell, anyone different is persecuted. What is wrong with showing these girls getting along? Why can’t we see some community being built instead of a bunch of tired bitchfests?
to sum it up: some of my favorite queens ever (EVER!), queens of all styles and sizes, but the season itself was somehow lacking.
Let’s be real. The only reason the producers and Ru are keeping Phi Phi in the competition at all is because she brings drama with her to every situation, and in today’s world, drama makes for higher TV ratings. The callous truth is that Joe and Mary America don’t want to watch queens getting along and talking about the roots of drag, gay history, or their life stories: they want confirmation that drag queens, and all gay men, are bitchy, self-absorbed, and frivolous. Phi Phi O’ Harra gives them confirmation of that.
Phi Phi O’ Harra is a living stereotype right out of the 1980’s when media referred to being gay as “a lifestyle choice” and even in movies that mentioned being gay at all (which were few), gay lives were depicted as inherently sad and unstable. Phi Phi has turned on the waterworks more than once and let slide that yes, she too has had a sad, hard life, just like the other (older) queens—but only because she thinks it’ll boost her chances on the runway or deflect real criticism of her design choices. But let me tell you something, it’s all a veneer.
Maybe Phi Phi has had a hard life, but I’d be willing to wager that most of her conflicts with others were more a result of her poor life decisions and bad attitude toward others, and less from homophobia on the part of her parents or friends. She is bat shit crazy, and this week’s Untucked was confirmation of that fact. “You’re lying!” shouted ad infinitum et ad nauseum, and that stupid line about Sharon’s obsession with a cruise, which was obviously taken out of context. You can’t argue with crazy, honey; I was sad to see that Sharon, to my mind the most talented queen this season, engaged that crazy bitch for as long as she did. I wanted to slap Phi Phi in her loud-mouth, Bratz™ doll looking face. Hell, maybe a good slap would make her makeup blend a little better or would knock some sense into her vacant head.
If I were a judge, or a producer, I would have sent Phi Phi home a LONG time ago. I’m surprised that she’s made it this far, with her old-lady makeup, her sophomoric outfits, and her self-proclaimed cut throat ambition. Bitch, if you’re ambitious, good for you, but don’t say it. Show not tell, Mary, show not tell. If you have to say it, you’re trying too hard. Ambition is not an end in itself, you have to have talent. I hope that the judges will see reason and crown a truly talented queen as America’s next drag superstar. I’m rooting for Sharon Needles.
P.S. Latrice’s exit speech was the most heart-wrenching and dignified exit of any queen of any season thus far. It should have been Phi Phi walking off that stage, not Latrice. That queen is amazing, and will always have my admiration.
Really wish they would get rid of Phi Phi…soooooooooooo tired of the drama. Willam’s “your tone is very pointed” line in the face of Phi Phi’s hissy fit a few episodes ago is a classic. I love the absolute class of Chad and the bizarre creativity of Sharon. Phi Phi could…and should…learn from them…especially about class.
I think we may all be taking this a little too seriously…You guys, this is a show about DRAG QUEENS! the host and main judge is a man in a dress and a wig who decides who he sends home after telling the queens to not fuck it up and then lets them lip sync to a woman’s song. This is a reality show for entertainment purposes plain and simple. To sit here and nit pick and little things like the fact that they are fighting and not talking about bullying…is absurd…they are in wigs and gowns with their penis and balls tucked to the gods and they are on stage being critiqued for up to 7 hours. Tensions are high they are given a couple Absolut cocktails, fighting is bound to ensue! I honestly believe that show is getting better each season it continues to come into it’s own. It is the very first show of it’s kind and it is already coming to a close of it’s 4th season!! that is great and it has a great fan bass… I admit I get easily agitated with PhiPhi’s 3rd grade attitude but I am just happy that there is such a great show like this…another thing to take into consideration is that like I said before the queens are on stage for a long time and we do not see it all…They could have read latrice for filth plus she was in the bottom the past two weeks and that may be why she was emotional she may have realized, this is my time…Not saying I don’t think production may have had something to do with it…but I don’t think it is that black and white. AND! to the writer of this article…I do not for one second believe PhiPhi will win this season, First of all Ru is no fool Sharon has won 4 challenges…while the other two have only won 2 each. Sharon is different than any queen that they have ever had. Now I know there is a rumor going around that the fans will vote at home and the winner will be revealed live at the reunion show…If this is the case sharon will also win, She has the biggest fan base online and also won the vote for the fan All Star pick…chad and phiphi weren’t even close…I will close with this…SHE IS LARGE AND IN CHARGE CHUNKY YET FUNKY BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL SHE IS LATRICE! ROYALE! I loved Latrice and am so proud of her and I will miss her on the show 🙂
I love you. I don’t knkow you, but as a fellow citizen, I do love you. The thing is, by asking us to just get over it and take this a little less seriously, you are performing the same type of move that is silencing and asking people to be uncritical of the way our cultural is represented. The dissmissal of criticism and the reduction you are suggesting we engage in ain’t gonna do much for us.
Actually, I think Chad has won 3…although one was with Madame LaQueer. That said, Sharon hold the record for most main challenges in a single season at 4…..and as I told her on her Facebook, she could officially claim to be the “Fiercest Bitch Ever To Grace Ru’s Runway” if she chose.
This episode had so much and nothing at all. Where to begin, where to begin?
The Nothing ~ Latrice’s demeanor throughout. I have to agree with you, that this fierce diva knew her time on RPDR was over. I wasn’t at all surprised that Miz Latrice Mofo Royale had to sashay her glorious sway away.
…still cried a little though. Class acts are hard to come by.
The Much ~ Latrice choosing my Sharon as the one to go! Her even choosing Ms. Needles didn’t ring true for me…perhaps she was “coached” to do so?
~ Knowing that Phi Phi will not be in Chad Michaels’ cirlce after all is said and done makes me happy. Very, very, happy.
~ Sharon “Better-Win” Needles’ empathic self still trying to give that mean child the benefit of the doubt.
All in all, the doggies were the absolute best. I have a bi-sexual great-dane that was all a-flutter over them.
Oh, you’re right that everyone clearly knew that Latrice was going home all the while the judges were supposedly “deliberating.” That was getting downright sloppy. And I agree that Dita was filmed any old time and her presence/exit had nothing to do with what was going on with the queens. I’m more forgiving of that one, though, because it did crack me up, watching the queens ignore Ru’s maddeningly chipper “Peekaroo!”and carry on instead of hauling their tired asses to the other room, grumbling. And then when they switched to Dita waiting so expectantly, I mean, at least there was a comic payoff.
There was no payoff of any kind, however, in hearing Phi-Phi tediously say for the zillionth time, “You should not be here!” And Phi-Phi is working the whole laundry list of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) traits: projection (attributing your negative traits to someone else and then attacking them because you can’t handle them in yourself), splitting (inability to see people/situations in other than stark black/white terms), argumentativeness, defensiveness, manipulativeness, control freakery, and my ever-loving favorite: the “Grandiosity Gap,” that yawning chasm between how you perceive your talents/achievements and what they really are.
But I’ll take Phi-Phi at her word that we should pay attention when a phrase gets repeated over and over again. This is something I learned from my own dealings with a clinical narcissist, that oftentimes certain phrases would get repeated ad nauseam, and I should pay attention to them because it was always revealing in some way. But I don’t think there is anything to get out of Sharon’s, “ I wanna cruise,” other than a joke and, well, yeah, wouldn’t a cruise be nice. Leave it to a narcissist to read it as proof that Sharon was ONLY there for a cruise, while she, Phi-Phi, was there to be a role model to the LGBT community, completely disregarding Sharon’s oft-repeated claim of wanting to be a role model to kids who were bullied for both being gay and being weird (splitting again: a person couldn’t possibly have an altruistic motive AND think a cruise would be awesome, so Sharon would get all the negative traits while Phi-Phi got the good ones).
On the other hand, Phi-Phi’s constant repeating of “You should not be here!” I think is VERY revealing. And considering at the root of NPD is massive insecurity, that pretty much says it all. And I so feel Sharon’s frustration in thinking that communication should resolve their issues, because really communication and narcissism is an oxymoron. Language is not used to communicate; it is used to fend off. Trying to communicate with a narcissist will just suck you down the rabbit hole and leave you frothing at the mouth. Take Chad’s approach: get through it and when it’s over, part company.
Ugh. NPD, such a pain in the ass to deal with in real life. Get it off my television!
*note to self: gotta make a MEGA LIKE button for this blog*
Awesome way to frame what’s happening with Phi Phi. Brava!
Agree strongly. Totally NPD, thanks for clarifying this.
And I don’t mean to be pretending to be a shrink, let alone one that would diagnose a reality TV character with a clinical disorder. Maybe he’s just a garden variety jerk who’s a bit full of himself, and it’s all exaggerated between the cameras rolling and the stress. Maybe he’s deliberately exaggerating, with producer encouragement. Who knows? All we can say is he’s certainly making of display of some pretty classic traits.
Trying to communicate with a narcissist is worse than trying to reason with a drunk. If nothing else, the drunk will eventually sober up.
So I guess trying to communicate with a DRUNK narcissist, while you yourself are drunk, in a place called the Interior Illusions Lounge, is pretty much the formula for Untucked!
Scotty, while I think you’re probably right that Drag Race isn’t a scripted show, I also think it doesn’t even matter anymore if it’s real or written. Whether Phi-Phi’s behavior is real or merely Ru’s creation, Phi-Phi has become unbearable to watch. If it’s real, Phi-phi needs some serious help. If it’s a persona Ru and Phi created for the show, they greatly overestimated the audience’s tolerance for nasty behavior. Phi’s been at it since the first episode, when she tore into Jiggli for no reason. This week’s Drag Race and (even more so)Untucked were beyond nuts. I hope that’s as bad as it gets, because I can’t imagine how Phi could get worse. I was kind of hoping Sharon would haul off and punch her in the mouth. Like you, I don’t like that kind of feeling welling up inside me.
The simple fact is the BS Phi-Phi pulled this week *is not fun to watch*.
OK, I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know or think. So I’ll stop now. Hugs and kisses to you.
There was no Heather BULLYING FFS. Or are you people claiming that private conversations and confessionals given to producers is BULLYING? The anger from the Boogers and their fans was because irate the Heather story line took off like the speed of light and was FUNNY. The first clique was started by Alexis on Episode 1 Untucked “I got your back, girl” to Stacy and continued from there. 5Gs people.
Secondly, Phical is totally obnoxious to EVERYONE on Twitter and Facebook, actually calling out other queens’ fans and saying she WANTS to fight. So, no, she is no Heather and never will be.
PhiPhi’s bitchieness is an act, or edited that way. If you have met her, she is a very sweet queen. It kind of sickens me to see the editing that goes on. I watch on LOGO.com so I don’t get to see the commercials and jumpcuts. I watched it on tv last week after watching it online and the producers edit everything to be so dramatic, when you know it isn’t!
For the record, Chad, Sharon, Latrice, and PhiPhi are all fierce queens. If it were up to me, there would be 4 winners, but $100000 doesn’t split well 4 ways. 😛
Is Phi Phi sweet in private? Maybe yes, and then maybe no–most of us do not know her….and based on the persona she is putting forward on screen (with the eager help of the World of Wonder production team), most of us do not want to know her. What I do know is that the persona she has allowed herself to project is going to come back to her in an unpleasant way professionally. The energy you put out into the universe always comes back to you stronger than when you sent it out….if it’s positive energy, it comes back that much more positive, and the same is true for negative. PPO has slung a lot of negative energy out through our television screens over the past several weeks. If reported audience reaction to her in clubs is any indicator, then that energy has started its return trip. I hope the fame she achieved was worth the karmic price she’s going to pay for it.
Phi Phi is just a nasty, dirty, evil cancer that needs to be amputated ASAP
“give us less Prison, and more stylishly Gay Summer Camp.”
Yes. Call me shallow, I don’t mind. I can see unpleasantness so very easily in real life.
Also, I have to register a small complaint: If Dita von Teese is not going to somehow coach or interact with the contestants, then the LEAST they could have done is written in a costume change for her!
Wouldn’t it have been DIVINE if each time they cut back to her she had changed ensembles?!
YES. They should give you a consultant’s fee for letting them steal ideas like that!
I agree with the Miss Things who think y’all are going being too critical about this (criticism is a good thing, but there’s a line between being critical and theorizing conspiracy). Yes, there is obviously producer manipulation, but I don’t think it goes are far as you all are saying, and honestly, I think some of you are creating a “perceived reality” in which everything on the show is the result of producer manipulation. The producers of course make suggestions to Ru, and play a huge part during the editing of the show, but besides that, I’m not sure if they play that big of a role. We can all clearly see that Phi Phi is not acting, and really does have NPD. I cannot fathom that the producers would actually encourage the dolls to blatantly ignore RuPaul to continue their bitchiness. The producers presumably added the guest star segments in Untucked to get away from all of the bitchiness, and I feel they clearly saw the heated tension early on, knew they would have more than enough drama between Phi Phi and Sharon, and added the elements of intellectual discussion about gay herstory (why are you people not using this when referencing anything drag queen/RuPaul?) and bullying. They could have even gone as far to counteract the bullying presented from this season (and last) by trying to give messages against bullying. However, we need to realize, this is coming from Hollywood, the heart of acting in America, and as every good director knows, drama and conflict are at the heart of every good production. Did they tell Ru to keep Phi Phi longer for the sake of drama and ratings? That’s almost certainly the case. But did they tell Phi Phi to be the bitch? I think they knew they wouldn’t have needed to.
Now onto Latrice sashaying this week. Yes, I would have loved to see her in the top three with Sharon and Chad. However, we all are judging the queens based off of their personalities on and off stage. RuPaul is only judging them on the former (she does check in on them shortly to see how well they are at cooperating behind stage, and I feel that does influence her decision slightly). Latrice has so much wisdom that it naturally creates a charisma which forces people’s respect. However, put her is a situation where she needs to make the charisma happen without the wisdom, and she falls short. As it’s been pointed out, she doesn’t deliver nearly as well on her own as she does when she’s coached. RuPaul is looking for someone who can captivate an audience every time naturally, which Latrice unfortunately lacks. And her looks this week all missed the mark. She did not pull attention during the number; her dog park realness was too fancy formal; her puppy in a purse party girl was a look we’ve seen times before; and her canine couture was too generic to be ever considered couture. That, combined with the fact that she’s was in the bottom two for the past two weeks, and knowing she had never preformed country before, she knew she would be going home. Latrice accepted her fate with dignity, and though she might not be the Next Drag Superstar, she is without a doubt the Matron Mother of Drag.
Sorry Chad, but you are the Congenial Mother of Drag in my book.
“But did they tell Phi Phi to be the bitch? I think they knew they wouldn’t have needed to.”
In a recent interview, Sharon talked about the selection process for RPDR and that it included extensive psychological testing. Which really begs the question of how one “passes” that test. Undoubtedly they were looking for at least one queen to pass the test by failing the test!