Rupaul's Drag Race Fandom Is Toxic And We Need To Talk About It
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- Опубликовано: 27 мар 2021
- Rupaul's Drag Race is one of the best reality TV shows, but the drag race fandom can be extremely toxic and problematic. In today's video essay, I'm explaining all the reasons behind the toxic behavior of drag race fans and how we as fandom can make Drag Race more enjoyable for the queens and other fans alike. Drag Race is currently in its cultural zeitgeist, with Drag Race Season 13 and Drag Race UK Season 2 airing at the same time and many more seasons being announced for the later part of the year.
Music by: Infraction - Go Girl 
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The drag race fandom is also horrendously hypocritical. A very good example is this tweet from Lawrence: "Not the same account fat-shaming me, calling me a “fat c**t” trying to drag Utica for “body shaming” ".
I guess the hate is more fun for them instead of actual hate. Sad
Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow.
@@genuinedelusionsmusic your username and profile picture are amazing.
@@jenblack98 Thank you. I wear it with pride.
@billypancakes if answering your question is wrong, I don't wanna be right
The show itself just enables the fandom instead of having conversations about what is appropriate
One review of season 3 I watched, they went “err..” when Yara asked Mariah if she wanted to be a woman. That wouldn’t fly today because the fan base would scream and holler about transphobia.
Not to mention the show’s diversity also enables the fandom. If you’re not a gay cis skinny white man, get ready for the fandom to hate you
@@eba9121 Most questions would be considered offensive nowadays, it's annoying.
@@marieremelie6716 I don't really see this at all. Not sure where this happens, but I see almost the opposite. Again not sure where its mentioned, but yeah. Also, I don't like when people mention race when it comes down to aesthetics.
@@inventions178 the drag race fandom will just hate you for anything, you’re right. People complain about low follower counts on Instagram, like sorry but I wanna see fashion, I’m not gonna follow a fashion designer I don’t like, why should I do the opposite when it comes to drag queens? And social media followings are useless anyway. Not to mention, fans say everything is racist (but apparently they only think that racism is against black people) and say that some girl didn’t win because she’s black 😐 they never say that about Asian or Hispanic queens, and not to mention I idolization of black queens is far more intense (usually) than with white queens, I don’t like Shea coulee, so apparently I’m racist now because I don’t think she deserved to win all stars and is overrated 🙄
I'm Roxxxy Andrews and I'm here to make it clear...Don't send hate to Queens, because you watched a television program.
I know you love me baby, that's why you brought me here
Was a bitch on Season 5, now I’m here to make it right...
You're right!
Give me a sewing challenge and I'll give you what you want
Im full of tricks, bby.
Just like on Halloween
Brita comes to mind. How she overdosed and quit social media after the fan backlash.
What? Really
Overdosed?
That is so sad.
It’s awful how she was treated.
omfg what? i didnt know that :( I hope she gets better
Drag Race fandom sure is filled with people who know nothing about drag critiquing queens on how a drag queen "should" act
its so frustrating. especially when people defend ru's comments to joe black because "drag has to be glammed up, you can't just wear h&m". drag doesn't have to be anything, its so infuriating to read
There's an interview with Lady Bunny where she says this. It's part of why she doesn't want to be a guest judge. She'll have a cameo, but not on the judge panel.
Brita Filter from season 12 was driven into a depression due to the toxicity from fans on social media.
Never forget that production chose not to air her apology to Aiden, so they’re just as much to blame for her edit and downfall.
@@chado2226 are saying, it's okay to harass someone to the point of depression and the "s" word because of a highly produced and edited TV show?
@jazmín 9 😊
Can we also hold the fan pages accountable? They enable the toxic fans by letting everyone know who to “cancel”.
Depends on the kind of sh** you’re running, y’know. imo I definitely think that the main ring toxic fan pages should be held accountable. However, people should be allowed to make fan pages, as long as they’re respectful, honest, and push positivity and open mindedness. The fans will always have their opinions, it’s just about promoting healthy communities on fan pages; sending love regardless of the hate lol.
Theessanceofbeauty is a jaida tiktok Stan account and girl……..
ATTACKING anyone who doesn’t like jaida or thought that Gigi had some talent
Hating on other s12 queens for no reason like bitch
I really feel bad for the queens. A lot of queens are low-income, hometown queens, and go on the show to help boost their career. Being a Ru Girl can get you bookings, tours, and sell merch. But one bad edit, one wrong move, and the same fandom that launched your career can snatch it all away. Something you said a YEAR ago, can be used to make you loved, a meme or come back to haunt you.
Even if it was neutral in nature, or neutral in any way can make you Public Enemy Number One.
I just want to say that Jaymes Mansfield is beautiful. That's all. I had to let it out here in the open.
She's beautiful and a true legend. 💕
Very cute!!
She also came 1st :P
Ikr she doesn't deserve all the hate
@@courtneyfabray3850 hate? Why is she hated?
Let's also talk about how a lot of the hate being spread is people fighting their own insecurities as well as just blatant racism, transphobia, and fatphobia.
Not to mention misogyny
And even internalized homophobia at times
...
oh my god yes, it isn't a coincidence that the most hated queen on season 13 is kandy (poc and big girl) and when she wins something (the roast) fairly they just ignore it, like, its not kandy's fault she is being favored, by that logic people should also hate jackie cox since she was also favored in season 12.
@@skyco5395 I agree with this so much
@@skyco5395 right....whenever a (usually black and/or fat) queen is supposedly being favored people go after the queen instead of the producers. like i highly doubt kandy is involved in any riggory. come on now. lmfao
Just two day ago, we saw just that with the way Utica has been treated online. Yes, she did bomb the roast challenge. She did some jokes that were not good, talking about the weight of Loni Love (speaking whale to her). She got eliminated for it. Then, she apologized online to Loni Love, Michelle Visage and Nina West about the joke about their sizes made during the roast. Each of them accept the apology or even say that she didn't have to apologize. However, many fans start to pile up on her saying that she is just being fatphobic and that she should be ashamed of herself.
For me, the lack of response from Drag Race team is the biggest problem in all this. People could have find her jokes not funny and use this opportunity to talk about how we treat weight as the butt of a joke in general. But, fans started to send death threats and telling her to be ashamed forever. That is on another level. Wonder of Wonder and Drag Race should take action in this, but they don't since bad publicity is still publicity.
And this is worst for POC queen who didn't even did something bad to begin with! They never defended Naomi Smalls for eliminating a fan-fav in AS4.
In conclusion, I don't know who is taking charge of the social media accounts for RPDR or World of Wonder, but I would shake them up and tell them to do something about it.
What's also annoying is it's exactly the same people digging at Utica who were being openly fatphobic to Lawrence. Was what Utica did wrong? Yes. Should she be held to account for this? yes. Should she be sent death threats? no. All of this does not excuse the fact that she was given direct advice that her jokes were offensive and then carried on anyway. As a bigger gal, i found a lot of Uticas jokes to be offensive but there is a difference between calling somebody out and directly attacking them. I have also seen a lot of people attacking fellow fat folk who found Utica's jokes to be offensive so it is a double-edged sword
Utica had also proved that her jokes were just not funny, her Snatch game, her reading challenge. She just proved that she is VERY socially awkward, and even though she bombed, I still love her.
I don't think people were really offended by her jokes. Drag race fans love to jump on hate trains and hate for the sake of hating.
I agree the drag race team needs to ark up at the fans. The drag race team is in control of the editing and how queens are then perceived so they need to take some credit towards this. The drag race team needs to stick with the queens they employed and who have contracts with them not throw them to the pigs and relish in the spiked media it brings them.
In saying that the internet is sick. Sure there has always been trolls on the internet and sure there has always been hate spewed forth but the cancel culture is misguided on when it should be used. Everyone is just a bunch of people preaching high morale even they can not stand up to on the day to day and every celebrity is dragged for every minute detail.
I think Utica should have apologised because it showed growth and acceptance that what she said did hurt people. However, the backlash she received after apologising with people going "apology not accepted" while projecting stories from their bullies onto her.
The problem with Drag Race not specifically defending their queens when something like this happens is probably because they see these hate trains as free publicity for their show. Negative attention is still attention. It's sad to see that it is all at cost of the queens that put in their all to make an entertaining TV show. These queens should not be the punching bags of toxic nut jobs.
The villain edit they did on Utica definitely perpetuates the hate.
Kay Dwessie well Kandy Muse was a reformed villain edit, Rosè avoided the villain edit so why not pick on the nice weirdo?
In my experience, there are 2 particularly toxic behaviours that really bother me about drag race and its fandom. Number 1 is definitely the racism. It's absolutely disgusting how this show all about inclusivity has probably one of the worst problems of rampant racism in reality TV. I can't even comprehend it.
Number 2 is the culture surrounding "robbed queens". It's just so toxic because winners get sent death threats and are dragged on twitter at the end of every season and they are discredited and made to feel like they are unjustified. It gets super tiring because its the same thing repeated over and over again each season. It happened to Shea, Monet, Trixie, Jaida, Sasha, Alaska, Yvie... The only queen in recent memory that I don't think was attacked on social media for winning is Aquaria, but I might have just not noticed.
This toxicity and the lack of support from Drag Race has permanently ruined my enjoyment of the show, to the point where I'll only watch the challenge and the lipsync out of curiosity, if even that. I get more enjoyment out of The Pit Stop if I'm honest.
I will never forget when I first discovered drag race, binged all 9 seasons at the time over the summer, and I felt seen. I felt like I belonged and that there was some good in the world. Then it was all ruined when I was there when season 10 aired, and I saw the toxic culture surrounding drag race, and honestly I never looked at the show the same way. I have not watched a full episode of drag race since S10/AS3. Drag Race as a show needs to do better to address this toxicity, because it starts with them.
The fact season 13 was first time the show runners publically condemned "hate" towards a queen, Ala Kandy, is all the proof we need, where were they during s4 when Phi Phi was getting death threats and banned/attacked at bars? Or s9 when Nina Bo'Nina Brown was getting racist barrage after the lip sync with Valentina?
Just awful
I must've missed that article/social media post. Do you know where they addressed it? It's truly awful, there is not only a huge issue in the fandom when it comes to hateful fan behaviour in general, but it's closely linked to racism/transphobia in the fandom.
@@PopDropChannel the post was on Instagram, it was just a solid pink background wirh white letters saying something basic like “don’t spread hate”
That's actually not completely true. I remember in AS2 there was an plot point where the queens talked about the hate Phi Phi received and Alaska was asked again about the fandom in a confessional. The show has tackled it- though not well- and if fans were even a little intuitive they would have reflected on their own behaviour. Instead they sent hate to Jaremi after the Alyssa thing
@@neeliknowsnothing it is true, because a plot point versus production posting outside 4th wall are two hugely different things
Silky? Anyone?
broke lynn adressed this, saying that in order to be a good queen to the fans, you have to be perfect, but dont be perfect, be loud, but dont be loud, etc, etc. the queens are afraid to to mistakes bcs they would be cancelled. if you don't like a queen, just don't follow her, it's not that hard. other problem is that people disregard a queen's career bcs she didn't do good on rpdr.
What Brooke Lynn said was the real tea. A lot of fans don’t understand how a queen is on drag race isn’t a direct representation of how they are in real life. These fans need to understand that Drag Race is a show, and especially in these later seasons queens are given narratives that don’t portray them how they really are. The only reason you should visit and comment on a queen’s account is to show positivity, if you don’t like a queen literally just ignore them, and no one gets hurt. 👏🏾
Jaremi is literally the sweetest person and is still getting hate messages to this day. I follow him and it's so sad how often he has to make statements about putting aside phiphi and how it went too far
to this day??!!? omg, what is wrong with people? what are they trying to accomplish by doing that?
Jaremi has shown so much growth and maturity. The hate she is getting is disgusting
This isn’t really as bad as direct hate queens receive but it’s quite connected, one thing that’s exhausting about the fandom is the constant so and so was robbed crowd, I get that people are going to have those opinions but when there’s a sea of it in comment sections it’s just too much.
I imagine if Lawrence bothers, she must be so tired of reading ‘I love Lawrence but...’
I thought the win was deserved because judging by the performances and runway on that day, I think Lawrence’s runway was the best and her performance was decent mixed with how well she’s done throughout and Bimini can move on to great things, she doesn’t necessarily need to win
I agree completely.
I 100% agree. I can't imagine what it must feel like to win a reality TV program like Drag race and then go on the internet and see loads of people saying "I love you but so and so should have won". Lawrence was (and is) the true winner of RPDR UK season 2 for me because she made the season incredibly fun to watch and she was consistently doing well though out the competition.
Personally I had enough room in my heart to accept Lawrence or Bimini as winners I don’t understand this thing of rooting exclusively for one person ... fan dom
Is toxic but the way the production makes drama from nothing is bothering me .
I absolutely LOVED Lawrence, I also fell in love with Bimini. I personally don't feel Bimini was robbed. Were some queens in the past robbed? Sure, but that's not the winners fault. I am kinda over the whole Shangela was robbed from All Stars 2. Was she a contender? Yes. Was it Trixie's fault that the panel booted Shangela out? No. At the end of the day, it is just a tv show, and should be treated as such.
Kandy is probably one of the most abused queens we've ever seen. Go send kandy some love.
What irks me in particular about the Kandy situation is all the comments about her accent. The way fans treat queens with accents has never sat well with me
#isupportallqueens
@@sarahnorton360 tmw you make fun of someone with a speaking issue because you don't like them
@@supercullen0047 I don’t understand what you mean. I was saying that I do not like it when people complain about queens with accents. It is often a part of their culture, heritage or the fact that sometimes English is a second language. So I do not know what you meant in your comment.
@@sarahnorton360 Oh I'm so sorry, I was agreeing with you, that was aimed at the people who make fun of her accent, don't worry lol I messed up the context of the sentence
Why do people feel the need to message them directly and tell them so much shit? Like who you like, support them, and just don't interact with Queens you don't like. That's not rocket science! Sending Queens hate isn't going to accomplish anything, why can't people realise that?
Yes!
This is most of the US’s societal ills. The “first world” has too much time and anger on their hands.
People use online conversations as a way to get their negative emotions out into the universe. They use it like some kind of f*cked up therapy session and end up attacking others. it's psychotic.
The only two times I can recall production stepping in, was Jasmine Masters where Ru said the fans had gone too far, and Valentina who was shamed during the reunion that she hadn't curbed her fans toxic behavior (but in that case, I almost feel it's the opposite since production was very happy to imply it was all Valentina's fault). Probably the worse offender is as you mentioned Phi Phi, Ru going on the reunion and calling Phi Phi a liar, basically reinforcing her as a target. It's really unfortunate, Drag Race is no longer purely a celebration of drag, but a heteronormative capitalist property which the show seems fine using their talented girls to move their agenda.
Yes!! Has it ever been addressed by production or RuPaul? It is really sad how all queens are terrified to be themselves on screen for the fear of getting demolished by fans... I mean just look at dragrace Thailand, the contestants feel sooo much more geninue and down to earth and the drama and commentary feels natural and unscripted... I'm just saying
Political correctness will be the death of drag, its become so sanitized and its losing its edge.
@@leelee2350 Political correctness would make toxic fandom taboo, greatly reducing the hate mail, discrimination, hate crimes, and trolling of drag queens.
Is no one gonna talk about Asia from season 10 (one of my favs) she got people telling her they would throw ACID on her
They said that about phi phi too
huh a mess chile
was it beacuse of the butterflies..
@@skintyputa9568 Probably that and the comments about Miz Cracker
@@aldricmartinez-olson7509 they really doing the most for the smallest things
It's weird and scary how people behave online. Do they have that hate in their minds IRL but they just hide it - are they interacting with people normally but screaming inside for someone random to kill themself? Or do they forget people on TV and in the internet are real people?
Can someone who does that still be a relatively healthy person? Or are they all broken and deeply troubled? Are they all very young people with little life experience?
I want studies.
I have disliked contestants on RPDR. Some have been super annoying, immature, mean, obnoxious and tiring. I've gotten angry/frustrated if they've gotten favored by the judges over my own favorite.
Yet I feel *absolutely no need* to send them nasty messages or say something overtly nasty about them online ...not to mention to wish bad things for them. And I certainly won't be thinking they have done something bad personally to me that would warrant me feeling personally attacted and lash at them. I mean someone would have to really do some horrible things to me for me to react like these "fans".
I also realize the bigger picture of how my actions and words can affect other people, and how they can play a part in a bigger picture, AND that my opinions aren't generally more important than other peoples' and don't necessarily ...well, interest anyone.
I don't think I'm special or wonderful because of this. Aren't most people like that??
There is also toxicicity being camouflaged into love comments,toxic fans regularly hide behind the "i love you but"comments
Examples:"i love lawrence but bimini was soooo robbed,lawrence shouldve never won im so mad grrrr"
"I love symone but she is getting favoured,she always plays the same character"(wich BTW its her drag character,not a character she created for the show,also her way of talking is just...a blaccent she has)
Or "i love jaida but gigi was so robbed,i cant believe they let her wn just bc she is black😤"
But then they fat shame lawrence and defend elliott and sharon so we know who is lying
I agree so much. Or you see comments like "I'm not a big fan of *insert queen's name" but I liked that one thing you did on episode blah blah blah". Why can't you just give a compliment without stating you don't like them overall. I just don't get that.
@@jasminvidovic60 literally
Okay. Interesting theory, yet you are missing some important socio-psychological issues. The show promotes 'reading', 'roasting' and generally bitchy behaviour as being normal and okay amongst drag queens. Given the vast majority of fans are young and lack the emotional maturity to understand the nuance between the on-show nastiness and acceptable real-world behaviour, you can understand where they get the idea to behave like this. The show is essentially role-modelling behaviour to the fans. If they want to change the fans they need to change the show. As you pointed out, Rupaul is not really interested in changing anything, so...
I've started calling some of the toxic fans out. For example some of these "fans" posted hateful comments on Lawrence Chaney's RUclips videos after she won. I mostly just asked why they were so hateful about a TV show. It didn't always work but some of them obviously didnt like being confronted and deleted their comments.
sending hate is legit the trashiest thing
I've already seen people make up crazy rumors about Trixie Mattel being racist and shit all because she won All Stars 3 instead of Shangela 😐
One of the biggest problem is that the majority if the « fandom » don’t know shit about drag or the concept
I think Brita Filter is actually an important part of this story
Rita Baga had a similar issue in Canada's Drag Race.
For winning. There is no winning with some of the fan base.
The people who dislike this video are a toxic fan
I think it’s necessary to think as well about how prevalent racism is in the fanbase, I think that’s so prevalent in his the season 11 narrative enabled so much racist behaviour towards rajah and silky
What I hate is that the same people that complain that the season is boring, uneventful, and has no drama would get angry and send hate to any of the queens who started that drama. “Ooh we hate Kandy with a passion “ But they were living for the drama and (FINALLY) a fun and juicy untuck moment that was manifested by the hated queen of the season Kandy.
IMHO, I feel like the toxic community makes the season not fun for anyone and it’s makes the queen cautious of what they say or do.
I hope other agree on this, but Shea Coulee would’ve been eliminated the moment she was in the bottom in AS if the queens didn’t have to worry about the toxicity. Shea was the front runner the moment she step out in the werkroom. It is a strategy to take out the strongest competition and if I wanted to have a chance at winning, I would take that bitch down the moment she’s in the bottom. But imagine the fandom if Juju or the other girls voted her off. They would’ve been livid, send death threats, and calling everyone slurs.
I feel like the queen, in the back of their heads, thought that they would be risking their career and mental health over the hates of the fans. Just found out that Brita almost overdosed because the hate from her season.
Toxic Fandoms are runing RuPaul Drag Race
People need to realize that there‘s a difference between the character we see on TV (so the edit etc) the character they actually want to play (because drag is after all an act in a way) and the real person behind all that. All three things can be completely different and there‘s is no problem with that.
oh man, had a looong conversation with friends about this just a bit ago after the utica backlash. I feel like because of the way fans treat queens who slightly misstep or are just a bit confident (Kandy, Brita, etc.) the drama and "realness" of the show has become much more toned down. I don't wanna imagine how these fans would've treated some early seasons moments. Thank you for saying all of this, it's a really good video!
What makes this fandom is prone to petty, mean, and cruel comments is that they cannot abide people having different opinions and that's fine as long as it doesn't cross lines.
They often respond too far by calling and insulting names instead of having civilized discussions and agree to disagree.
No mention of the toxic and bitter hatred towards Kandy this season? It has been absolutely disgusting.
It’s probably because a large number of fans are 13-25. Let’s be honest this is most people’s most toxic ages.
Why is that?
@@darlalathan6143 people’s brains just aren’t fully developed till then.
Dont feed this troll
I'm in between that and I'm so grateful that I'm not toxic, IT'S A HEAVILY EDITED DRAG QUEEN COMPETITION, DONT TAKE IT SO SERIOUS!
@@vazidajetako period
I'll never forgive the show for how it treated Phi Phi, twice. In AS2, her criticisms of Alyssa were 100% spot on, but most of the fandom can't handle that. The Vixen was spot on for calling out the racism of the fandom, and many other queens who are hated are only hated because they spoke an uncomfortable truth. Meanwhile, queens like Alyssa can be a straight up bully, but people laugh and call it "being shady" when it's just being mean.
Vixen was a bully who created a toxic situation for every other contestant there. The Vixen doesn't care about anyone else's feelings other than her own.
It's reality TV in general really. People used to yell at their TV their unfiltered thoughts that nobody asked and nobody wants to hear. Now, however they can send a message directly to the contestant they don't like, add a splash of inflated sense of self-importance and a pinch of 'good person' syndrome and BAM toxicity.
At the end of the day, it is a show for entertainment. Drama is part of it, and it is meant to evoke reaction from viewers. This is why the show is a success. When people stop talking about something, that show will soon be dead. Fans these days just can't handle it. Very easily swayed by emotions, and the first reaction is always hatred. I miss when people are more mature.
Completely, you can enjoy TV drama, but taking that to the people in the show themselves is just immature and rude.
It is 100% a maturity thing. I love the drama but also understand these are human beings working in a stressful environment on a produced reality tv show.
Well said.
I agree with everything that was said here. And I do think it is the show's fault that this is happening and here's why: Drag, as an artform (at least about 10 years or so ago, idunno it still is in my country) was an underground culture with a limited audience and a niche and a purpose, that everybody knew u needed to have balls to do as a career. Now because of drag race it has become so mainstream, the audiences have become oversaturated to the point of drag queens becoming almost disposable to the franchise and to the world itself, between up to four seasons with at least a dozen queens per season being introduced to us, it has become like football or baseball where the players are devalued: for example, Tina is 'just another campy comedy queen,' Utica is 'just another cooky weird queen,' Silky is 'just another plus size queen,' Plastique is 'just another iG fave.' The show almost does a disservice of typecasting the queens as 'the catcher' and 'the pitcher' and so on, that this delicate art of expression through gender and craft that takes hours on a daily btw and has traditions such as reading and catfighting and emotional safety between the sisterhood, has turned into 'bring a snatch game character,' 'bring a 10 000 dollar ball look (or ull get yelled at for wearing h&m),' 'dont forget about the lip sync reveals and stunts,' 'defo learn how to sew and sing cuz ull get eliminated' and my least favorite 'dont say anything remotely problematic or fight with anybody cuz ull get crucified on twitter.' And to me one of the problems also seems to be that the fans not only come for the queens so hard, they also declare newcomer queens, who have had a mediocre run on drag race at best, as the renovators of drag: Denali is a good example of the internets new fan favorite and 'lip sync goddess,' when these fans havent watched the first ten seasons of the show and dont know years and years of material on the table, case in point being Dida Ritz, Detox, Trinity K Bonet, Laganja, Delta work, and by far the most underrated season as of late, my fave Season 2, cast of which is globally forgotten. This is where I think All Stars has wronged the queens the most, because instead of bringing queens like Jessica Wild, Nina Flowers, Yara Sofia, Dida Ritz, Ivy Winters, Shanell, Joslyn Fox or Max which have all been fan favorites, they bring back queens from the last season so that Cracker and Blaire cash their checks, and Jan gets her redemption and wins the crown.
I think Drag Race is gonna die soon, but I do look forward to UK season 3, Canada season 2 and the Down Under season. All of them will air before season 13 decides to finish so who cares at this point.
You've made some amazing points, thank you and I agree completely that the queens from earlier seasons deserve to have more visibility. Drag race suffers from oversaturation and I'm afraid that its popularity will dwindle in a couple of years.
While I agree with you that, particularly in the newer seasons, Queens get put into an archetype (I mean just look at how all the plus-size/bigger girls all get a very similar edit) but we can't gatekeep and claim that newer fans of drag race (and drag as an art form) can't think a queen like Denali is amazing at lipsyncing just because there are people who are better than her. The older seasons have their problems as well and are not perfect at all (just look at the number of times queens get criticized for looking too 'manly') and to imply that they are is just wrong. We can have our opinions about seasons and queens but to imply that other people's opinions are wrong just because they haven't watched as much drag race as you isn't a good look.
@@jenblack98 thank u, i failed to make it clear that im talking about the queens and the fandom specifically, not the judging. it is a WHOOOLE another can of worms and was arguably questionable from the very beginning, im remembering instances of Jade being told that she was a hung woman and Michelle hating on Alexis' boobs, but that's besides the point. i loved Denali throughout the season, that was unfortunately the only example that came to mind, but honestly that is the best example because, as Tayce showed us on UK2, lip syncs are a great way of being memorable. That's why we remember Latrice's lip syncs, Trinity K's lip syncs, that's why we remember Alyssa vs Coco, Alyssa vs Tatiana, Alyssa vs Detox, but even shut up and drive and sorry not sorry didnt get the reaction of 'this bitch reinvented lip syncing' (which technically can only be said about Sasha Velour). Yes, Denali's lip sync is prolly in the top 5 but it certainly doesnt deserve such overappreciation, through which i wanna indicate a toxic trait of the fanbase that THIS QUEEN IS THE ONE AND THE ONLY AND EVERYBODY BEFORE DOESNT MATTER AND EVERYBODY AFTER IS A WANNABE: Jynx could be an example, as DeLa, Robbie and many theater kid queens were compared to her a lot and the fans completely forgot about Pandora Boxx (often said to be the original Jynx Monsoon) but Eureka is another one, as whenever it came to the topic of 'shaping for your body' everybody on the internet was comparing said queen to Eureka, as if she invented padding. Idunno maybe im just too agitated by drag race fans now, but sometimes u just wanna turn off instagram on the weekend and enjoy the show like u did three/fivr years ago. Fuck it really has been so long.
@@pyrolusite_d I think Trixie is a good example. Whenever anyone has a similar makeup style to Trixie they are always copying Trixie even if they have been doing that makeup style long before Trixie. It's like Drag race girls can't have the same inspiration and not be called a copycat.
@@jenblack98 yeah thats what im getting at. im glad that more people are noticing this and influencers like moviebitches are calling it out. damn 13 really is the cursed number after all.
I think another aspect to the Toxic Fandom is the racism. Many queens of colour for modern seasons have been getting the villain edit (The Vixen, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Brita, Kandy Muse) and on top of that, the fandom is really eager to jump on that hate train and bully POC (Asia O'Hara, Naomi Smalls, Olivia Lux). Its really sad to see such hatred in a community that preaches love and support. The show doesnt help that either when its main perspective is ratings and drama.
Yessss, RPDR is so racist.
Another example is Phi Phi!!
The fandom holds the queens to standards that the fandom cannot hold itself to. The worst thing that happened to the show was the 14-16 year old stan kids on Twitter who desperately want to cancel queer artists for an out of context statement they said on MySpace in 2004
You could have ended this video at 0:03 seconds in and I would have yelled “PREACH GURL PREACH”
The fact that there isn't ANY effort to curb the toxicity from the producers AND the hosts of the show, just enforces the toxicity even more. Producer's Drag Race don't care about the Drag Queens, they are just a cog... a tool... and it's sad not gonna lie.
Exactly. Let the fans do what they want. U can’t censor us
my main problem with the drag race format is that it does anything but prepare them for being famous, it literally just thrusts them on stage and tells them to work it out and parades them around like a circus. which is sad.
I feel like the only way RPDR ( the producers or RuPaul himself) take awareness about the unnecessary hate towards queens from the toxic fandom side is if one of the queen's (former or new contestants) committed suicide because of the social media harassment.
I hope am i wrong.
Listen, I was a brony and part of the steven universe fandom. Some of the nicest, warmest shows can be some of the meanest and gatekeepiest
a lot of the worst toxicity I've seen has actually been towards anyone who comments anything other than positive about the show. I saw someone say they weren't sure if Olivia's niceness was genuine ( not my opinion) and anyone would think they said they eat babies or something with the amount of hate they got, and was accused of racism even though they said Simone was their favourite and race had nothing to do with the reasons given. Another person said something about this seasons having some really bad looks and they were torn apart like a dog toy. like yes Don't bully queens but Don't bully anyone who isn't 100% happy and sunshine to every aspect of the show. some things fans aren't gonna like or agree with like was Kandy's lip sync really so good to call her back or did they just need even numbers for the makeover.? Not her fault and people shouldn't hate her for it but can no one say anything like that without being compared to Hitler.
And they should stop over producing the show.. let it flow. Like UK Season 2. They can’t edit in the UK against Queens like they do in the US and it still came out perfect!!! UK S2 was so good, and it felt more like a real competition. Bring that same feeling BACK to the US version PLEASE!!!
Why is the worst thing about any show etc. how so called "fans' behave? It's really disappointing. And I can't understand why fans go after certain queens when it really comes down to judges/producers/editing which winners are crowned or why someone goes home etc. The Queens have no control over that. And at the end of the day, it's just a tv show. But these queens are real people and no one deserves to be bullied just by appearing on a tv show.
it breaks my heart hearing about how all the hate has effected some queens. a lot of the girls who get villain edits have had rough up bringings and put a defense up bc they don’t want to be hurt. it’s just really sad and disappointing to see from fans bc we’re supposed to celebrate the art of drag and instead some queens have stopped doing drag bc of the fanbase :/
Imo the decision to crown Lawrence over Bimini was really irresponsible of the producers... that’s not to say that Lawrence isn’t a worthy winner, I love her! However, after the returning episode Bimini quickly became fan favourite and the front runner whereas Lawrence’s run from that point seemed to almost go downhill until the final few episodes.
Every season of drag race is obviously rigged to some extent, whether that’s to cause drama, set someone up to win or fail, etc. But this decision seemed to go in the opposite direction of where we were being steered as an audience? Bimini had 4 wins, the most high fashion looks of the season and had just come of another great performance (where the win could have easily gone to Lawrence if they wanted to reappoint her as ‘the one to beat’), it just seemed like Bimini was set to win and then it just... didn’t happen?
A backlash seemed inevitable and unfortunately Lawrence had to take brunt of that.
Obviously I’m not saying toxic fans should be able to control the show but it could at least produced in a way that keeps us on the same path and not pretend like the audience has any say in the matter with the ‘Team____’ hashtags (where Bimini has x5 the engagement as Lawrence) because this is only going to fuel a sense of entitlement and frustration when it doesn’t go as expected.
I've been trying to find some fun conversation about RPDR on Reddit, and a lot of those people are insane about the show. They actually think the producers of Rupauls Drag Race are watching Reddit to see how they are going to produce the next season. They're completely delusional.
I only got into the Drag race last month after I started watching season 2 of the UK and now that it's over i feel put off to interact in the fandom. It was great though to see some of the UK contestants defend Lawrance and even talk about the issue that Lawrance sometimes takes a bad challenge too much to heart.
also I love the bimini quote at the end, so iconic!
There is no guaranteed (mostly) sane place to talk about it. Where you can cheer and recognize that some did not have a good night and not bash the person themselves.
There are some queens that didn’t give me the greatest impression. That said, attacking them for behavior on a show that is not only heavily edited but also a giant pressure cooker is really dumb. Everyone at one point in their lives acts like a brat, it’s just not on tv. I mean a loudmouthed drag Queen? Why I’ve never heard of such a thing! (Sarcasm)
Yeah you are right about this like gia Gunn on all stars they made her the villain edit just like phi phi o hara and because of this I stopped watching the show
Gia Gunn is a villain. She takes all of the negatives qualities of a woman that she thinks makes a real woman..being catty..bitchy..etc..she's BEAUTIFUL but her insides are ugly af
@@jasperwellington11 Did we watch the same video? You're part of the problem.
Wow, I thought your channel was so much bigger by the quality of the video and editing! Great job, seems like the algorithm is favouring you rn, at least in the RPDR fandom :D Good luck with your channel, I'll look out for more videos!
I remember when I was a kid on RUclips and the first drag queen I saw was Petrilude (non Italian one - in that case I'd like to introduce everyone to Platinette, the Italian Lady Bunny). I was so amazed by them and now that I'm 28 I love watching drag race, it's the only telly I watch. My question is: how can someone hate a queen because of the edit/stuff said on TV? There are queens in real life that have caused harm, triggers, without even apologising because "that's their brand and they do it to shock people". And I am not talking about those who apologised and show remorse.
We need a video discussing the difference between toxic and opinions, so many people didn't understand, even at one point I didn't understand (never sent deaththreats or hate to anyone, just didn't understand) and I think that'll help as some people just people say things and think if others can say it why can't I. I think this video is important but we need more explenation.
I mean the producers of the show itself choose people like Silky Nutmeg Ganache (no hard feelings towards Silky) who put on a show for the camera and create (intentional) drama and discards of people like Bendela Creme, who “hide behind a costume” a.k.a “you’re giving us nothing to work with. You act like any decent human being would and it’s creating a shitty image on the other contestants “ so we are going to rid of you.
Well
Producers shouldn’t make certain queens look like violent bullies
I will NEVER understand why fans feel the need too bully or go for a queen that beat another queen in a lipsync? We don’t deserve drag race if this carry’s on. I mean I think an opinion about a queen is fine weather it was an opinion on the lipsyncing or the winner but that’s an opinion not bullying.. people seriously need too stop with the threatening and everything else. It’s so childish. In my point of view if you can take the fact your favourite lost don’t watch it. End of. It isn’t the queens fault if they beat another queen.
Same goes for Brita Filter. She's such a nice person but because of the edit she got on the show she got death threats over social media. That's really messed up. She had to quit social media for a while because it was too much for her. I think the fans sometimes forget that the queen they are attacking online is a real person with real feelings and that they made it onto the show because they are talented. And they should be celebrated instead of torn down. They didn't give themselves these edits. If you have been in a live from Brita you can see she is actually a really fun person and she's a great performer too. Sending death threats is wrong. If you don't like a queen on the show, say so but do it in a respectful way. Everyone will have a favorite queen and a least favorite queen. But just know that whatever you say about your least favorite queen could be read by that queen so be respectful.
@@chado2226 The worst comes out of us on reality tv. Also, without Brita we wouldn't have had that iconic untucked. She obviously showed growth by the reunion and people just can't acknowledge it.
I agree that fans should never in any situation send hate comments to the queens. I, however; disagree about the producers being the ones who pick and choose the villains based on the examples given: PhiPhi and Roxy. The producers can't fake confessionals, they can't fake footage. Especially in PhiPhi and Roxy's seasons.They came off the way they did because that is the way they truly acted on the show. No amount of editing would have changed that.
Now, I'm not about to send comments to them to tell them what I think of them, in fact I never have, but that's what the issue is: Stop sending hate!
we also have to call out that the drag race “fans” are RACIST. I’ve seen so many people come for the queens of color and say slurs to them. Please support your queens of color and show them love 💕
Remember what r/RPDR did to The Vixen? Yea...
Great video btw! You have a great script and deliver it wonderfully with nice videos playing as you speak, love finding new dragrace related channels and I can totally see yours trending in a near future! Looking forward to more content! 🥰😊✊
I agree 100%!! Fans are toxic as hell!! From the end of her season, I was a little disappointed you didn’t mention Tyra Sanchez...she has received hate and abuse for YEARS and left by her ‘sisters’ and the show to fend for herself! She initially remained quiet until she reached her breaking point and blasted EVERYONE! And
now she’s depicted as a villain but no one wants to address how she was pushed to that point! Everyone has a limit and when she’s reached hers; they tried to make it her fault!!! Social media always provides anonymity to fans that think they have the right to say whatever they want behind a screen and in private cuz no one knows it them!!! It’s coward behavior!!
I always gave Phiphi slack because it’s produced show! I knew that Phiphi was a character and Jeremy was a different person. I was very disappointed that Jeremy chose to pile on Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman during that judging shit show and the bloodbath for JBC. I was baffled that someone who suffered probably the worst blow-back online would do that. He has lots of followers too. He added to it rather than say it was wrong to take it so seriously. 🤷🏻♀️
#isupportallqueens
Spread the word
They bully black queens on a show created by a black Queen. It’s so wild to me how fucking violently racist the fans are to the black queens . If it wasn’t for a black Queen, WE WOULDN’T EVEN HAVE THIS. The irony always makes me angry lol
You don’t have to like all the queens but that doesn’t mean it’s your personal mission to ruin their life just because they aren’t your cup of tea. Look at trixie Matel and katya, on their seasons they weren’t big personalities. They are known for their shows outside of drag race and that’s why people love them. Just because you see someone one way on one show doesn’t mean that they’re always like that.
It’s a TV show people! The drag style of some queens may not be your cup of tea...but don’t be an a..hole! Respect them for their creativity, uniqueness, nerve and talent!
The fandom is so toxic that I can’t and won’t interact with it. Especially with the children that watch this show. If drag race kept it’s viewers to 18+, we wouldn’t have this issue.
lol it’s not just people under 18 that make the fandom toxic,it’s honestly mostly adults
@@lizzygrant2518 I’ve never seen adults doing this type of thing. Mostly high school aged fans. Is gross either way, but the children in the fandom don’t make things any better. This show isn’t for kids!!
@@Insulindependantfati Most of the people I see being horrible are in their 20's (i say this as a 22-year-old).
yeah no, its true that a lot of teens a the ones being hateful but I can not tell you the amount of angry millennials that I had to endure on this fandom
@@noweliad9349 yeah, sorry, but I don’t know. I’ve seen more gen z people than millennials. I don’t think that the millennials are the problem.
very good video ! i just wish you would’ve talked more about how queens of colors are particularly targeted by toxic fans but it was so interesting otherwise :)
And the producers can literally edit Ru in saying stuff about the toxic fandom with the same tools they use to edit Joey aka disqualified pie
i'm surprised i'm not the only one who refers to Pi as Joey.
I couldn't agree more. As someone who is a few seasons new, Drag Race 11 was my first, I fell in love the art of drag that I ended up binging the entire series, and really loved a few of the colourful people on the show, and while I did not think very highly of Silky, I would never have thought to activily seek out and actively attack them. If I am not a fan, I just won't follow.
I think the show would also be better if there was an actual scoring system, From run way, to challenges to lip sync.
And instead of having Prewritten scripts allow the Queens to make changes, or only set the scene and characters for them then they are in charge of the rest
I didn't know Brita overdosed. That really takes me aback.
When will people stop being mad at the queens for being favored?? It's not their fault! And why would they argue? If the producers or judges want to favor you for h the top, what are you going to do? Say no way please send me home?
I get it's not fair, but if that's the way the show is running, we can't get mad at the queens for that.
nice video, but you should put subtitles and some canvas explaining the topics like
- “who is responsible for the toxic behaviour of the fandom?” and etc
RPDR is unique in that it is pretty much the only reality show with a global fanbase, where every season is watched globally, hence the fanbase is much bigger. I think any fanbase can have its toxic element, but because RPDR's fanbase is so big, we notice it much more. I do think that the producers make this problem worse, by deliberately editing queens to look bad and not doing anything to address the hate when it inevitably comes their way. We still clearly have a long way to go when it comes to taking care of reality TV contestants properly. Unfortunately we have seen the negative effects of this in recent years in the UK, with several Love Island contestants committing suicide. I sincerely hope it does not keep getting worse and worse for Drag Race contestants, rather I'd like to see the problem properly addressed by the production team, and RuPaul herself, at some point.
I think people forget that drag from the very beginning has always been controversial or against the norm like for example when Rupaul wore a confederate flag dress and I think with the show going more mainstream, people are going to hold them to the norm which is exactly what drag has been against plus in this day and age with cancel culture added on to it. I don't think a lot of fans know the history of drag while also forgetting that it's a reality show and a competition. Regardless of if people like a queen or not they make the show entertaining.
Honestly the way they edit the show can truly convince you to think certain ways about queens, I especially disliked Roxxxy, Phi Phi & Silky while watching the show, because the editing makes them seem to come across as cruel, as an adult I can differentiate the queens portrayals on the show vs what they’re actually like as humans. But I think the problem occurs especially with younger fans who do not realise it is an extremely edited show which portrays a hyper reality, which then they take the hate they garner from the show into the real world and onto the queens. I think educating some of the younger fans could really help lower the toxicity and hate that the queens get.
Just to clarify I do not hate the queens I mentioned 😅 more like just disliked them on the show as characters. I follow all the queens and support them all outside the show. I just think the fans need to be taught what is real and what is just TV, and I think the producers of the show should really be going out of their way to protect the queens from this hate.
I've been in fandoms before the advent of the Web (Anime and Gaming). It wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. Information is so EASILY shared now and I believe it also makes it easier for words to be misunderstood. I think people forget that "Reality TV" isn't really 'real'. It tends to be heavily edited and at the end of the day, it's all about entertainment. It's why I rarely watch Reality TV anymore. Heck it's sad, but I dropped watching S13 because I was getting tired of all the obvious overproduction. I feel so bad for those who get such hate. It feels like people have forgotten to be sympathetic. I would ask those people- "Would you want to be treated that way?"
This is a great video. Have subscribed
I have been a fan of drag race since the very first season and have been to many many live shows
I dont understand sending queens hate, if you dont like or agree move on. No need to hurt anyone else
I agreed with everything said, but I’ll just point out what a quality video that was
Not only that if you give a different opinion on a queen the fandom will attack you . hypocrites they will legit bully you
I wish they'd get actual help post show
When I see posts on Twitter from Bianca calling Bimini robbed this is a contribution to toxicity !
I don’t believe that calling a queen “robbed” is toxic. People are allowed to like one queen more than another or have opinions that someone did better than someone else. What is toxic is those people who don’t say “I believe Bimini should have won” but instead say condescending and/or threatening things to Lawrence. People need to realize that you can support your favorite queen without putting down others
It’s not that I’m sad about. I’m sad that the winner (forgot her name, please tell me) was extremely hated after her win. This is basically Tyra Sanchez part 2
It’s not just the fans in some cases... its judges, ex competitors, and celebrities.
In the case of the judges being toxic, one person does come to mind... Rupaul herself. She has had a transphobic past and has done or said some shit. But not just Ru, Michelle hasn’t been the best to some competitors. She attacked Carmen Carrera in interviews even though Carmen has said in interviews that her and Michelle had a mother daughter relationship.
Where ex competitors being toxic com into play would be Nina Bonina Brown being transphobic towards Gottmik. And Raven is just racist Periodt
Now celebrities coming for the girls... a good example is Patricia Quinn, or to be précis a friend of hers, coming for Aiden Zhane just last season... all for a failed snatch game attempt. Now did Aiden fail, Yes she did. Did she know her references, No she did not. BUT you don’t see Patrick Starr coming for Kandys performance, or Bob Ross coming out of the grave to come for Utica.
Now obviously I’m not trying belittle what queens have been through, i am just trying to say that the fans are not the only toxic ones.
This is a great video, you deserve more subs
Gurl next your gonna tell me that water is wet...
the show creates hate for clout. If they’d choose more compassionate storytelling there’d be much more loving reactions and less hate.
Where do people find that the fandom is toxic??? I watch drag race for years and i never encounted any toxicity
Oh...it's maybe social media which is toxic!
I don't have any social media maybe that's why!
uhh... newflash: youtube is social media too.
I've never understand why people go so hard for their favorites. I love the show and have seen every season of the American RuPaul's drag race but I have never gone online ranting and raving about any of the Queens.
What do you mean ru's questionable ethics? I thought we were past questioning their existence
I hate how so much people dislike gottmik for being favored. Like what even is that argument??
I wouldn't say hate, but it's kinda hard to root for someone who's being favoured
Lol “hate” is a strong word for someone who’s getting more than a 100 thousand likes on every post on ig.
Yeah same she doesnt deserve the hate she gets BUT Kandy gets hate too for nothing
@@samuli1212 I agree it's not their fault they get favored we should hate production
@@dragosbeat yeas!