RuPaul's Drag Race and the Art of Parody
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- Опубликовано: 27 фев 2020
- Get a month of Dashlane Premium for free at dashlane.com/sarahz ! RuPaul's Drag Race is the fascinating case study of a show that started out as parody and turned into a reality TV juggernaut. How did this happen? An exploration of reality television, the art of parody, and why we stan Jinkx Monsoon.
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Music by Zoë Blade and used with permission. 
Развлечения
I'M ROXXXY ANDREWS AND I'M HERE TO MAKE IT CLEAR
I KNOW YOU LOVE ME BABY THAT'S WHY YOU BROUGHT ME HERE
@@SarahZ WAS A BITCH ON SEASON 5 I'M GONNA MAKE IT RIGHT
@@BradleyBoy GIVE ME A SEWING CHALLENGE AND I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU LIKE
@@eoincampbell1584 I'M FULL OF TRICKS, BABY, JUST LIKE ON HALLOWEEN
@@CyberChamp A ROOM FULL OF MONSTERS AND IT MAKES ME WANNA SCREAM
Remember kids, doing things ironically is a gateway drug to doing them unironically
God if this isn’t me
Yep. That's how I became a communist
@@andrewnovak1390 hey wait a minute
schrödingers irony
oh no
Oh like how the Simpsons was a parody of family sitcom tropes that became a classic family sitcom itself
... Except that Simpsons wasn't one. It partially turned into one because of how long it runned.
It started as a really straight to point cookie cutter family sitcom
MrBowser No, it was always meant to be subversive and irreverent from the start, mocking and deconstructing the traditional sitcom. After going on so long it gradually became the thing it mocked simply by necessity of creating more and more stories
incepption
very good example that i hadnt considered
@loveutill theendoftimes watch SuperEyepatchWolf's video on the fall of the Simpsons for a good version of the story.
I think it’s so true that parody has to be made with love. Grown men who hated twilight (because it was so loved by teenage girls) will never be able to make a good twilight parody. people who loved twilight understand why it was so loved and really understand it enough to play with the ideas. Even tho 50 shades isn’t a parody, the author was able to capture what made twilight so popular because she herself loved twilight.
Yeah, a parody without love is either satire or just being shitty
No wonder the worst parodies, are made by people who hate the product.
That's the challenge of good parody; if you want to parody something you have to understand it more completely than most of the people writing in the space. You need to create something that actively engages far more of the genre standards than most works do, while having at least one actual point to make about the genre, and managing to still be an enjoyable show. A good parody has to work as a fully-functional example of the genre as well as being its own meta-layer. The very best parody is also deconstruction, taking a genre to pieces specifically to go through its pieces and rebuild it stronger than it has been before.
Missed opportunity: switching outfits yourself before the point about editing confessionals, would be a real mind bender! :D
Doing a reveal while also doing death drop from a celling would also be a great way of making fun of recent finales. What a waste
And completely editing the whole video out of context to make it entirely about Um, Actually!
A perfect cup of tea.
I started watching around season three and it has been really interesting to see how it has changed over the years. One of the things that really bothers me about the later seasons is how they now expect every contestant to have these amazing well made costumes. But obviously, not everyone can afford to have these costumes and will get critiqued for this. At the beginning of the show, this wasn't a big part of it and I wish they had kept that attitude.
Yeah and they'll say "that's not an excuse" and like. Even if it's not, it's a hell of a lot easier to make/buy dresses if you have money and they should take that into account
i seethed when michelle told chi chi "you don't need money" before reading her for not having money
Yes, I think this is an aspect that made the UK version feel a little awkward: Ru and Michelle didn't seem to understand British sensibilities about wealth and displaying wealth, and then the winner was the most "American" style performer, who fairly obviously has plentiful finances. The show will continue to be popular, but I'm curious how the UK version develops and what subsequent winners will represent.
I hope you guys know thar every contestant gets money before the show to invest in gowns and stuff,m
@@666Blush money from who?
As far as I know a lot of them have to borrow money or even take out loans to have all the outfits ready and more than half of them won't even be able to showcase those outfits
I'm so concerned about how close she is to spilling her tea and I don't know what to do about it
I was really confused for a moment. Until I realized you mean that literally not figueratively. ( is that how it's spelled? Sry I'm german)
Lea Sidon oh my gosh thanks for the laugh :’)
i don't know what you're talking about, she's constantly spilling tea
@@leafreya2896 *figuratively
You were really close! Don't feel bad because a lot of native English speakers can't even spell it.
@@averagechannelname9969 I'm a Spaniard and I just have my autocorrect in English to avoid terrible misspelling xD (for example I would have written "misspelling" as "mispelling" if it wasn't for the autocorrect).
what we do in the shadows is probably the greatest parody i've ever seen, period. it understands every vampire trope under the sun (or moon, as it were) and makes fun of them perfectly, all the while crafting likeable characters with arcs, and a hilarious and at times heartfelt story. it makes fun of everything Vampiric, but the love for the original stories they're parodying shines through in how well made it is. unlike every twilight parody out there, they're laughing WITH vampire fans, not at them
Idk if you’re talking about the show or the movie, but i completely agree. It’s the most loving, satirical, hilarious, well made, underrated parody I’ve ever seen. One of my favorite pieces of parody and comedy of all time
werewolves, not swearwolves
I fucking agree. It picks at the tiniest stereotypes and then takes the joke seriously.
thank you!!! this show cannot get enough love. it's so incredible and hilarious
@@dshill180 lol I was going to comment this 😂
I went to a local drag show this week and it illustrated to me very clearly how much Drag Race suffers for not being inclusive. That show had a hyper-queen (/bioqueen but I don't like that word very much) nipple-clip her labia set to Rihanna, a drag king doing an appeal about mental health and hitting a blunt on stage, and a queen performing to Contrapoints quotes and Within Temptation. It was so much more interesting than a lot of recent drag race and genuinely engaging with the diversity of performers and all I remember thinking was, "Wow, I wish there was more stuff like this in Drag Race."
Yes! Ru is trash who shit all over the entire community that created the very thing he built his success on.
I'd love to see that show.
OwenSøund Rupaul only wants mini Rupauls on tv. And no one else
Watch dragula! IS AMAZING!!!!
It's so sad because at this point there are queens in states and countries that have never been on drag race like Idaho or Iowa because nowadays all rupaul wants is queens from New York or LA and if queens from other states are on then they will typically go home early
I’m really curious, what were the contrapoints quotes? I love her videos xx
How can you say you have Jinkx Monsoon themed tattoo and NOT SHOW IT?! Her storyline on Drag Race Season 5 helped me go through some really heavy shit in my life, so I love this little Sarah Z trivia.
same! Jinkx will always be my fav part of drag race
Ok but same--
Jinkx is an absolute gem
Ok but she said it’s something to do with her catchphrase,so maybe it’s a duck with water going down it’s back?
that tea sloshing about in the cub was making me nervous as it was almost spilling over the edge.
Hahaha same!
I watched it for a good minute haha
Me too
OMG me too, I could still pay attention but I was so worried she was gonna get burned
She's able to shake her tea so freely because she's all "Water off a duck's back!" about it 🦆💦
I was surprised you didn't bring up Laganja, because she's such an interesting example to discuss in light of both of your insights about the show. The producers didn't allow her to have access to her meds and then milked all the instability in her behaviour for all it was worth; and her constant use of catchphrases was at first deemed annoying to the point the bullying after season 6 aired almost made her stop working, but now her catchphrases have legitimately caught on. Everyone uses it and they've become part of the show's legacy. It's just a very interesting example of the whole "ironic use leading to unironical use" phenomenon, imo.
holy shit i didn't know this. this makes the whole "i feel very attacked" meme absolutely disgusting in hindsight. ugh.
They didn't allow her access to her meds?? That's wildly unethical and I'm shocked I've only just heard this, that's genuinely so disgusting. Da fuck producers????
I wish I could find the interview where she said it, but basically she said she smoked marijuana for medical reasons, for her anxiety, and they didn't let her have it on the show. Now I don't fully understand the legal ethics of this - maybe they just couldn't film a contestand under influence? - but I feel like knowing she was off her anxiety medication while the season was taped adds sooooooo much more context to her behavior, and maybe if people knew at the time they would have been more sympathetic to her.
Fuck I didn't know this at all. This makes me feel bad for finding Laganja to just be really annoying and irritating. If I'd have known this when I first watched season 6 I'd have been way more sympathetic towards her. But I guess this just proves Sarah's point completely.
Fernanda it was j*s rolls royce interview
Thanks for actually calling Rupaul problematic
The fracking is so absolutely disgusting, they way the government even allow that environmental genocide is mind boggling to me.
The reasons she give in that interview were so stupid and ultimately harmful for the community.
I was listening to this video without head phones and my mom overheard it and was like “who is that girl? She sounds really smart!”
yeah she is 😤💓
I noticed awhile back how it's actually better to be a runner up than a winner of these reality TV shows. If you win, Simon Cowell gets you to produce one single, then devours your soul.
Also you might get brought back for a spin-off show such as all stars therefore more screen time and getting more fans and building their career
I mean that is unless you're bianca. The bish won season 6 and is still going strong.
I mean, yeah. Brooke got a Canadian spin off, GiGi’s a professional model, Ra’jah is legit a new classic fan fave who will be set for life, and Gottmik is literally the love child of a tiktok influencer and a Capitol resident.
I find it really interesting how the producers just chained together footage with no continuity in early seasons. I have a lot of friends in high school and college who were studying film and they would always be yelling about how important continuity is, but Drag Race was just like "nah, no one will notice the mid sentence camera changes."
And indeed, we did not ! I didn't, at least x)
God, I hate Ru Paul. They should get that nice bald guy that shows up sometimes to be the full time judge.
Drag Race Down Under saw this and took it literally
Drag Race Fans: I love RuPaul's Drag Race.
RuPaul: 👁👁
Drag Race Fans: Not you; you can choke.
This is a little off topic for the subject of the video, but THANK YOU for being the first youtube critic I've ever seen that actually seems to get the uncomfortable reality that Ratatouille quote is describing about the role of a critic. I've seen so many people use only the first parts of it as a way to explain the value of the profession, and of course that's true, but in an age where so much of online media criticism thrives on being hyper negative about everything, everyone seems to ignore the ending, which to me, as a person who both wants to critique art and make it, is the most important part. Creating takes so much effort, and tearing apart something someone else created is just so much easier in comparison. (That doesn't mean negative criticism is inherently bad, of course. It's just... what the quote says, really.)
My favourite “started-ironically-but-gained-á-genuine-fanbase-and-became-what-it-swore-to-destroy” thing is Gorillaz. Still love then tho
Apenas Mon wait what were they ironically? I’m only familiar with their music, I don’t know a huge deal about the band itself
Yeontan's Eyebrows they were made because the creators were tired with what they were seeing on MTV and they wanted to make the antithesis of a kind of rock/hip hop band. the stereotyped cartoon band members were a play on how the rock and hip hop stars at the time were very fake and outlandish but i guess recently they’ve kind of become very pop-y and less fleshed out. i guess i’ve kind of noticed it more recently with their production, but i actually like what they’ve been doing recently and using their platform to tell more stories and get some messages across like what they did with humanz rather than talk more about the story of the characters and making them more iconoclasmic
Mine is that song from beastie boys "fight for your right to party"
Also bronies
Personally my favourite “started as satire but gained a genuine fanbase and became the very thing it swore to destroy” thing is Glee. Started out as a parody of corny teen dramas and then eventually became a corny teen drama played completely straight.
Shuga 👏🏻 Cain 👏🏻 was👏🏻 ROBBED 👏🏻
PREACH!!
I think she should of won the Rusical she had so much expression in her face and really played the character well. She also had a conseptual look whilst silky just wore a pageant gown
Season what????
A user Idk. 11
Danter Man Okay thanks! 💗
"Everyone knows reality TV isn't real"
[laughs in 2016 American elections]
*cries in 2020 American election*
Sure, Jan.
Petition to make Sarah show her Jinkx Monsoon tatoo when she reaches 500K
I'm a tiny bit disappointed you didn't segue straight from talking about product placement in the show to the spot for Dashlane :D
I think that's something people miss in parody. Parody has a genuine love of the thing it's mocking. It's not doing it because it wants to be just hating, they do it because they love it and they find doing that interesting at least in my experience.
Not necessarily.
Parody just has something to talk about what they're parodying. Not necessarily in love.
You just find better examples when the author loves the thing, because they get it what works on it
Galaxy Quest is another parody that is made out of love for the material it parodies, Star Trek and fandom/convention culture. That movie is a real work of art with story beats that really tug at the heart.
Scrolled down to make sure someone had mentioned Galaxy Quest. Also, I may get some flack for this, but I think Space Balls is a good contrast to GQ in that it's an example of soulless parody, random jokes slapped with the aesthetic of the original thing
@@lerualnaej5917 Yeah, and you should. Spaceballs is one of, if not the best example of a loving parody and calling it soulless likely means you're not old enough to drink. None of the jokes in Spaceballs are random if you know what is actually going on and being parodied (which is a lot more than just sci-fi movies).
@@greenyawgmoth Really? A Spaceballs fan? huh, never met one before. Mel Brooks is amazing but he missed the mark on that one.
If you love Galaxy Quest, watch the documentary about it. It's on Amazon iTunes etc. It's amazing!!!
@@KaceyRepublic The more time goes by, the more relevant Spaceballs criticism of the industry becomes.
"We've all got our trash, and, well, this is my trash" (Sarah Z, 2020)
"We've all got our junk, and my junk is you" (Spring Awakening, 2007)
- Cinematic parallels
Anyways this is also my problematic fave and I'm literally 3 minutes in and already loving every second so I think it's fair to say this is my new favorite video of yours.
omg
"We need fiction to stage who we are."
In my experience, a good parody leaves you with a better understanding, a bad parody only gives you a cheap laugh. Even though I do not watch reality TV, I appreciate how this video helped me understand a bit more about what makes reality TV entertaining - good stuff!
I will never forgive RuPaul for changing drag from a revolutionary art form to a reactionary display of opulence
Hey another calgay here, come to Dickens (if u haven't already!), the best drag in our city happens there tbh...
Forever iconic that one of our best drag queens is a trans woman whos stage name is Karla Marx
YESSSS I LOVE HER
Spilling verbal tea but not spilling a drop of the real stuff. Iconic.
I KNEW you were going to say Jinx monsoon is one of your favorite contestants lol. She’s such a compelling winner and the rest is just Water off a ducks back
Anna M She had the best storyline, Mean Girls
My favourite example of the 'affectionate, loving and creative' parody is the film Galaxy Quest. Yes, it's a giant Star Trek parody that pokes fun at many of the tropes of the original series as well as the actors behind it, but it clearly shows a love and a reverence for the thing it parodies, and even celebrates fandom by having a group of those detail obsessed megafans be a key part of saving the day in the third act. Plus, Alan Rickman being so done with everything the whole time is always a treat.
at one point i was almost yelling at my laptop screen because sarah moved her hands so much her drink almost spilled kfjdhgkj oh my god sarah pls put down that cup please its killing me
This reminds me of SAO Abridged. It started out with Kirito being recast as an asshole gamer just out to troll the other players, and then it grew a whole story and heart to the point that the majority of it’s fans consider it to be leagues better than the original.
What original? It is the original I don't know what you're talking about
I was just gonna comment on how SAO Abridged is unironically one of my favourite anime!
@@smallishkae Same with Hellsing Ultimate Abridged
"I love her. Shangela was robbed" POINT, BLANK, PERIOD.
Yeah ultimately it was the system they set up so the queen who won the most and eliminated more queens would be the least likely to get a vote from someone who was eliminated. Just look at the voting. They put trixie because everyone liked her and kennedy because "she worked so hard and deserved the recognition".
@@pakonaranjo3921 if you view it as an interview portion, it's not as unfair as everyone thinks it is. Interview portions are common in pageants. You have to convince the judges that you are worthy of the title. Trixie and Kennedy had great interview portions and they convinced the jury to vote for them. Bebe and Shangela flubbed their interview portions. There's no way around it.
If you’re going to be a contestant on the show (or any reality tv show) you have to know that it’s a television show first, talent competition second. A lot of queens who do “well” on the show( Yvie Oddly, Willam, Raja, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela etc) seemingly had an understanding of that.
And many who became “villains” (Roxxxy, Phi Phi) were just less experienced with TV and genuinely thought being the “Best Drag Queen” was what it took to win.
Stan Dragula instead, unproblematic and inclusive legendary show
werewolf landon cider makes me Feel Things
@@SarahZ Landon Cider is Dad and Daddy
@@SarahZ I think Landon makes everyone a little bit gayer
100% scrolled down to see the Dragula stan comment. The Boulets are completely responsible for my desire to have black claws despite mostly dressing like a nerdy lumberjack.
I mean I love Dragula.... but it's absolutely not unproblematic lol
This reminds me of when I had to write Cinderella but told through Holden Caulfield’s (the catcher in the rye) voice. I ended up writing Holden as Cinderella joking fanfic making fun of Holden and have him and the prince fall in love through fanfic troupes, which Holden hated. After I turned in the first version I went back and wrote a genuine character study of Holden using the story of Cinderella to show the themes of the book. I still made it at heart a love story between Holden and the Prince but it became a project very close to my heart as I explored the different aspects of what Holden was all about. It is the one and only fan fiction I’ve ever written. It is currently large enough to be its own book 😂
Hey! Kinda late but that sounds pretty awesome! Any chance youve hosted it online somewhere so other people can read? :D
That sounds fascinating
What I think is the coolest thing in drag race is when contestants actually use their fame to get into other realms outside of drag. Trixie Mattel has a huge RUclips following, Miss Fame is now a huge fashion influencer, Kim Chi has her big make-up line, and my favourite example, Violet Chachki, who went from working three jobs to pay for her drag to touring with her lifelong idol THE Dita Von Teese, walking the runway for Moschino, having her own perfume and becoming a big name in both fashion and burlesque. There are so many other queens who have accomplished so much through the show, Willam used to act before the show and now she's nominated for an Emmy, Adore has several albums out...
Wow this fanfic you mentioned sounds super interesting! I’ll definitely have to check it out
EMILY
As a 31 yrs old #TRANSGENDER #WOMAN .. I feel SAFE , HAPPY & PROUD just by sharing this world with you younger generation 🙏🏽😭💕 ITS MAKING ME SPEECHLESS WHEN MOST OF YOU GUYS STANDING UP FOR OUR RIGHTS SPECIALLY AGAINST THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA . I know that we are going through a lot since forever but its my pleasure to fight everyday for our lives AS LONG AS YOU ARE BY OUR SIDE. 👁😌💅🏼💋💋💋
That the competitors are now trying to "win reality TV" is a quintessential example of how capitalism can make anything worse.
I'm sure there are things bad enough that capitalism can't make them worse. Like, how would adding capitalism to chattel slavery make it worse? Or to feudalism? Or to capitalism?
@@timothymclean I kinda agree with you, but how do you add capitalism to feudalism? Their two different economic systems
I haven't seen Drag Race but this made me think a lot of Community as a parody of sitcoms (and every other genre on earth) and how it still worked to make the viewer care about the characters. I don't think it ever crossed the line into being genuine but it definitely did hit points where it was sort of, like, high on its own success and started obnoxiously parodying itself and stuff. Anyway yeah this video was great and just got me thinking about parody as a genre which is cool
That might've been around season 4 when Dan Harmon left.
Community is full of genuine moments tho. Emotionally, I mean.
@@oof-wi7hp Oh yeah of course, I should've been clearer that I meant "genuine" as in a genuine sitcom vs. a parody of a sitcom... community regularly makes me cry haha
50% off (god rest it's soul) was a great example of parody. It took homoerotic swim practice and turned it into funny, quotable, and intelligent satire that loved the source material but also critiqued the fanbase. It was engaging and at times poignant while also getting me to address people by shouting "WHAT'S UP SWIM DICKS".
TL;DR: I love 50%off so fucking much and im mad that the algorithm killed it.
An example of parody turning into a sincere creative work I thought of is Rick and Morty
watching your respect women juice almost spill out of your mug is making me nervous
1 correction, buildings can absolutely be too bricky. I know this, I'm an architect.
When I do drag I wanna dance and express myself and forget the constraints of cis society. I don’t want to compete with cis men for who can best fit into heteronormative beauty standards while straight white women yell “Yaaaaas queen”
I’m still not over how badly they portrayed the Vixen despite her being right all along
I've been watching Drag Race since the first season. The feeling of the show has changed so much from an earnest attempt to show an art form and have some fun with the format, and even though there were a lot of amazing queens on the show, it's become quite formulaic and just like most other reality shows.
I fully agree with you about tropes and parody. Tropes get a bad reputation but I feel that many don’t understand that to quote RUclipsr Bobvids when he criticized both CinemaSins and GamingSins or Dartigan, “It’s not individual ideas that make something original, it’s the combination of already existing ideas. Cliches can be done poorly or be executed perfectly but Dartigan and CinemaSins simply point out that something is original or cliche and leave it at that.” Parody has to be done with an understanding of why it was popular and why people liked it in the first place. If there’s no love, then there’s nothing enjoyable about it.
Shout out to rupaul for fracking on his property
Stan jinkx and ben
I think something being "so tropey" implies an overuse of tropes, and is a perfectly valid criticism.
Not akin to "this food sucks it's so ingredienty" but to "this food sucks it's so salty".
I think you could also see "this food sucks it's so ingredienty" as like someone handing you a plate of bare ingredients with no innovation or attempt to marry them together. Like overusing tropes with no attempt to do anything creative with them or following them to a T in detriment to the actual story.
thank you SO much for the recommendation, i just searched up that fanfic you talked about and binged through the whole thing and it's so damn good! the camp, the jokes, the tropes, the dual narrative format with the author's notes--thank you so much for recommending this. i can't believe it hasn't made it big time. i know nothing about your dnd podcast; i don't really listen to those so much anymore. but this fic. this fic! goddamn. made my whole evening.
i'll pass this on to emily!
Thank you so much for the kind comments! It really means a lot to me. I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’ll be sure to write more of it soon!
@@LadyEmilyPresents oh hey! thanks for replying. that's great to hear :D
like willam said, they hire good reality show people who happen to do drag
You stan Jinkx Monsoon? I now stan YOU even harder.
I’ve been a fan since I randomly found S1 on late night TV when it first aired in the UK. I love the show and have always loved performative femininity. For me the UK season was a true revelation. It embraced being British and it was kind of amazing to see the BBC allowing them to parody a British childhood institution which was aggressively heteronormative when I watched it as a child.
I love how Emily gets name dropped here as a great writer and now she helps you write your videos :)
you hit the nail on the head fully. i’d expect nothing less from someone who has enough taste to be a jinkx stan.
I remember when I first ever heard of this show, I thought it was gonna be drag queens in crazy outfits driving cars XD
For me it's the opposite! (European not native English speaker here) I didn't knew the drag race concept with cars. So in my mind drag race was just the name of the show. Was a really weird conversation when someone thought I was speaking about "actual" drag race
This is probably the best video I have ever witnessed teen my life pretending to RuPaul's drag race I was up looking for some type of narrative that dissected the ins-and-outs of this show and I came across a few but none as good as this. You rock! Would you please make another where you go even more in depth?
your analysis are everything i didn't know i needed
Dark dungeons is the best parody of all time
I'm pretty sure Um, Actually was never scripted. Even in the first episode it doesn't seem at all like a parody game show. The nerdy corrections that they had to make were not ridiculously obscure and the real-life skill question that they missed wasn't because they were clueless about what an IRA is, it's because Mike said that the last letter stands for "Arrangement" and not "Account". The episode having a cast just means who appeared in the video and it has a writer in the sense that Mike had to write the clues and his host monologue to introduce and explain the game. I don't think it's fair to say that it has "become the thing it hates". It's an intentionally self-deprecating take on the trivia show genre and has never pretended to be anything else.
Ikr! Plus, i think it continues to make it clear that being hyper pedantic is silly. People swap points. The musical episode being super cut throat contrasting how loving the haloween episode is etc etc
I love your analysis videos a lot.
Ugh, I always love your videos! Thanks for making my Sunday cleaning super engaging and enjoyable!
I'm amazed of how you put the evolution of the show in such clear words, thanks for the video!
This was SUCH a well done video! Thank you for fully understanding the pros and cons of drag race in such a deeply researched and understood way! We need more drag supporters like you :)
Yes! Jinkx Monsoon is the best winner! Everyone should go and see her live, the vaudevillians is brilliant.
The way I see "tropey" as bad is that for the one saying it, it doesn't have anything else. Its basically saying that the story, characters etc. Are shallow and not fleshed out.
That being said, I agree with Sarah. Tropes are tools, something the site itself is very clear about but that doesn't mean its loudest viewers understand that.
I love all your videos and look forward to hearing your well-developed thoughts every time I see you in the feed!
I try to watch Drag Race as a showcase of talent and nothing more.
watching her hold that incredibly full mug is so stressful
I've decided to stan Rock M. Sakura, but there are a lot of good queens this season
****SPOILER for season 12**** I was so disappointed when she wasn’t in the premiere last night! Even though I had read that there would be two premieres, I really hoped she would be in episode one!
There has been no show before and after drag race (that I know of) where contestants have to make almost everything from scratch, turn look, perform and loads of things.
This is why I can watch Drag Race! Its ridiculous OTT nature is much more authentic than the ridiculous OTT nature of most other reality tv.
Always happy to see another Monsoon-iac!
I actually want more case studies on the effects Reality TV competitions have on people's mental health
I'll never forget when Shannel was kicked off for standing up for herself after being "critiqued" for being too perfect
As I've watched the seasons she wasn't the only one getting dumb critiques like that! Imagine how that affects someone's confidence!
you're one of the very few youtubers for whom i'll just put anything (well, most things) aside to watch a new video. thank you for your interesting and insightful content!
Good work as always, thanks for the content!
I think it was Just Write who said "a cliche traps the narrative, a trope opens it up to original ideas"
Um, Actually to Um, Actually: *you have become the very thing you swore to destroy*
But it's great! I love it very much
Just discovered your channel,and i’m loving your content.
Nice videos,your points are very intresting :)
Didn't notice it was a parody, but I remember feeling weird when I watched the first season on Netflix, but then I binge watched until season 3 and thought ' I don't watch TV shows, but this one made me enjoy and admire every performance of those drag queens, I'm liking it'
I've just stared watching you and dear god girl, where were you in my life? I adore your content, your intelligence and your clarity. And you're a Canadian sister, which is the cherry on top
the best parodies are definitely the ones lovingly poking fun at the source material. for instance: Potter Puppet Pals. The makers of PPP don't hate Harry Potter (at least it doesn't come across that way) they're simply poking fun at the stereotypes typically ascribed to the characters, the misconceptions about the series, and just generally making dumb jokes that are obviously just there because they're funny and not because they actually mean it. they don't actually think Neville is a terrible character and just a fat stupid blob who only cares about eating, but it's really funny to portray him that way because many people often dumb his character down to that, and having puppet shows with exaggerated versions of the most popular Harry Potter characters with only their worst traits turned up to 100 is an absolutely hilarious and random idea that works brilliantly. and it's funnier if you've read/watched Harry Potter and are a fan of it, because you can see how the character's worst personality traits are being made fun of, focused on, and exaggerated simply because it's funny. the creators obviously don't actually see the original characters this way, they're just intentionally creating an alternate stupider version of Harry Potter because they're fans of it and making stupid content based on your fandom is extremely entertaining. and i'm pretty sure those who actually hate Harry Potter wouldn't watch PPP. if someone has never read/watched it they won't really understand the jokes; they might find them funny but they won't really understand what makes them truly hilarious if they don't know the original characters. and if they read/watched it and didn't like it, they wouldn't appreciate the jokes as much. if anything it would probably make them angry. or they would interpret it in a way much more hostile towards HP but generally the title and theme wouldn't draw Harry Potter haters in. just providing an example of how loving parodies tend to be much better than hateful mocking ones.
Girl, *drink your tea,* shit is so close to spilling xD
SarahZ spills the tea in more ways than one!!!
The mug constantly nearly spilling is so engaging
woah this video is precisely about something I felt and thought watching all of drag race but couldnt put into words this is great thanks
The Vixen was RIGHT dammit!
I was just thinking "I need more Sara Z content" after watching the shout out from the Quentin Reviews video on Mr. Peanut, when this video dropped. Yay!
I love how inclusive "Boulet Brothers Dragula" is.
I was already subscribed but then I saw “and why we stan Jinkx Monsoon” in the description and how do I subscribe HARDER??? Jinkx is my fave, she’s the best!
Edit: I have a Jinkx tattoo, too! Mine’s one of her song lyrics in her hand writing and her autograph.
in regards to great parody media-Sword Art Online Abridged
Abby now that’s a good one! There are also a few other parody animes I like, most of them are actually in another language though, but personally I quite enjoyed 50% Off too
thank you for your discussion about phi phi/jaremi! one of the most frustrating things to see from people on social media is when i see people watching season 4 and livetweeting and @-ing jaremi directly about her actions on a season 10 years ago. that shit takes a toll on someone
If you haven't seen it already I highly recommend the show Unreal, at least the first season. It's a fictional show about characters who are showrunners for a Bachelor-style reality TV series, which is itself written and produced by writers who have worked and been showrunners for reality TV. They explore the tropes themselves, how those are often explotatively drawn out of the contestants in unfair manipulative ways, and the impact this line of work has on them as people in their own lives. It's SO GOOD, and I'm sure you'd love it for the same reasons I do.
CW: suicide
I love the talk about tropes and parodies. I hate skits and bits that make fun of something without knowing much about it ( like a pot of snl skits) which is why it's always much funnier when fans of that thing make fun of it themselves instead of outsiders (like the riverdale or vampire diaries fandoms)