Monday, September 19, 2016

Shady Drama - Selected Comments From A RuPaul Drag Race Discussion Thread

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents selected comments from a September 18, 2016 Reddit discussion thread for RuPaul's Drag Race- All Stars 2.

The content of this post is presented for cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION & DEFINITIONS

RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuPaul%27s_Drag_Race
"RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality competition television series produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV. The show documents RuPaul in his search for "America's next drag superstar."[1] Queen RuPaul plays the roles of host, mentor, and source of inspiration for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week. RuPaul's Drag Race employs a panel of judges, including RuPaul, Michelle Visage and a host of other guest judges, who critique contestants' progress throughout the competition. The title of the show is a play on drag queen and drag racing, and the title sequence and song "Drag Race" both have a drag-racing theme.

RuPaul's Drag Race has spanned eight seasons and inspired the spin-off shows RuPaul's Drag U and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. The show has become the highest-rated television program on Logo TV,[2] and airs internationally, including in Australia, Canada and the UK. The show earned Rupaul a 2016 Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program, and the show itself was awarded as an Outstanding Reality Program at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards."
-snip-
The discussion thread excerpted below centers around ongoing drama between RuPaul and Phi Phi O'Hara, a drag queen who was a contestant on Ru Paul's Drag Race, Season 3 as well as a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race - AllStars 2. Click http://www.thebitbag.com/rupauls-drag-race-stars-season-2-controversy-phiphi-not-attending-reunion-ru-throws-shade/182845 for information about that conflict.

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SHADY
Here's a definition for "shady" from urbandictionary.com:
shady
"to be very sneaky, suspect, or to have an all around backstabbing personality
Jocelyn or DJ is one shady individual, which is why she is called Shady C."
by ak3aeafdf May 30, 2014
-snip-
Also, here's a definition of "shade" and "throwing shade" from this pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-reading-someone-throwing-shade-no.html:
"My definition of "throwing shade" [is] 'to obliquely (indirectly) insult someone'....

[quoting a famous drag queen in the 1990 New York drag queen ball documentary Paris Is Burning]
In one scene, a queen named Dorian Corey explains what "shade" is.

"Shade is, I don't have to tell you you're ugly, because you know you're ugly," she says.

When someone insults you directly, that's called a "read." For example, if I were to tell you that your glasses are ugly. Point blank. That's a read. Reads can be long or short.

"Shade" comes from reading, as Corey explains.

If I were to say in a terribly condescending voice, "Oh honey, I'm so glad you saved up to buy those glasses," that's blatant shade. I didn't insult the glasses, or you, directly. It's implied by my voice and the context of what I said. You know they're ugly.

Sometimes people don't get that they're being "shaded" — this is always sad."

To "throw shade" simply means you've said something shady to someone."

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TO BE "READ TO FILTH"
to receive a really good (vicious) read (insult)

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RICKROLL
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling
"Rickrolling, alternatively rick-rolling, is a prank and an Internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a type of bait and switch using a disguised hyperlink. Those led to the music video believing that they were accessing some unrelated material are said to have been rickrolled."...

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SELECTED COMMENTS
From https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/53cn7x/rupaul_being_a_shady_lady_again/ "Rupaul being a shady lady... AGAIN"

Pancocojams Editor's Note:
This is a small sample of the comments on that discussion thread. I'm most interested in the use of vernacular terms, and the use of cultural customs such as a "gay rickroll".

My apologies that some references and "in-jokes" in this post may not be understood by people who aren't active fans of RuPaul's Drag Race.

All of these comments are from September 18, 2016. They are given in relative chronological order based on in part on their publishing time, except for responses, and their subject. I've added "reply" for comments in the same sub-discussion thread.

As per the policy of this blog, amended spelling is used for profanity.

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RUPAUL BEING A SHADY LADY....AGAIN
1. Submitted by hottea23 9/18/2016

RuPaul tweet:
"Sour grapes
Make the best
Whine"
2016-09-18 12:51 PM

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2. katyaskid
"Her arms get so toned from stirring the pot"

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Reply
3. MatronneGeorgia
"flashback to Ru's awkward bicep flex while using the mixer for the Tic Tac Lunch"

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Reply
4. VictoriaFoxNow
"can i have a link"

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Reply
5. glsand3
"here you go"

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Reply
6. VictoriaFoxNow
"Thank you F&&k you"

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Reply
7. save-iour
"i stumbled here from /r/all, is this the drag equivalent of rickroll?"

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Reply
8. Vibr8
"Yes."

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Reply
9. madisonrupaul
"i can already tell it's rectangle girls because the link is purple from clicking it before
not today satan"

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Reply
10. SplurgyA
"Every single time I fall for RectangleRoll I end up watching the whole thing"

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Reply
11. willkip
"Weeeeeee just wanna celeb(rate)Rectangle gurlz of the wuurld"

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Reply
12. LaTransBear
"You may be shaped like a buuuumblebee, but you're beautiful girl, just love your bodieeeeeeeeee!"

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Reply
13. heartbeatbreak
"god&&mnit that's the first time it's gotten meeeee"

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Onlove
14. "I like it better when Ru doesn't comment on these things.
It somehow seems to be beneath her to get involved. There is no dignity in dirt!"

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Reply
mateytatey
15. "i don't get it omg help me"

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Reply
16. eelsify
"Whine means complain. Sour grapes means you're a bitter betty."

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17. 0six0four
"Ladies we might have a straight here! act cool"

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Reply
18. adoredelanoroosevelt
"I love that this immediately translates to anyone"

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19. Oh_nosferatu
"Thank you for coming prepared and having a fully charged battery."

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Reply
20. hottea
"I learned my lesson when I got read for filth about my battery being on 18% last time 😂"

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21. purpledildoinvader
"This seems really petty at this point."

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Reply
22. DornishMasterPlan
"And Phi Phi's weeks long rants against the show and Ru isn't? But two tweets from mother and now it's "petty"?"

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Reply
23. thankyeuw
"We do hold different standards for Mama Ru(who's the older one and basically is a legend) and Phi Phi"

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Reply
24. purpledildoinvader
"The difference is that phiphi isn't a famous emmy winner with her own reality show who constantly preaches about love and forgiveness."

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25. AlfieBoheme
"Phi Phi has been attacking the show and trying to 'expose' it with outright lies but this is disgusting behaviour from Ru imo. Phi Phi (and other contestants like Roxxxy) have spoken candidly in interviews, and even on the show, about fans vehement hatred and threats towards them. Ru stands with them in solidarity for the cameras but in reality all this petty Mom shade is gonna do is cause more distress and bullying toward Phi Phi"

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26. Beharkei
"Grapes give me gas, I just avoid them."

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27. carollitrel
"Rupaul will keep throwing shade at Phiphi at the reunion even though she's absent? She should step it up for her and address all the online bullying and death threats. Mama does not walk children in nature like that to let them get to that point. She's been shady and messy on the show and social media, ok, I get it, but we're all humans.

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28. dignifiedstrut
"If Ru's gonna step out of her platform of dignified silence it had better be worth it. These petty and indirect meme insults arent really becoming of her.
Like it or not she has responsibility to either stay out of it or respond constructively, because every new social media swipe riles up thousands and thousands of fans to join the fray.

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Reply
29. deidaradrew
"Exactly. Every person who wanted to attack Phi Phi has basically just been given permission. In a way yes, you want to get fans riled up. You want them to be excited and you want them to feel like they're participating, but it NEVER should be against someone."

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30. 420BearGurl
"This might not be the Rupaul we want, but it's the Rupaul Phi Phi deserves."

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31. eighteen_forty_no
"Everybody Say Love!"

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