We're Here - General Discussion

[Starchild]

Pretty damning allegations there. And the consistency doesn't help Shangela's case.

I may go to hell for pulling this out, but I thought it was a strange thing: "Helmer, who ... is only using his first name out of fear of employment retaliation, filed the complaint in Los Angeles"

Honestly how many people with the first name Helmer can there be in LA? Or anywhere. If I were them I'd still be worried.

[zenithwit]

Season 4 premiered yesterday (April 26th).  I still need to watch the episode but here is the season trailer in the meantime:

 

[cpcathy]

I was disappointed, I loved Shangela, Eureka and Bob, I loved when they rolled into town each episode. I realize now that none of the new queens are comedy queens. They even seemed tentative, hopeful that they start to feel more comfortable with the format.

long live Bob’s leather jacket that said “My other ride is your dad.”

[Kaboom 2.0]

I love this season's queens but I seriously miss Bob.

[cpcathy]

Finally the queens are getting comfortable. The stories are so tragic, it makes me so angry that LGBTQ people have to go through treatment like this.

[Corgi-ears]

Some updates on what people have been up to since the season ended:

[hatchetgirl]

On 5/20/2024 at 7:01 PM, cpcathy said:

The stories are so tragic, it makes me so angry that LGBTQ people have to go through treatment like this.

I live on the West Coast, so it's hard for me to even imagine this crap is happening.  As a loving ally and mom, I would love to attend the pride events in these places and give loving, unconditional hugs!

[zenithwit]

Unfortunately, this show has been canceled.

https://ew.com/were-here-canceled-hbo-after-4-seasons-drag-race-queens-8707739

[cpcathy]

Sigh** I get it. It was fun while it lasted.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Nooo! Say it ain't so. Could another channel/streamer save it?

[Starchild]

I'm kind of not surprised. I get what they were trying to do by making it more political in the current climate. 

However, in doing so, the main focus of the show, which used to be ordinary folks who wanted to do drag for various reasons (usually related to self-actualization), switched to the queen hosts themselves as they engaged in battles with the local organizations/individuals who were opposing drag.

It's important work, and someone has to do it, and why not these queens if they want to take it on. But the inevitable consequence is that the nature of the show changed. Viewers of past seasons who had been tuning in for uplifting stories of people fighting against their demons, internal and external, were instead getting scene after scene of the hosts attending town councils, being threatened and intimidated, fighting the power.

I have no doubt this was happening in previous seasons, we saw it sometimes, but production maintained a delicate balance that ensured the individual stories of triumph were front and center, and that balance tipped the other way this season. So instead of finishing an episode feeling positive, we finish it feeling negative. Also, with only 2 towns covered (3 episodes each), the number of individuals we were following over a season was drastically reduced.

Again, I get why, with the increasing threats against drag in general, that they decided the phrase "We're Here" should go back to its roots of protest, but it resulted in a different show. They took a risk and unfortunately it didn't pay off.

Edited September 9 by Starchild