S07.E10: Prancing Queens

[SteveAC10]

 

In what universe is Anne Frank a good choice for a comedic performance.  I'm starting to think Trixie is not the sharpest tool in the shed.

She must have thought it would be "out there" a la Sharon Needles. But Sharon knew enough to bring PG-13 Sharon to the show (as opposed to Max who brought Disney Sharon). Trixie has shown herself to have some self-awareness issues. She reminds me of some of my old aspiring opera singer pals who always thought they nailed auditions and never got hired (while the ones who agonized over it frequently did). Her talking heads always claim she/they brought it when really she/they just got by. You have to wonder if she, like Pearl claims, never gets (or hears) any constructive feedback in the real world. They are from a generation where everybody makes the team and gets a ribbon for participating. Unfortunately show business has no time for that. You either got it, or you don't - and even if you do got it, you have to hope somebody else doesn't have more (or at least better connections).

[Zuleikha]

Trixie has shown herself to have some self-awareness issues.

I read an exit interview with her where she said she thought she may have won the Prancing Queens challenge and was up for elimination because of being judged in duets. It blew my mind that she could have seen all three performances and honestly thought she was one of the top performers. If they had been judged solo, the winner would still have been either Katya or Violet. 

[Egg]

You have to wonder if she, like Pearl claims, never gets (or hears) any constructive feedback in the real world. They are from a generation where everybody makes the team and gets a ribbon for participating. Unfortunately show business has no time for that. You either got it, or you don't - and even if you do got it, you have to hope somebody else doesn't have more (or at least better connections).

With all due respect, I don't think Trixie's apparent lack of self-awareness is a good enough excuse to pull out this exhausted trope. It is more likely chalked up to her age, or that she built up a wall of confidence which protected her from the bullying she received as a child. Or maybe she thinks she's great because the most well-known drag queen in history selected her to be among the few to compete on the most famous, high-profile drag competition in history, and so she figured she must be good at something.

 

Also, just like every other group of people, there are many drag queens and gay guys who view cattiness as a sport, and I'm sure Pearl and Trixie have received their fair share of earned and unearned criticism. Not everyone who performs at a club gets the same amount of money from the crowd for participating, and not every drag queen is booked at every show she wants. If Pearl thinks no one has ever said anything critical about her, she's either lying or a moron. It's certainly not generational.

[vrocotamy]

With all due respect, I don't think Trixie's apparent lack of self-awareness is a good enough excuse to pull out this exhausted trope. It is more likely chalked up to her age, or that she built up a wall of confidence which protected her from the bullying she received as a child. Or maybe she thinks she's great because the most well-known drag queen in history selected her to be among the few to compete on the most famous, high-profile drag competition in history, and so she figured she must be good at something.

 

Also, just like every other group of people, there are many drag queens and gay guys who view cattiness as a sport, and I'm sure Pearl and Trixie have received their fair share of earned and unearned criticism. Not everyone who performs at a club gets the same amount of money from the crowd for participating, and not every drag queen is booked at every show she wants. If Pearl thinks no one has ever said anything critical about her, she's either lying or a moron. It's certainly not generational.

 

Yep, it's a bit of a cliche that Millennials have a complete antipathy to criticism and want to win just for showing up. In relation to this show, it's very much used for some queens born in the mid-late '80s and early '90s and not others. It's used for Laganja (who was probably born in 1989?) or Pearl (who was probably born in 1991?), but not for Jinkx (born 1987), Trinity (born 1991), Adore (born 1989...well, maybe it is used for Adore), Alaska (born 1985), Detox (also born 1985), Jujubee (born 1984), or Tyra Sanchez (born 1988). I think that in Trixie's case it comes from a.) youth and b.) a need to constantly buoy herself up from her abusive childhood. I also think many of the queens who counter criticism with "Everyone loves me!" are simply inexperience and haven't been doing drag for very long, or in a variety of venues.

[Blakeston]

I read an exit interview with her where she said she thought she may have won the Prancing Queens challenge and was up for elimination because of being judged in duets. It blew my mind that she could have seen all three performances and honestly thought she was one of the top performers. If they had been judged solo, the winner would still have been either Katya or Violet. 

Is an exit interview an interview given right after their elimination episode was filmed, or an interview given right after their elimination episode was aired?

 

If it was an interview she gave after the episode was filmed, then I would assume she hadn't actually seen video of herself dancing.

[Zuleikha]

It's in the Advocate, so I assume it's after the interview aired. Here's what she said:

In the moment of filming, I really did receive the best critiques for my dancing and my runway. So I was confident the whole time. I actually thought I would win the challenge based on critiques, until suddenly we were conveniently being judged as pairs.

and

After having to suddenly lip-synch after delivering a well-constructed runway and shining performance,

 

I know we didn't see the whole judges' critiques, but I don't think what we saw matches Trixie's description of getting the best critiques. She didn't get strong criticism, but it seemed clear to me that she wasn't getting winner feedback. The judges seemed meh, and meh is just never good in a performance competition.

 

It's funny to me watching Untucked how Katya was so concerned about the "hot douche" comment because I completely got both where it came from and why it was complimentary in context. 

[planetofapes]

When Trixie said she thought she won the challenge, my heart broke for her a little. Sweetie, no. I'm sure in her mind she killed it but the playback don't lie. It was sweet to see her tap dancing though. And the Kelly Mantle comment? I SCREAMED with laughter. Bless you Trixie Poo. I will miss you.

I was shocked at how good this was! I mean, remember the train wreck of Shakesqueer? I mean this is a massive skyrocketing improvement on past challenges! I seriously can't wait to see the final 3 and the winner.

I'm hoping it is you Violet - she looked fantastic on the runway and the dynamic between her and Katya was amazing.

Violet for the win!!!

[Mattipoo]

This was a strangely boring episode for me. Violet and Katya slayed the tango/vogue mashup and looked stunning on the runway so they deserved the win. I thought Trixie was the weakest of the bunch and deserved to go home this time around. I just can't with her eye makeup and her pained facial expression when she is trying to act "sexy", and Ginger clearly did better with the Robyn "Show Me Love" LSFYL tune, which incidentally still sounds great after like 20 years. I think the top 3 will be Katya, Violet and Ginger, with Pearl and Kennedy eliminated in the next couple of episodes. This has been a boring season for me, so I can't wait for it to end. Right now I am guessing the winner will be Ginger, so she can be the first plussie winner.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Mattipoo

[snakenax]

 

If they had been judged solo, the winner would still have been either Katya or Violet.

I think if judged solo, Kennedy would have had a strong chance of winning because she was by far the best dancer(though judging a duet singularly is itself a messy prospect, since most of it comes to how well the two work in tandem). But Trixie was no where near the top, at best she would have been saved from the bottom two if they thought Pearl did worse.