That move alone clearly caused discourse amongst the queens, and I’m going to go ahead and guess the producers. Suddenly “who’s won the most challenges” was no longer a valid metric for judging the contestants.
BenDeLaChrist? – VH1
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What motivated that move still seems to be a mystery. According to BenDeLa on the show she felt she had already won by proving to herself how far she had come. My guess is she also thought the move would earn her the title of martyr, as one of the previously eliminated queens was to take the place of the person leaving that episode. Instead of sending one of her competitors home, she took herself out of the running. Instead of the goodwill she probably thought she was going to get, the move was met with backlash. Earning her the title of BenDeLaChrist.
The other theory I’m entertaining is her self sacrifice was actually the most brilliant catty move in Drag Race history. By removing herself, the frontrunner, whoever actually would eventually win the crown would always have an asterisk next to their name in the Hall of Fame. Everyone would always say “well yeah ____ won, but they didn’t have to compete against BenDeLaCreme.” |
So let’s take a look at the finale. The main challenge was a “live” take/performance to RuPaul’s “Kitty Girl.” The production was fine but nothing to write home about. What happened next is where everything went wrong.
Guest Nancy Pelosi and RuPaul certainly know about politicking – VH1
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The remaining four queens (Shangela, Kennedy Davenport, Trixie Mattel, and BeBe Zahara Benet) had to plead their case in front of a jury of their eliminated peers. The eliminated queens would then choose who advanced to the final lip sync, and would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has always had a social element, but ultimately the decision has always lain in RuPaul’s hands. However something went horribly wrong by introducing this move out of the Survivor playbook. The queens chose Trixie Mattel and Kennedy Davenport to advance. |
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While I agree with the decision to leave BeBe Zahara Benet out of the top two (honestly she’s lucky to have made it this far, she has been condescending and not in a particularly entertaining way, nor does her drag feel like it’s dramatically evolved), Shangela was freaking robbed.
I never thought I’d be one to defend Shangela. From her very first appearance on season 2, I found her beyond annoying. However she has clearly grown as a performer and person. Her Game of Thrones comparisons completely won me over. Which is why I am so incredulous she was not chosen as one of the top two queens. I honestly thought until BenDeLaCreme pulled herself out of the competition it was going to come down to the two of them. |
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So who was the eventual actual winner? Trixie Mattel. How did I find this out? Because Thorgy Thor tweeted the result before the West Coast feed even finished airing (shame on you Thorgy). When I saw that Trixie had won, (before witnessing the bizarre Defending Your Life trial), I thought maybe Trixie pulled out all the tricks during the final lip sync, and that’s how she prevailed. However to find out she performed against Kennedy was shocking.
Is Trixie Mattel a great drag queen? Absolutely. However she wasn’t the greatest drag queen this season. That title most likely belonged to BenDeLa (further adding evidence to my “secretly the most catty move in Drag Race” hypothesis). However Shangela was a close second. For her peers to deny her the chance to compete was pure spite. |
Also, the other elephant in the room is now: all three All Stars in the Hall of Fame are white. Should diversity be a factor in determining the winners? Honestly, probably. After all these are the queens meant to represent the entire drag community (or at least RuPaul’s drag community, there’s certainly a separate conversation about mainstream-ish RuPaul friendly drag, and the actual various types of drag being performed). So are you really telling me that the best of the best drag performers are all white? RuPaul herself is historic and iconic because she’s a queen of color who achieved fame not only in the drag world, but mainstream media…
