Cave Paintings
Hello again Readers! If you thought I was done then guess again.
I have decided it is time to write about the topic that caused me to start this blog. I first addressed this issue in a public RuPaul's Drag Race fan group shortly after the events in Orlando. After carefully crafting my post I went to bed and then to work the next morning. During this time my post became a heated conversation and then was deleted before I even signed back into my profile to hold any sort of discussion. It seemed that I had touched a nerve, which was all the confirmation I needed to know I was starting something important.
I believe that we are living in a fascinating time. We are seeing our first generation being raised with the internet as such an easy to access tool. We are only human though and such a tool brings with it many social issues that must be addressed before we as a species would be ready to evolve into our next important tool. My least favorite has been the trend for people to invest in celebrity feuds and decide that it is their role to correct the artist themselves. Methods used involve hate speech, harassment, degradation, and threats of violence and death, all because "Superstar Becky" doesn't agree with "Superstar Amber." Quite frankly, it's none of our business.
Our obsession with celebrity feuds and gossip is part of what leads many of our artists down the "self destructive path" that has become "a part of the show" for many members of the audience. We have a history of watching our artists fall apart at the seams (see Sharon Needles' music video for Hollywoodn't). The voice that social media has given people only seems to have amplified this. Sometimes reading "fan" comments is like watching a pack of piranhas go into a feeding frenzy. These artists are only human and cannot guarantee that they won't make mistakes. This behavior looks even more shameful to me when I see it happen in the gay community because many of these artists are our activists.
Lady Gaga and Madonna are a great example of this social behavior. They have had one of the most talked about celebrity "feuds" since the rise of the internet. What isn't talked about though is how much people provoked conflict between them. Personally, I was able to listen to Lady Gaga's first two albums before I was able to listen to even one of Madonna's albums. While listening to Fame Monster for the first time with a friend, my friend decided to say "Move over Madonna, there's a new Queen of Pop." I didn't know how to respond at the time because I didn't know much about Madonna, but something didn't feel right to me. Since then I have figured out that the statement assumes that Madonna has no more art to offer and suggests that she retire while setting Lady Gaga up with expectations to exceed the career of another artist instead of letting her tell her own story. Rebel Heart was what I consider to be my first album release with Madonna, and it is such a good album with many great messages. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has been hesitant to release new music and has a much anticipated album soon to be released. Both of them have advocated for human rights, yet we are more interested in watching them fight each other. As for me, I want to see them record music together sometime.
It should be no secret by now that I love RuPaul and the many queens he has helped bring to the spotlight through RuPaul's Drag Race. It is such a gift to be able to watch a show about advocates for my community having the rare opportunity to share their art with us. Mama Ru has stated in interviews that he doesn't believe drag to ever be capable of becoming main stream, yet as of tonight RuPaul has won an Emmy for Best Reality Show Host (congratulations!). Why then are these artist receiving death threats and hate mail from fans of other artists on this great show?
A great example to me is when Bob the Drag Queen won the crown for Season 8 and Raven said on social media "Fuck Yo Purse." Fans of Bob responded by threatening Raven. "Purse First" is Bob the Drag Queen's way of teaching people to walk into the room with the same boldness and charisma that helped her win the crown. Most of us need the gift she is offering. Raven already has that though. Raven is an All Star. Raven wanted Bob to give her something more because she already has confidence and charisma. Raven was also making an obscure cultural reference without ill intent. Even if we ignored these things, does a comment like that warrant a death threat?
Most recently for Drag Race is the case of Adore Delano leaving the competition for All Stars Season 2 after harsh critiques from Michelle Visage. Michelle is known to be a harsh judge, and she stated that she was trying to be more critical since it is an All Star cast. Meanwhile, Adore is.. well... adoring. She adores her fans and the people she works with. I believe she didn't want to be in a competition that would require the artists to be eliminating each other. I believe she didn't want to be put in a position where her fans and other fans would be pitted against each other.
I was glad to see Coco Montrese and Alyssa Edwards getting along on All Stars because it took away all of the power from people that joined in on the fight during their first season on the air. I was also proud of Phi Phi O'Hara for having the conversation about her interactions with Sharon Needles and how the negative side of social media has hurt her. When Alaska told Phi Phi that she wanted to see a revolution in social media, she was talking about something that has been a growing concern of mine.
I have decided that if I don't like what an artist has to offer then I simply won't follow their art or show my support. I don't try to destroy them and take away their art from the people who do need it. I've come to see social media with two new perspectives. First of all, I won't say anything that I wouldn't say to somebody in person and to their face. Secondly, at some point in the distant future, our descendants will have evolved past the internet and developed a new method of communication and information storage that we can only imagine and dream of. When they look back at the early stages of the primitive communication tool we named "the internet," I want to be seen as an intelligent human being who is helping to set the pace for our species. I don't want to look like an angry troll responsible for making crude cave paintings.
I have decided it is time to write about the topic that caused me to start this blog. I first addressed this issue in a public RuPaul's Drag Race fan group shortly after the events in Orlando. After carefully crafting my post I went to bed and then to work the next morning. During this time my post became a heated conversation and then was deleted before I even signed back into my profile to hold any sort of discussion. It seemed that I had touched a nerve, which was all the confirmation I needed to know I was starting something important.
I believe that we are living in a fascinating time. We are seeing our first generation being raised with the internet as such an easy to access tool. We are only human though and such a tool brings with it many social issues that must be addressed before we as a species would be ready to evolve into our next important tool. My least favorite has been the trend for people to invest in celebrity feuds and decide that it is their role to correct the artist themselves. Methods used involve hate speech, harassment, degradation, and threats of violence and death, all because "Superstar Becky" doesn't agree with "Superstar Amber." Quite frankly, it's none of our business.
Our obsession with celebrity feuds and gossip is part of what leads many of our artists down the "self destructive path" that has become "a part of the show" for many members of the audience. We have a history of watching our artists fall apart at the seams (see Sharon Needles' music video for Hollywoodn't). The voice that social media has given people only seems to have amplified this. Sometimes reading "fan" comments is like watching a pack of piranhas go into a feeding frenzy. These artists are only human and cannot guarantee that they won't make mistakes. This behavior looks even more shameful to me when I see it happen in the gay community because many of these artists are our activists.
Lady Gaga and Madonna are a great example of this social behavior. They have had one of the most talked about celebrity "feuds" since the rise of the internet. What isn't talked about though is how much people provoked conflict between them. Personally, I was able to listen to Lady Gaga's first two albums before I was able to listen to even one of Madonna's albums. While listening to Fame Monster for the first time with a friend, my friend decided to say "Move over Madonna, there's a new Queen of Pop." I didn't know how to respond at the time because I didn't know much about Madonna, but something didn't feel right to me. Since then I have figured out that the statement assumes that Madonna has no more art to offer and suggests that she retire while setting Lady Gaga up with expectations to exceed the career of another artist instead of letting her tell her own story. Rebel Heart was what I consider to be my first album release with Madonna, and it is such a good album with many great messages. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has been hesitant to release new music and has a much anticipated album soon to be released. Both of them have advocated for human rights, yet we are more interested in watching them fight each other. As for me, I want to see them record music together sometime.
It should be no secret by now that I love RuPaul and the many queens he has helped bring to the spotlight through RuPaul's Drag Race. It is such a gift to be able to watch a show about advocates for my community having the rare opportunity to share their art with us. Mama Ru has stated in interviews that he doesn't believe drag to ever be capable of becoming main stream, yet as of tonight RuPaul has won an Emmy for Best Reality Show Host (congratulations!). Why then are these artist receiving death threats and hate mail from fans of other artists on this great show?
A great example to me is when Bob the Drag Queen won the crown for Season 8 and Raven said on social media "Fuck Yo Purse." Fans of Bob responded by threatening Raven. "Purse First" is Bob the Drag Queen's way of teaching people to walk into the room with the same boldness and charisma that helped her win the crown. Most of us need the gift she is offering. Raven already has that though. Raven is an All Star. Raven wanted Bob to give her something more because she already has confidence and charisma. Raven was also making an obscure cultural reference without ill intent. Even if we ignored these things, does a comment like that warrant a death threat?
Most recently for Drag Race is the case of Adore Delano leaving the competition for All Stars Season 2 after harsh critiques from Michelle Visage. Michelle is known to be a harsh judge, and she stated that she was trying to be more critical since it is an All Star cast. Meanwhile, Adore is.. well... adoring. She adores her fans and the people she works with. I believe she didn't want to be in a competition that would require the artists to be eliminating each other. I believe she didn't want to be put in a position where her fans and other fans would be pitted against each other.
I was glad to see Coco Montrese and Alyssa Edwards getting along on All Stars because it took away all of the power from people that joined in on the fight during their first season on the air. I was also proud of Phi Phi O'Hara for having the conversation about her interactions with Sharon Needles and how the negative side of social media has hurt her. When Alaska told Phi Phi that she wanted to see a revolution in social media, she was talking about something that has been a growing concern of mine.
I have decided that if I don't like what an artist has to offer then I simply won't follow their art or show my support. I don't try to destroy them and take away their art from the people who do need it. I've come to see social media with two new perspectives. First of all, I won't say anything that I wouldn't say to somebody in person and to their face. Secondly, at some point in the distant future, our descendants will have evolved past the internet and developed a new method of communication and information storage that we can only imagine and dream of. When they look back at the early stages of the primitive communication tool we named "the internet," I want to be seen as an intelligent human being who is helping to set the pace for our species. I don't want to look like an angry troll responsible for making crude cave paintings.
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