'Dragula' is the Future of Drag and 'Drag Race' is a Tired Ass Showgirl

Arts

Oct 24

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It’s inevitable when discussing Boulet Brothers’ brainchild Dragula that comparisons to another reality show competition will come up. So let’s get that out of the way. RuPaul’s Drag Race has an unspoken rule that queens should fit the mold of RuPaul’s career and his approach to success. But since Drag Race has catapulted into a more public sphere, its obsession with the commercialization of drag has completely taken over.

The RuPaul Drag Hour has become an ouroboros as queens who apply are often created by or solely inspired by the show’s earlier seasons. Contestants now consistently enter the competition with merch strategies, album releases and potential bookings already in the works. It’s a smart approach, but it ultimately creates a major disconnect from the artistic nature of drag with its homogeneity.

Enter the Boulet Brothers.

“We are not here to judge your drag. Drag is art and art is subjective.”

While it seems simple, this simple idea is what truly distinguishes The Boulet Brother's’ Dragula from RuPaul’s Drag Race and most other reality competitions. The Boulets place significant value in the artistic merit and anti-establishment traditions of drag. They have directed their focus on drag artistry that is unpredictable, outlandish and disturbing rather than getting queens to conform to show business standards. The only molds contestants must fit into are challenge-based or the loose overarching tenets of Filth, Glamour and Horror. Even then, 2 out of 3 is usually good enough to get by.

It’s also telling that the Boulet Brothers haven’t exerted any strict gender guidelines for their applicants and never have - which has allowed for perspectives rarely, if ever, seen in popular media. Nonbinary and cis women drag performers are having discussions about their experiences and opinions, and it’s already prompted long overdue discussions about social dynamics and etiquette.

Everyone has their favorites from each season, but the true stars of the show are the Boulet Brothers themselves. The couple are consistently a visual treat, inducing squeals of glee across the globe with the reveal of every new costume. Their critiques can be idiosyncratic and confusing when it comes extermination time, but also - it’s their fucking show.

And they have no problems making that a known fact, basically highlighting it in the completely unnecessary vignettes that introduce each episode’s theme. Throughout the series you can often see Dracmorda and Swanthula’s love of drag, glamor, filth and horror. It comes across occasionally in their critiques, but those little intro scenes are a tribute to one of the horror genre’s greatest gifts: camp.

This pair loves audacity and foolishness all wrapped up in dark overtones. Season 1’s budget could have been a dealbreaker for the success of the series, but it wasn’t. The show seemed to thrive in the grit of its low budget, and that rawness created a B-movie aesthetic that lent authenticity to the proceedings. Some fans may not appreciate the Boulets’ intro scenes or have complaints about the first season’s sound quality, but that’s short-sighted on their part. Dragula is a show about art via horror and queer gender expression. You can get slick production value and presentation elsewhere. If you’re demanding perfection from art, you’re missing the point.

Instead of exploiting our queer foremothers to make a buck, the Boulet Brothers and Dragula are about continuing a queer legacy of embracing darkness and outcasts. Their mission isn’t to embrace capitalism, chase opulence and own everything. In the same spirit of filth pioneers Divine and John Waters, it’s to shock and awe and find the freedom in anarchy and the macabre. With a modern drag culture filled with conformity, Dragula is literally asking the question:

“Who wants to die for art?”

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Adam Zee explains it all, even when no one wants to listen. You can voice your complaints or see Adam working out her issues via cardboard and cheap paint at @cardboardrealness. Honestly, she could use the engagement.

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