The queens have participated in challenges where they bring politics into their acts. The show always finds a way to bring up the liberation front of the queer community. What makes Symone’s snub even more frustrating is that “Drag Race,” and drag in general, is inherently political.
Unfortunately, these changes came at the cost of the show’s political foundation. Unsurprisingly, this acclaim drove the producers to make changes to fit the show into the every-day American television, desexualizing the challenges and removing the package-bearing Pit Crew (*wink wink*). Over the years, “Drag Race” has skyrocketed from being a low-budget, campy, queer mash-up of “Project Runway” and “America’s Next Top Model” into an Emmy-winning, prime-time show. Symone gave an amazing performance, brought a fashionable look to the runway, and should have been standing with Gottmik and Rosé in the top, but she wasn’t - because she said the names that “Drag Race” did not want to hear. RuPaul veiled the show’s contempt for pro-Black Lives Matters discourse with her shallow compliment towards Symone, while giving her spot in the top to a queen that seemed to have given less thought to her look and to her performance. Once the queens stood before the judges, I wasn’t surprised when Ru told Symone she was safe, but I was surprised when Ru looked her in the eyes and thanked her for “bringing such a powerful message to the runway,” before proceeding to send her backstage, leaving Denali, whose JVN was JV at best and whose diner-themed runway was described by Michelle Visage as “literally. We need to continue to say their names… Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Brayla Stone, Trayvon Martin, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Monika Diamond.”īut through my admiration for her still much-needed statement almost a year after George Floyd’s murder, I knew immediately that Symone would be punished for this outspoken display of resistance. She walked away with her hands up, saying in her confessional, “It’s not a moment, it is a movement. On the back of her miter read “Say Their Names” in blood-red ink with two bullet holes embellished on her back. Symone walked down the runway with grace, dressed in a beautiful all-white dress with a matching white miter precariously balanced on her head - a polished look that definitely caught my eye - but as she turned around, she unveiled one of the most vocally political statements I’ve ever seen on “Drag Race.” Looking back on her previous looks on the Main Stage that similarly celebrated her Blackness- including high-fashion looks that highlight braids, beads, and durags - it only makes sense that our favorite pro-Black queen of the season would bring that pro-Black flair to the runway this week. However, credit was not given where credit was due.
Symone embodied the pro-Black, modern-day characterization of Tubman, developed by the Black Twitter community, weaving in pop culture references of Tubman like Nicki Minaj’s shout “TO FREEDOM.” Whether or not you believed Symone should have won from her performance, you cannot deny that her Harriett Tubman should have landed her a spot in the top three. This Snatch Game was one to remember - not only did we get memorable impersonations of Paris Hilton by Gottmik and Mary Queen of Scots by Rosé, but we got Symone’s impeccably hilarious rendition of Harriett Tubman. Last Friday, “Drag Race” audiences, devotees and occasional viewers alike, tuned in to watch “Snatch Game,” the quintessential challenge of “Drag Race” in which the queens impersonate celebrities while participating in a mock game show. Any “Drag Race” fan can remember Jasmine Masters’s iconic 2016 soundbite, “RuPaul’s Drag Race is fucked up drag,” but despite the iconic dryness with which she delivered her nuanced critique of the curated and unrepresentative drag that “Drag Race” presents, never had I truly felt the weight of what Jasmine Masters had to say - until now. It’s disappointing to see what “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has become.
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