It is hard to deny my love of reality TV, the high drama, epic one-liners that carry over into everyday conversation and “memeable” content has had me hooked for years from Big Brother to Married at First sight. However, RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-present), in my opinion, is at the apex of reality television, from the humour, fashion and queer expression to the social issues raised, Drag Race is the full package. Though it started as niche television show, in the last few years it has become huge in mainstream media and a prevalent part of popular culture. John Fiske (1989) describes popular culture as “made by the people” and not a product of the “culture industry”, RuPaul’s Drag Race is a prime example of this as it is a product made for minorities to showcase drag on a large media platform, getting it’s beginning at a time when the LGBTQ+ community wasn’t widely accepted.

The show showcases a positive perspective of drag culture for audiences who may not be subject to the LGBTQ+ community in their immediate circle. Providing representation of queer culture and conversation around the issues of the community, Drag Race has the ability to change narratives around queer people. The popularity of the show has grown with the attitudes of the times, representation in the media of the LGBTQ+ community allows negative stereotypes to dissolve, with the popularity of the show has grown with the progression of societal acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, for instance gay marriage being legalised in the US in 2015 coincides with the rising popularity of the show (BBC News, 2015).

Once a niche reality TV show is now adored globally in and out of the LGBTQ+ community and has expanded to have transnational adaptations in Thailand, the United Kingdom and most recently Canada. The content flows easily across borders due to a shared culture of drag, Thailand as the first other nation to produce the show, has a rich culture of drag and adapted the show to their specific culture (Straubhaar, 2007.). These adaptations have all accumulated success with the fandom beyond their respective countries while adapting the Drag Race format to their socio-cultural and national identities (Straubhaar, 2007, pp. 167-68). The UK version of Drag Race includes more challenges and UK judges related to UK culture for example the runaway challenge of the first episode was “Queen Elizabeth Realness” and the regular judges included UK Talk show hosts, Alan Carr and Graham Norton. These adaptations also occur in the Canadian version with all Canadian judge panel and exclusively songs by Canadian artists are used for the lip syncs for your life.

The globalisation of television formats like Drag Race have allowed for different cultures to share and export the values of acceptance and equality by normalising practices once considered niche to the queer community. Therefore, the content flows easily across borders that share a common ethos of drag in their respective cultures. Aside from the hilarity of Drag Race, its popularity comes from an appeal to the people, made by the people to support the people of the LGBTQ+ community. I will continue to shamelessly watch and rewatch all seasons and the spinoffs seasons and if we get an Australian version of Drag Race I’ll die very happy.

Reference List

BBC News, 2015. US Supreme Court rules gay marriage is legal nationwide. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33290341
[Accessed 2 September 2020].

Fandom, n.d. RuPaul’s Drag Race Wiki. [Online]
Available at: https://rupaulsdragrace.fandom.com/wiki/RuPaul%27s_Drag_Race_Wiki
[Accessed 3 September 2020].

Fiske, J., 1989. Understanding popular culture. London: Routledge.

Straubhaar, J. D., 2007. World Television: From Global to Local. 1 ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.