The Movement of the Art

Last night I spent 15 minutes watching a video where Adore Delano explained why she felt she had to leave RuPaul's Drag Race Allstars Season 2. Her reasons boiled down to why she honestly never should have gone on the show in the first place. Adore's only 25 and I tend to forgive the boy for a lot. I think it's difficult to see one's potential at that age. It's also very difficult to own one's artistic choices.

I wish Adore would have stayed on the show, because to me, one of the most interesting aspects of Drag Race is the ongoing conversation/debate about what drag is and what it can become. Adore is a fresh voice in that discussion because she chooses to take her inspirations from women who went against the normal standards of beauty, creating new kinds of iconic cultural images.

What's so amazing about that is how so many people dismiss drag as just this joke of a thing. It's not something to be dismissed at all. It brings in so many other facets of art. There are performance aspects, like singing, dancing, acting, and comedy, but also the visual aspect. After all, the drag artist paints himself into a new image. He sculpts the illusion of the female form with padding and clothing.

It's a complex art in practice and an even more complex one in philosophy. The drag creation can be a facet of the artist's personality or an impression of something outside of him. It can be there to make people uncomfortable or there to please them. Drag can celebrate or question our gender norms, all the while entertaining us. It allows people to be brave.

I wish Adore could have stayed. I think the doors for what is acceptable for drag would have opened even more if she would have. I understand that it wasn't healthy for her and I respect that. Perhaps another time.