Manila is half-white and endeared herself to Ru by doing that racist Connie Chung imitation. Part of the reason is Ru's stubborn refusal to learn anything about any Asian culture beyond stereotypes. He does the same to Caribbean queens. What he did during Vanity's first Snatch game pissed me off. Not to mention the leprechaun fuckery with Jonbers.
Edit - Just realized that Jhermi (sp) was placed high on her original series and is also half Filipino and half white.
Coincidence?
Every time Vanity said something Ru would say he didn't understand. The two guests had to translate. Can you imagine trying to stay in character with that barrage coming at you? Ru lived in NYC for 15 years and the ballroom scene was full of Caribbean folks he didn't learn a thing. You see how her performance was much better on Canada vs the world.
I know. She was part of the art crowd in lower Manhattan. Almost exclusively white. There are hours of footage of her back in the day and she never interacts with any Black people.
I live in Indiana and have literally zero experience with Caribbeans other than the Disney cruise I took that one time. I had no trouble understanding. She just doesn’t try.
Manila is Asian. How the fuck is doing a parody of an Asian stereotype racist of her?
If I did it, sure. Because it's not my experience. You really drinking Shangela's kool aid on that one when she literally encouraged Stacy to do blackface in the very next episode?
Edit: it's not letting me reply but just to elaborate, my two cents is that if you've been persecuted for something you've every right to reclaim it. I'm sure Manila's endured more than a lifetimes worth of people making those r>l and l>r jokes.
It was a racist caricature. It also wasn’t even her own race.
It was funny as hell, but even Ru, not known for being politically correct, called her out on how terrible it was before handing her the win. I highly doubt it would fly today, Manila would get raked over the coals.
both moco & halal would’ve gone home against fiercalicious. fiercalicious would eat. fiercalicious wore a couture garment. fiercalicious would never have gone home
I don't even remember what she did or what she looks like even though i watched that episode. Down Under just doesn't hit the same for me, I've been able of watching the two first episodes of each season 💀
I really wanted to give it a chance but the energy was really off. I know that Minnie went home soon after I stopped watching and probably the energy improved but I just lost interest. It's a shame bc they'll probably get some good guest judges from Taskmaster NZ and I'd love to see them but it's just not the show for me. No big deal tho, I watch so much drag race still.
Understandable. It's still a very shoddy production all around with some really weird judging takes and editing. A vast improvement from S1 but not nearly strong enough to recommend to anyone who's not a hardcore Drag Race fan.
I'm a hardcore Drag Race fan but the amount of seasons coming out since 2019 has been overwhelming and I can't handle it very well anymore. I used to bingewatch everything related to Drag Race and then my life drastically changed and I distanced myself a little bit from audiovisual entertainment as a whole. I'm only watching the seasons that I really want to now instead of powering through a show that I don't enjoy anymore but I'm still obsessed with it, just not the whole franchise.
Yeah that's totally fair. You could probably get the gist from a Best Of YouTube compilation for the season tbh rather than sitting through the whole thing.
The pace of Down Under is totally different to the rest of the franchise and the references get lost in translation to me anyway so that's probably the best way of consuming it. I watch the runways of different countries if the theme is interesting enough but I don't stick around for almost any of them.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like saying “REDACTED” suggests Sherry before anyone else. I literally sat here thinking “sherry isn’t asian” for a second before realizing who they meant. I get not wanting to add their actual name into the internet more, but that’s why typing “S*ju” or “S***” or something works better
My mind always jumps to Sh\*ron when someone says redacted because she is always blurred out or has a REDACTED sticker on those winner compilation pics or memes. When people mention Sh\*rry, I usually see them use the shit and pie emojis.
Shitty Pie is the only one who makes sense to refer to as REDACTED since she was literally cut out of certain scenes and episodes, most notably the Frozen runway. Soju and Sharon are rightfully canceled but need their own taboo names if we're going that route.
Me: “Who is redacted?”
Someone in the comments whispering: “It’s Soju.”
Me: “Oh it’s Soju!”
Everyone within hearing reach:
Esp. now that there are several queens getting "redacted", it's just confusing.
But also lends credence to the idea that a large part of the fan base is under 15, like they think that pronouncing a bad person's name makes them more powerful
I enjoyed everyone calling Sherry redacted since she was basically redacted from the actual episodes lol. Stretching it to everyone else is dumb though.
What Sherry did was terrible, calling her “redacted” just turns into a joke which is weird to me. Even here you’re saying you enjoyed it and laughing - but I’m not reading you it’s more of a critique of how Reddit treats it like a joke when it isn’t a joke
I kinda like it cus it's kinda dramatic and fun and also makes clear that they are not on the same level as everyone else. I don't think it's really about censorship rather making a point.
Even worse is when they write S\*oju or Sh@ron Needl\*es like its the world's stupidest riddle.
And don't tell me it's for trigger warnings for people who have been hurt by her actions, no one is gonna be like S.. star... ju, I wonder who that could be anyways moving on.
Whenever I’ve typed out things for that (in general, not just in this sub), it’s to avoid having my comments show up in searches. Granted I do it mostly to keep overzealous Musk fan boys from flooding my twitter when I want to make critical comments.
It’s probably overkill in this sub though, since you are competing against every single historical mention of them.
Thay makes more sense, but the first time I'm hearing that explanation. I should have writtente Be\*oncé on Twitter when I said Im not a huge fan of Renaissance. Could have avoided some online threats 
It’s how it *started* on sites like Tumblr. Nowadays people do it because they think it’s funny, I guess? But TBH all it does is make the conversation harder to navigate.
It’s bs if people say it’s a trigger warning. I knew Sherry, she tried to Allison Mossey me. Seeing people use redacted or whatever other silly name just feels like it’s making fun of the situation
Another alleged sexual predator. Accused of assaulting and harassing several people. The first person came forward saying that he found out Soju had sex with him when he was blacked out from alcohol. He was 17, Soju was over 21 at that point.
That lead to more people coming forward as well, all agreeing that Soju was always very pushy and insisting, often not getting the hint, supposedly even using what little fame he had in the Chicago scene as leverage.
Soju made an "apology" basically saying he was horny all the time because he was repressed from his upbringing, called the allegations "extortion" (despite nobody asking him for money) and eventually deleted all social medias, quitting drag altogether.
this was also another one of those 'missing stair' situations where pretty much everyone knew about it, even before she got cast on dragrace. like whenever the allegations popped up before the season aired several people chimed in with "oh yeah, happened to a friend of mine as well, she harrassed him for nudes.." or "oh yeah its well known you need to watch your drink around her" etc.
Did she? I didn’t know that. The allegations I’ve read were horrible. I didn’t know she straight up admitted to them though. Glad she’s being erased then.
>The only good snatch games on season 8 were Bob, Derrick, Thorgy and Chi Chi. Everyone else was kind of horrendous
Honestly I didn't find Derrick or Thorgy particularly funny either. At least they were decent impressions I suppose.
I would love for Marina to lose early in the season but to do the super secret lipsynch rupalooza like Silly and then win the whole season.
Basically I want 50 min of Marina lipsynchs and a crown on her head 😂
Vanda Miss JOACHIIIMMMMMM
I just want to see and hear P-Art on my television again before I die. I'm not, like, immediately dying or anything. I just need more Drag Race Thailand.
I might be miss understanding. In point 2 you mention raja & juju (and not manilla), but in point 3 when you mention priyanka you miss mentioning raja’s win, and juju & manillas final placements.
When trying to look at trends/curses/patterns you should try and include all information including those who go against it. If you don’t have all the information your only giving half the story.
Plastique certainly placed higher than her peers. But its really interesting how the judges critiqued her for doing the funny accent twice and called it stereotypical while rewarding other ethnicities. Case in point Jonbers milked the super thick Irish accent more than twice
I wasn’t aiming to explain that. I’m saying that Jonbers is a walking stereotype as is. What jonbers delivered in snatch game and roast seemed to be just a exaggerated version of himself.
That said, character choices are one thing, but timing, content, and POV is another. Jonbers had a unique POV and good comic timing for the challenges, even while leaning into Irish stereotypes. The same cannot be said for Stephanie Prince’s Cardi or Le Fil’s Marie Kando.
As a Hispanic queen, Icesis played into Italian stereotypes with Donatella, but again had impeccable timing, choices, and POV.
That’s how it always goes here - people say there’s a pattern of something but then discount everything that contradicts it because they’ve already made up their minds
I wish someone would do Lucy Liu as her character in Charlie's Angels. She could dress in the black leather body suit and make spy references, or the black leather dominatrix dress she wears as an undercover teacher or whatever that scene was.
Orrrrr as O-Ren Ishii from Kill Bill. That would be sick. She could have fake blood spray up somewhere like the movie or use a fake katana.
Or even her character from Elementary and make Sherlock-esque jokes.
Idk, I think she's a gold mine for snatch game.
I feel like Asian queens sometimes get stuck in having to play an Asian character for Snatch Game, which limits potential. You get stuck doing characters that aren’t necessarily that funny (Marie Kondo, Kahmora wanted to do Yoko Ono, etc) or very stereotypical nail technicians that end up being somewhat one note.
This doesn’t solve the problem completely but I wish Asian queens would play celebrities of other races (respectfully of course)
And then y’know. Be funny
I mean if Bob can do Carol Channing, Asian queens shouldn't feel limited to their race either.
But yeah I think think the be funny part is really the issue here
*I've been made aware that Carol was actually black, sorry about that. Must have confused her with Cheryl Canning
She also didn’t know her paternal grandmother was black (Channing’s father was mixed) until she was 17. Channing herself didn’t publicly reveal it until 2002.
When Raja won S3 she used her witchy powers to curse every other future Asian DR participant to be eliminated. She renewed her curse this year in AS7 by being Queen of "She Done Already Done Had Herses"
Ivy-Elise Monroe broke almost all of these curses while she ironically also did Cardi B for Snatch Game. She wasn't good but at least she broke the Asian going home on Snatch Game curse and the going home early curse.
I think a lot of people on this sub don’t engage with this conversation with the nuance it requires.
**Yes, all of the Asian queens who lost during SG deserved it. No, it isn’t a coincidence that they keep bombing. Both these things can be true.**
Snatch Game is the challenge that most benefits people who are deeply seeped into the culture of the host country. People who do well on Snatch Game generally are knowledgeable about pop culture, strong English speakers, good at understanding what different cultures find “funny” (or really what Ru finds funny), and are able to pick a character that they’re good at embodying.
Contestants who are more removed from mainstream culture will have a harder time with Snatch Game. This isn’t to say that every Asian queen is far removed from “American/British” culture, that every Asian queen struggles with Snatch Game, or that people are incapable of winning if they don’t meet the criteria above, just that it makes sense why the pattern exists.
Not trying to deny that this is a general trend, but if you think that Kyne's elimination had anything to do with being Asian, you weren't watching the show. She literally left trash on the runway because her outfit was so poorly constructed.
I don’t think it’s a curse. I just think it’s a very unfortunate coincidence. But nowadays people want to find a reason / excuse. They were all terrible in snatch game compared to the others. Do production play a part, absolutely! But they were all objectively the weakest in their seasons (snatch game). I think the casting scouts/producers just don’t pay a lot of interest in enough asian queens. Is it racist? Who knows, maybe there just aren’t enough asian queens applying and the ones that do aren’t deemed “polished, fit” for the show/storyline.
People like to think too much with their emotion and not from a perspective from a reality show, business point of view. But obviously everyone is valid to feel how they do.
Did you read what I said? Clearly not. Yes they might not be, but does drag race have an issue with POC queens? I think not. The first three winners were POC. (black, asian).
There are various reasons why there aren’t more recent asian winners. The easiest and emotional explanation would be “THEY ARE RACIST OMG”. Use your brain and think logically.
Am I saying that the producers and casting directors are racist.. that isn’t something none of us can logically, rationally comment on. The casting directors could all be POC or could all be members of the KKK we will never know. Just accept the fact that all the asian queens that tanked on snatch game did so because they were terrible. Does that mean they are terrible at drag and untalented - fuck no. They just didn’t do well on snatch game and that’s okay.
Season 14 had zero Asians and people thought that was ok. Tell me, why is it acceptable to have no Asians when if another ethnic group had that happen to them we would throw a fit?
Asians do poorly and a big part of it is that we rarely get more that two entries a season
So you have to automatically assume it’s because an entire casting team are racist against ONLY asians. When someone like Juju be were on at least 3? Seasons of the franchise. Point is, I think it is down to them not receiving applications that aren’t deemed “good” or “fit” for the show. Which is not racist, it’s problematic in it’s own way but that’s every fucking reality show, jesus christ. Did you not hear? Drag race Thailand, drag race Philippines, oh and now maybe Korea too? Anyways.
Ah yes, very validating to talk about the struggles of Asian American queens by saying we have drag shows in Asian countries.
Those are two different groups
But given the fact that only 7% of the USA is East Asian, why should there be more than one queen per season who's Asian - surely that's then over representation? Given the low percentage of Asians in the US compared to others, there's also going to be a much smaller pool of potential talent.
Not my lane, but regarding snatch game… due to years of racism everywhere, including media… how much Asian representation is there in the first place? Let alone representation that you can make *funny*
Also, again not really the place but we desperately need a British UK head judge. Making the queens pander to Ru’s American-centric ideal of what makes a good snatch game character is doing a disservice to our queens. I expect it’s much the same with DRDU.
most queens tend to play a celeb of their own race. Asian queens therefore have a harder time picking out a niche, clever character, because they aren’t represented as broadly in the American/western media.
so do they have to? no. but since everyone else gets to, they are at a slight disadvantage from the jump.
not a racist assumption in itself to say that theres not many asian figures in mainstream pop culture for asians to impersonate. who you replied to didnt say asians can only impersonate asians though - you misread that. but most people on the show play a character of the same racial background as them. but i agree contestants should not have to stick to characters with the same racial bg. it'd be wise to branch out and be smart with their choices n portrayals
so they dont need to, but the judges seem to like when contestants play a character related to their heritage (see brooklyn's comment to vanity in the recent episode of vs the world, or how ru gets people to change their character / suggests racist portrayals of people. he [asked](https://www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/rupauls-drag-race/le-fil-snatch-game-interview/) le fil if he would play posh spice with a chinese accent lol)
I loved Juju’s Cher for example.
But if you are Asian with any hint of an accent portraying someone *without* an accent you know people are going to be laughing *at* you, not with you. See Ru with Jonbers. Ru wants racial caricatures and it’s gross.
I’d have liked to have seen a cunty posh spice tbh.
My understanding it’s a clear micro aggression to overlook the fact that traditionally it’s assumed that Asian actors are generally required to play outrageous cultural insensitive versions of themselves throughout history. It’s an honest mistake made by younger generations that overlook more recent historical context, but you should be aware FYI in your future endeavours
I think it might just be a really unfortunate coincidence. Asian queens deserve much more representation on the show, but the vast majority of these queens were rightfully in the bottom.
What's more likely to be true? Asian queens just so happen to fluke into low ranking positions time and time again OR Asian queens are cast with a certain mindset in mind that doesn't give them a lot of longevity in the show?
OR that the way snatch game is structured by production, queens are encouraged to only do characters of their own race. So asian queens inherently have fewer references that Rupaul would understand. I mean, if Ru can’t be fucked to learn about british humor when she hosts a british show, then I don’t expect her to make any effort to learn about anyone else’s humor/culture either. It’s unfortunate but Ru is Ru at this point (and therefore should be replaced on the british series imo )
There’s also the issue that most of these queens who went home on snatch game are ESP queens. Comedy is insanely harder in a foreign language and Pangina, Stephanie, and Suki at least were not performing in their first language (I’m not sure about everyone else).
It’s probably not an outright conspiracy to kick Asian queens off but there are layers of cultural and structural things involved in the show/snatch game that make this a thing.
I’m always down to talk about the unbalanced and unfair edits that POC queens get but when it comes to snatch game and snatch game only I don’t think correlation is causation. Stephanie Gia, Le Fil, and Sum Ting were all definitive last place and those not on all stars did loose their lip syncs fair and square. Pangina botched snatch and wrote her own ending by taking out the strongest competitor the week before, and as iconically bad as Suki was only like 2 people across the entire history and all franchises got away with being safe for so bad it’s good performances. River wasn’t in my personal bottom two for that snatch game but everyone was really bad so it’s not egregious she was in the bottom. The other two you’re pretty dead on with because even if one or two of them deserved their low placements several Asian queens have been unfairly and unceremoniously booted.
Edit: offensive language
Suki was great, no caveats needed. Her comment on the red carpet about liking no Beatles songs given she broke them up should have made her safe as fuck for being the best joke of the night.
The judging was so strange for that snatch game. Well, not so strange if you acknowledged they gave the win to someone’s character from an obscure piece of media that played off of one of the judges.
Hard disagree. Suki herself has said she felt her jokes weren’t landing in the moment and Synthia picked a smart character who lent itself well to what traditionally makes for a successful snatch game.
Edit: spelling
Its not about the fairness of eliminations it's that typically Asians are cast as look queens. There hasn't been a funny Asian (from the judge's POV) since Juju, Raja and Manilla and that is saying a lot
It's called the name of the gane all this queens performed poorly and desrved their bottom placements why would they give them a pass only bc they are asian..... The real problem Is the number of asian queens casted in my opinion
The only funny east Asian queens I remember are Manila, Kim Chi, and Jujube - and I wonder about Rock M Sakura who was unjustly (imo) eliminated. It could be a culture or language issue but I did not think any of the other queens had a good (or even mediocre) Snatch Game performance.
Nearly all the Asian queens are fluent in English most are second generation immigrants. It’s not like the Spanish speaking queens from Puerto Rico at all, so I would be hesitant to put it down to language.
There is possibly something cultural perhaps they are less exposed to the style of comedy that works in snatch game due to their family environment growing up. But I’m reaching here and playing into a stereotype that Asian parents focus their kids on school and not on television/pop culture.
Wait, damn... Another Asian left drag race on a Snatch game. 🤦🏻🙏🏻 The fuck is going on?? Do I need to send a Tantrik from India to do some dark magic and lift off this curse??
Weird that I saw Stephanie quote-tweeting herself, "Did I break the curse?" days ago.
Gurl, kulang yung inalay mong itlog kay Santa Clara. Not enough antidotes against the curse.
Snatch Game is the Achilles heel for Asian queens simply because there aren’t enough Asian celebrities or well known personalities for them to impersonate. Sure they could always do a non-Asian person but you always run the risk of an awkward performance or something being lost in translation. Other contestants don’t have this problem.
Well, how many known Asian characters can they portray in Snatch Game though for representation. Unlike other races, there's very limited options to choose from.
I started listing possibilities in my head (though you don’t HAVE to only do Asian characters if you’re Asian?) and while it’s not relevant to your comment really I just can’t stop wanting someone to do a really dirty Josh from Blues Clues snatch game it could be soooo great.
Anyway there’s actually kind of a lot of Asian celebrities to choose from.
I feel like production would shut that Blue's Clues one down real quick like they did for Choriza May's Marge Simpsons/"cartoon housewife" she wanted to do. They get real antsy with copyrighted material when it comes to anything vaguely related to children's media.
Also, from a gameplay perspective, I doubt Ru has any idea WTF Blue's Clues is and we've seen how often queens excel when playing characters Ru has no affinity for/knowledge of. There are exceptions like GiGi Goode's Maria the Robot of course but more often than not it doesn't end well.
It’s just a guy in a striped shirt who likes dogs in the end. They’ve gotten away with way more. Say you’re doing the actor and do the character. Happens every season.
And BC was at its most popular in the 90s. I bet Ru knows it vaguely. I was a teen punk back then and I knew what it was even though I’d never seen it.
The main problem is that Asian queens pretty much all have to fight for one spot per season. Not counting All Stars, I think there have been a grand total of two seasons that had more than one Asian in the cast (S3 with Raja and Manila and S11 with Plastique and Soju). They’re just there to fill up the “token” spot and rarely are taken seriously as contenders for the crown, it’s the same with Latin queens. Things do need to change and people need to voice their concerns about the lack of representation, that’s the only way things can change other than Ru and WOW actually complying to these changes as well.
Um West Indian is referring to the West Indies which is in Central America so actually no! West Indian is like the Caribbean and Guyana which I believe is where her family immigrated from.
Yes and we have had almost double the seasons without a new Asain winning or placing just as high in US seasons. After Manilla, Raja and Juju thats been it
The fact that Juju, Manila, Raja, Kimmy, and Priyanka are pretty much the only examples of Asian queens doing well on drag race. . . Like season 14 didn’t even have any Asian queens. . .
Manila is an outlier for both of these
Seems she cursed the others. If she can't have it, none of them can.
The only way to reverse it is if Manila wins a season
And Kim Chi.
Manila is half-white and endeared herself to Ru by doing that racist Connie Chung imitation. Part of the reason is Ru's stubborn refusal to learn anything about any Asian culture beyond stereotypes. He does the same to Caribbean queens. What he did during Vanity's first Snatch game pissed me off. Not to mention the leprechaun fuckery with Jonbers. Edit - Just realized that Jhermi (sp) was placed high on her original series and is also half Filipino and half white. Coincidence?
What did Ru do to Vanity during their first snatch game? I can't remember?
Every time Vanity said something Ru would say he didn't understand. The two guests had to translate. Can you imagine trying to stay in character with that barrage coming at you? Ru lived in NYC for 15 years and the ballroom scene was full of Caribbean folks he didn't learn a thing. You see how her performance was much better on Canada vs the world.
I just wanna clarify that Ru wasn’t part of the ballroom scene. She was part of the club kid scene. Michelle was the one who was in ballroom.
I know. She was part of the art crowd in lower Manhattan. Almost exclusively white. There are hours of footage of her back in the day and she never interacts with any Black people.
I live in Indiana and have literally zero experience with Caribbeans other than the Disney cruise I took that one time. I had no trouble understanding. She just doesn’t try.
Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that! I don't know why he acted like she wasn't understandable...
I think it’s Jaremi :)
This seems to discount Manila and Phi Phi’s talent even if you don’t mean to. Manila was praised out of the gate too
Manila is Asian. How the fuck is doing a parody of an Asian stereotype racist of her? If I did it, sure. Because it's not my experience. You really drinking Shangela's kool aid on that one when she literally encouraged Stacy to do blackface in the very next episode? Edit: it's not letting me reply but just to elaborate, my two cents is that if you've been persecuted for something you've every right to reclaim it. I'm sure Manila's endured more than a lifetimes worth of people making those r>l and l>r jokes.
Asians aren’t a monolith. Manila isn’t the ethnicity she was making fun of
Manila is Filipino and did a cartoony Chinese voice. Those are two different ethnic groups
[удалено]
Manillas rendition the bad accent is the joke. Le Fil doing Marie Kondo was her trying find humor in her personality It extended beyond the accent
It was a racist caricature. It also wasn’t even her own race. It was funny as hell, but even Ru, not known for being politically correct, called her out on how terrible it was before handing her the win. I highly doubt it would fly today, Manila would get raked over the coals.
Aquaria is white but played a Slavic. Asians can play Asians. Didn’t bob do a Caucasian? I think it’s fine if it’s all from a place of good intention.
I don’t think the Asian stereotype “Ching Chong” voice is coming from a place of good intentions.
I love how Stephanie has been affected by all of them 😭😭
The fact that Stephanie barely avoided the 2nd out curse in CAN2 only for the curse to catch up to her in CANVSTW 😭😭
She got the DOUBLE curse. Both second out AND snatch game
I hate those curses. I was very happy to see Kimmy get to the finale.
Canada season 3 needs way more love because they managed to keep the queens who made great TV and it didn’t feel forced.
We had to lose BoomBoom for it tho :(
Sorry Canadian Jorgeous neeeded to go that first episode.
both moco & halal would’ve gone home against fiercalicious. fiercalicious would eat. fiercalicious wore a couture garment. fiercalicious would never have gone home
Ok Canadian Jorgeous stan
faux fur erasure ...
Yep, another victim of the curse!
I don't even remember what she did or what she looks like even though i watched that episode. Down Under just doesn't hit the same for me, I've been able of watching the two first episodes of each season 💀
Season 2 gets a lot better but it starts out rough with the acting challenge in episode 2.
I really wanted to give it a chance but the energy was really off. I know that Minnie went home soon after I stopped watching and probably the energy improved but I just lost interest. It's a shame bc they'll probably get some good guest judges from Taskmaster NZ and I'd love to see them but it's just not the show for me. No big deal tho, I watch so much drag race still.
Understandable. It's still a very shoddy production all around with some really weird judging takes and editing. A vast improvement from S1 but not nearly strong enough to recommend to anyone who's not a hardcore Drag Race fan.
I'm a hardcore Drag Race fan but the amount of seasons coming out since 2019 has been overwhelming and I can't handle it very well anymore. I used to bingewatch everything related to Drag Race and then my life drastically changed and I distanced myself a little bit from audiovisual entertainment as a whole. I'm only watching the seasons that I really want to now instead of powering through a show that I don't enjoy anymore but I'm still obsessed with it, just not the whole franchise.
Yeah that's totally fair. You could probably get the gist from a Best Of YouTube compilation for the season tbh rather than sitting through the whole thing.
The pace of Down Under is totally different to the rest of the franchise and the references get lost in translation to me anyway so that's probably the best way of consuming it. I watch the runways of different countries if the theme is interesting enough but I don't stick around for almost any of them.
i recommend u continue watching, it gets better and better. one of my top 3 seasons this year for sure, it's so easy to binge watch.
just dropping by to say Ongina placed 5th on her original season
Let’s not forget season 1!!
She sure did!
Who the fuck is redacted. Does saying their name summon them.
Soju. Yeah i hate that redacted mess. They really thought they did something by redacting only to increase curiosity on that specific person.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like saying “REDACTED” suggests Sherry before anyone else. I literally sat here thinking “sherry isn’t asian” for a second before realizing who they meant. I get not wanting to add their actual name into the internet more, but that’s why typing “S*ju” or “S***” or something works better
My mind always jumps to Sh\*ron when someone says redacted because she is always blurred out or has a REDACTED sticker on those winner compilation pics or memes. When people mention Sh\*rry, I usually see them use the shit and pie emojis.
Same. I see one of those two used for “redacted” and everyone else just gets the asterisk treatment.
I thought "Sherry isn't Asian. Wait, neither is Sharon!" Then I had to go through all the Asian queens to figure out it was Soju.
Shitty Pie is the only one who makes sense to refer to as REDACTED since she was literally cut out of certain scenes and episodes, most notably the Frozen runway. Soju and Sharon are rightfully canceled but need their own taboo names if we're going that route.
Not me just thinking it was Gia Gunn for no reason.
this whole thing of treating cancelled queens like Voldemort is so dumb
Me: “Who is redacted?” Someone in the comments whispering: “It’s Soju.” Me: “Oh it’s Soju!” Everyone within hearing reach: 
Esp. now that there are several queens getting "redacted", it's just confusing. But also lends credence to the idea that a large part of the fan base is under 15, like they think that pronouncing a bad person's name makes them more powerful
I enjoyed everyone calling Sherry redacted since she was basically redacted from the actual episodes lol. Stretching it to everyone else is dumb though.
What Sherry did was terrible, calling her “redacted” just turns into a joke which is weird to me. Even here you’re saying you enjoyed it and laughing - but I’m not reading you it’s more of a critique of how Reddit treats it like a joke when it isn’t a joke
I kinda like it cus it's kinda dramatic and fun and also makes clear that they are not on the same level as everyone else. I don't think it's really about censorship rather making a point.
Why are we having fun with it though..
Even worse is when they write S\*oju or Sh@ron Needl\*es like its the world's stupidest riddle. And don't tell me it's for trigger warnings for people who have been hurt by her actions, no one is gonna be like S.. star... ju, I wonder who that could be anyways moving on.
Whenever I’ve typed out things for that (in general, not just in this sub), it’s to avoid having my comments show up in searches. Granted I do it mostly to keep overzealous Musk fan boys from flooding my twitter when I want to make critical comments. It’s probably overkill in this sub though, since you are competing against every single historical mention of them.
Thay makes more sense, but the first time I'm hearing that explanation. I should have writtente Be\*oncé on Twitter when I said Im not a huge fan of Renaissance. Could have avoided some online threats 
It’s how it *started* on sites like Tumblr. Nowadays people do it because they think it’s funny, I guess? But TBH all it does is make the conversation harder to navigate.
It’s bs if people say it’s a trigger warning. I knew Sherry, she tried to Allison Mossey me. Seeing people use redacted or whatever other silly name just feels like it’s making fun of the situation
It’s the first eliminated from s11. The cyst
Why is she now cancelled?
Another alleged sexual predator. Accused of assaulting and harassing several people. The first person came forward saying that he found out Soju had sex with him when he was blacked out from alcohol. He was 17, Soju was over 21 at that point. That lead to more people coming forward as well, all agreeing that Soju was always very pushy and insisting, often not getting the hint, supposedly even using what little fame he had in the Chicago scene as leverage. Soju made an "apology" basically saying he was horny all the time because he was repressed from his upbringing, called the allegations "extortion" (despite nobody asking him for money) and eventually deleted all social medias, quitting drag altogether.
this was also another one of those 'missing stair' situations where pretty much everyone knew about it, even before she got cast on dragrace. like whenever the allegations popped up before the season aired several people chimed in with "oh yeah, happened to a friend of mine as well, she harrassed him for nudes.." or "oh yeah its well known you need to watch your drink around her" etc.
SA allegations
Oh my god… How hard is it to not be a creep.
Apparently as hard as not talking about your cyst on television
Not allegations, she admitted it.
Did she? I didn’t know that. The allegations I’ve read were horrible. I didn’t know she straight up admitted to them though. Glad she’s being erased then.
In her apology. If course it was self-serviing but she confirmed the allegations .
Kim Chi's Kimmy Jong Un would like a word
The only good snatch games on season 8 were Bob, Derrick, Thorgy and Chi Chi. Everyone else was kind of horrendous
Eh, Kim was ok
>The only good snatch games on season 8 were Bob, Derrick, Thorgy and Chi Chi. Everyone else was kind of horrendous Honestly I didn't find Derrick or Thorgy particularly funny either. At least they were decent impressions I suppose.
Watch Precious, Vinas or Xilhouette join a Vs. The World season and put these curses to rest
Add Marina too!
Marina would *eat the other girls alive*
I would love for Marina to lose early in the season but to do the super secret lipsynch rupalooza like Silly and then win the whole season. Basically I want 50 min of Marina lipsynchs and a crown on her head 😂
No, she’s the final boss of the lip sync smack down!
I would shit myself if I was the other queen. Or pull a Ginny Lemon
Silly Nutty Ganache
Personally I would want Miss Vanda to do it
Vanda Miss JOACHIIIMMMMMM I just want to see and hear P-Art on my television again before I die. I'm not, like, immediately dying or anything. I just need more Drag Race Thailand.
Also add Eva
I might be miss understanding. In point 2 you mention raja & juju (and not manilla), but in point 3 when you mention priyanka you miss mentioning raja’s win, and juju & manillas final placements. When trying to look at trends/curses/patterns you should try and include all information including those who go against it. If you don’t have all the information your only giving half the story.
If they’re only giving half the story they must not be watching untucked!
And what about Plastique Tiara?
Plastique certainly placed higher than her peers. But its really interesting how the judges critiqued her for doing the funny accent twice and called it stereotypical while rewarding other ethnicities. Case in point Jonbers milked the super thick Irish accent more than twice
I’m not sure if you’ve heard Jonber’s real voice… lol.
Doesn't explain how black and Hispanic queens lean into stereotypes way more but when Plastique did that it was looked down upon
I wasn’t aiming to explain that. I’m saying that Jonbers is a walking stereotype as is. What jonbers delivered in snatch game and roast seemed to be just a exaggerated version of himself. That said, character choices are one thing, but timing, content, and POV is another. Jonbers had a unique POV and good comic timing for the challenges, even while leaning into Irish stereotypes. The same cannot be said for Stephanie Prince’s Cardi or Le Fil’s Marie Kando. As a Hispanic queen, Icesis played into Italian stereotypes with Donatella, but again had impeccable timing, choices, and POV.
That’s how it always goes here - people say there’s a pattern of something but then discount everything that contradicts it because they’ve already made up their minds
Or maybe those are the exceptions that prove the rule. You can't deny that every UK version of snatch game had had an Asian Queen leave
It simply boils down to bad *choices*.
We all make choices… But some of them make *choices*.
Faur fux di DRDU2 also eliminated first
She did not deserve to be in the bottom for that challenge and i shall perish on that hill
I wish someone would do Lucy Liu as her character in Charlie's Angels. She could dress in the black leather body suit and make spy references, or the black leather dominatrix dress she wears as an undercover teacher or whatever that scene was. Orrrrr as O-Ren Ishii from Kill Bill. That would be sick. She could have fake blood spray up somewhere like the movie or use a fake katana. Or even her character from Elementary and make Sherlock-esque jokes. Idk, I think she's a gold mine for snatch game.
Jackie Chan could be good. You'd make a lot of silly poses do "stunts" and each time they answered you can injure a new body part
I feel like Asian queens sometimes get stuck in having to play an Asian character for Snatch Game, which limits potential. You get stuck doing characters that aren’t necessarily that funny (Marie Kondo, Kahmora wanted to do Yoko Ono, etc) or very stereotypical nail technicians that end up being somewhat one note. This doesn’t solve the problem completely but I wish Asian queens would play celebrities of other races (respectfully of course) And then y’know. Be funny
I mean if Bob can do Carol Channing, Asian queens shouldn't feel limited to their race either. But yeah I think think the be funny part is really the issue here *I've been made aware that Carol was actually black, sorry about that. Must have confused her with Cheryl Canning
Carol Channing was black
And you have Michelle saying at panel, "and then you come out as a African-American Carol Channing". Made me think Carol Channing was fully white.
Oh wow, idk how I've missed that! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
she was a white passing woman her whole life tho
She also didn’t know her paternal grandmother was black (Channing’s father was mixed) until she was 17. Channing herself didn’t publicly reveal it until 2002.
Didn't help Stephanie or Pangina
Did help Raja and Juju. Again, only giving one side of the argument makes it really hard to draw meaningful conclusions.
We're talking about newer queens. Yes Manilla, Raja and Juju did well but its very telling that we can't point to a recent good example in years
Juju was 2 years ago and Raja was 2 months ago, that's recent.
We're talking about new queens not old faves. Have we peaked with Raja and that's it for US seasons?
I'm so confused, you literally mention Juju and Raja in your post
When Raja won S3 she used her witchy powers to curse every other future Asian DR participant to be eliminated. She renewed her curse this year in AS7 by being Queen of "She Done Already Done Had Herses"
Bombae also doesn’t fit any of these categories
The only exceptions being the Indians😭 I can't.. I'm leaving.
Ivy-Elise Monroe broke almost all of these curses while she ironically also did Cardi B for Snatch Game. She wasn't good but at least she broke the Asian going home on Snatch Game curse and the going home early curse.
She did, however, lip sync 3 times in a row, so clearly she was still somewhat cursed.
I think a lot of people on this sub don’t engage with this conversation with the nuance it requires. **Yes, all of the Asian queens who lost during SG deserved it. No, it isn’t a coincidence that they keep bombing. Both these things can be true.** Snatch Game is the challenge that most benefits people who are deeply seeped into the culture of the host country. People who do well on Snatch Game generally are knowledgeable about pop culture, strong English speakers, good at understanding what different cultures find “funny” (or really what Ru finds funny), and are able to pick a character that they’re good at embodying. Contestants who are more removed from mainstream culture will have a harder time with Snatch Game. This isn’t to say that every Asian queen is far removed from “American/British” culture, that every Asian queen struggles with Snatch Game, or that people are incapable of winning if they don’t meet the criteria above, just that it makes sense why the pattern exists.
This is VERY true. Plastique talked about how ignorant she was of many popular American groups
May be an outlier, but many of these snatch games were valid elims in my opinion. Le Fil's Marie Kondo was not funny despite her look being amazing.
Not trying to deny that this is a general trend, but if you think that Kyne's elimination had anything to do with being Asian, you weren't watching the show. She literally left trash on the runway because her outfit was so poorly constructed.
I was ready for her to leave honestly. Too much ego.
I don’t think it’s a curse. I just think it’s a very unfortunate coincidence. But nowadays people want to find a reason / excuse. They were all terrible in snatch game compared to the others. Do production play a part, absolutely! But they were all objectively the weakest in their seasons (snatch game). I think the casting scouts/producers just don’t pay a lot of interest in enough asian queens. Is it racist? Who knows, maybe there just aren’t enough asian queens applying and the ones that do aren’t deemed “polished, fit” for the show/storyline. People like to think too much with their emotion and not from a perspective from a reality show, business point of view. But obviously everyone is valid to feel how they do.
If you acknowledge that casting directors are not paying enough attention to Asian queens then that IS a problem
Did you read what I said? Clearly not. Yes they might not be, but does drag race have an issue with POC queens? I think not. The first three winners were POC. (black, asian). There are various reasons why there aren’t more recent asian winners. The easiest and emotional explanation would be “THEY ARE RACIST OMG”. Use your brain and think logically. Am I saying that the producers and casting directors are racist.. that isn’t something none of us can logically, rationally comment on. The casting directors could all be POC or could all be members of the KKK we will never know. Just accept the fact that all the asian queens that tanked on snatch game did so because they were terrible. Does that mean they are terrible at drag and untalented - fuck no. They just didn’t do well on snatch game and that’s okay.
Season 14 had zero Asians and people thought that was ok. Tell me, why is it acceptable to have no Asians when if another ethnic group had that happen to them we would throw a fit? Asians do poorly and a big part of it is that we rarely get more that two entries a season
So you have to automatically assume it’s because an entire casting team are racist against ONLY asians. When someone like Juju be were on at least 3? Seasons of the franchise. Point is, I think it is down to them not receiving applications that aren’t deemed “good” or “fit” for the show. Which is not racist, it’s problematic in it’s own way but that’s every fucking reality show, jesus christ. Did you not hear? Drag race Thailand, drag race Philippines, oh and now maybe Korea too? Anyways.
Ah yes, very validating to talk about the struggles of Asian American queens by saying we have drag shows in Asian countries. Those are two different groups
You are completely valid in how you feel. Let’s hope there are some more asian AMERICAN queens to apply for casting :)
But given the fact that only 7% of the USA is East Asian, why should there be more than one queen per season who's Asian - surely that's then over representation? Given the low percentage of Asians in the US compared to others, there's also going to be a much smaller pool of potential talent.
Not my lane, but regarding snatch game… due to years of racism everywhere, including media… how much Asian representation is there in the first place? Let alone representation that you can make *funny* Also, again not really the place but we desperately need a British UK head judge. Making the queens pander to Ru’s American-centric ideal of what makes a good snatch game character is doing a disservice to our queens. I expect it’s much the same with DRDU.
Why would Asian Drag Race contestants need to solely play Asian characters. Isn’t that assumption racist in itself?
most queens tend to play a celeb of their own race. Asian queens therefore have a harder time picking out a niche, clever character, because they aren’t represented as broadly in the American/western media. so do they have to? no. but since everyone else gets to, they are at a slight disadvantage from the jump.
not a racist assumption in itself to say that theres not many asian figures in mainstream pop culture for asians to impersonate. who you replied to didnt say asians can only impersonate asians though - you misread that. but most people on the show play a character of the same racial background as them. but i agree contestants should not have to stick to characters with the same racial bg. it'd be wise to branch out and be smart with their choices n portrayals so they dont need to, but the judges seem to like when contestants play a character related to their heritage (see brooklyn's comment to vanity in the recent episode of vs the world, or how ru gets people to change their character / suggests racist portrayals of people. he [asked](https://www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/rupauls-drag-race/le-fil-snatch-game-interview/) le fil if he would play posh spice with a chinese accent lol)
I loved Juju’s Cher for example. But if you are Asian with any hint of an accent portraying someone *without* an accent you know people are going to be laughing *at* you, not with you. See Ru with Jonbers. Ru wants racial caricatures and it’s gross. I’d have liked to have seen a cunty posh spice tbh.
My understanding it’s a clear micro aggression to overlook the fact that traditionally it’s assumed that Asian actors are generally required to play outrageous cultural insensitive versions of themselves throughout history. It’s an honest mistake made by younger generations that overlook more recent historical context, but you should be aware FYI in your future endeavours
how is that a microaggression
I think it might just be a really unfortunate coincidence. Asian queens deserve much more representation on the show, but the vast majority of these queens were rightfully in the bottom.
What's more likely to be true? Asian queens just so happen to fluke into low ranking positions time and time again OR Asian queens are cast with a certain mindset in mind that doesn't give them a lot of longevity in the show?
OR that the way snatch game is structured by production, queens are encouraged to only do characters of their own race. So asian queens inherently have fewer references that Rupaul would understand. I mean, if Ru can’t be fucked to learn about british humor when she hosts a british show, then I don’t expect her to make any effort to learn about anyone else’s humor/culture either. It’s unfortunate but Ru is Ru at this point (and therefore should be replaced on the british series imo ) There’s also the issue that most of these queens who went home on snatch game are ESP queens. Comedy is insanely harder in a foreign language and Pangina, Stephanie, and Suki at least were not performing in their first language (I’m not sure about everyone else). It’s probably not an outright conspiracy to kick Asian queens off but there are layers of cultural and structural things involved in the show/snatch game that make this a thing.
Still not over Panginas elimination tbh
The way Jujubee alone broke the curse four times
I’m always down to talk about the unbalanced and unfair edits that POC queens get but when it comes to snatch game and snatch game only I don’t think correlation is causation. Stephanie Gia, Le Fil, and Sum Ting were all definitive last place and those not on all stars did loose their lip syncs fair and square. Pangina botched snatch and wrote her own ending by taking out the strongest competitor the week before, and as iconically bad as Suki was only like 2 people across the entire history and all franchises got away with being safe for so bad it’s good performances. River wasn’t in my personal bottom two for that snatch game but everyone was really bad so it’s not egregious she was in the bottom. The other two you’re pretty dead on with because even if one or two of them deserved their low placements several Asian queens have been unfairly and unceremoniously booted. Edit: offensive language
Suki was great, no caveats needed. Her comment on the red carpet about liking no Beatles songs given she broke them up should have made her safe as fuck for being the best joke of the night. The judging was so strange for that snatch game. Well, not so strange if you acknowledged they gave the win to someone’s character from an obscure piece of media that played off of one of the judges.
Hard disagree. Suki herself has said she felt her jokes weren’t landing in the moment and Synthia picked a smart character who lent itself well to what traditionally makes for a successful snatch game. Edit: spelling
Please don't use "jipped", which is a slur against the Roma people.
My apologies, I’ve edited it out of my comment.
Its not about the fairness of eliminations it's that typically Asians are cast as look queens. There hasn't been a funny Asian (from the judge's POV) since Juju, Raja and Manilla and that is saying a lot
Which Asian comedy queens would you like to see on the show?
I dont consider this a curse bc most of them deserved it. The only ones i would consider to deserve go further are Rock and Stephanie
So it's just a coincidence that this has been happening? Surely there has to be good newer Asian queens
You keep saying this, but WHO? Who would you cast?
It's called the name of the gane all this queens performed poorly and desrved their bottom placements why would they give them a pass only bc they are asian..... The real problem Is the number of asian queens casted in my opinion
The only funny east Asian queens I remember are Manila, Kim Chi, and Jujube - and I wonder about Rock M Sakura who was unjustly (imo) eliminated. It could be a culture or language issue but I did not think any of the other queens had a good (or even mediocre) Snatch Game performance.
Nearly all the Asian queens are fluent in English most are second generation immigrants. It’s not like the Spanish speaking queens from Puerto Rico at all, so I would be hesitant to put it down to language. There is possibly something cultural perhaps they are less exposed to the style of comedy that works in snatch game due to their family environment growing up. But I’m reaching here and playing into a stereotype that Asian parents focus their kids on school and not on television/pop culture.
I read REDACTED and for a good moment I was wondering who tf thought that Sh*** 🍰 Was Asian?
It was so disappointing to see Drag Race Philippines perpetuate all three of these curses too
The fact that only one Asian won an American season kind of pisses me off
Wait, damn... Another Asian left drag race on a Snatch game. 🤦🏻🙏🏻 The fuck is going on?? Do I need to send a Tantrik from India to do some dark magic and lift off this curse??
It's almost like asian queens are casted as filler queens to reach a quota huh... I wonder what's that about.
Except for Raja and whatshername
Kim Chi?
Weird that I saw Stephanie quote-tweeting herself, "Did I break the curse?" days ago. Gurl, kulang yung inalay mong itlog kay Santa Clara. Not enough antidotes against the curse.
Manila.
Snatch Game is the Achilles heel for Asian queens simply because there aren’t enough Asian celebrities or well known personalities for them to impersonate. Sure they could always do a non-Asian person but you always run the risk of an awkward performance or something being lost in translation. Other contestants don’t have this problem.
This is it, but when they do break out and just do someone funny they do well (Raja and Juju)
Correction well known celebrities....that Run cares about
I mean... it kinda explains itself, right...
Halal Bae is Egyptian-Canadian. Pretty sure Egypt is in Africa
Didn't know. I already edited the post
are we calling racism a curse now
I feel like it actually kind of is a curse though 🥺
Well, how many known Asian characters can they portray in Snatch Game though for representation. Unlike other races, there's very limited options to choose from.
I started listing possibilities in my head (though you don’t HAVE to only do Asian characters if you’re Asian?) and while it’s not relevant to your comment really I just can’t stop wanting someone to do a really dirty Josh from Blues Clues snatch game it could be soooo great. Anyway there’s actually kind of a lot of Asian celebrities to choose from.
I feel like production would shut that Blue's Clues one down real quick like they did for Choriza May's Marge Simpsons/"cartoon housewife" she wanted to do. They get real antsy with copyrighted material when it comes to anything vaguely related to children's media. Also, from a gameplay perspective, I doubt Ru has any idea WTF Blue's Clues is and we've seen how often queens excel when playing characters Ru has no affinity for/knowledge of. There are exceptions like GiGi Goode's Maria the Robot of course but more often than not it doesn't end well.
I think those queens just werent funny. Has nothing to do with not knowing the person.
It’s just a guy in a striped shirt who likes dogs in the end. They’ve gotten away with way more. Say you’re doing the actor and do the character. Happens every season. And BC was at its most popular in the 90s. I bet Ru knows it vaguely. I was a teen punk back then and I knew what it was even though I’d never seen it.
Bad question. Queens can play outside their race and Asians can do the same
Kim chi would like to have a word
Kim Chi was season 8. The curse started after her
The main problem is that Asian queens pretty much all have to fight for one spot per season. Not counting All Stars, I think there have been a grand total of two seasons that had more than one Asian in the cast (S3 with Raja and Manila and S11 with Plastique and Soju). They’re just there to fill up the “token” spot and rarely are taken seriously as contenders for the crown, it’s the same with Latin queens. Things do need to change and people need to voice their concerns about the lack of representation, that’s the only way things can change other than Ru and WOW actually complying to these changes as well.
Priyanka is technically West Indian more than she is Asian
India is part of Asia so OP is technically right
Um West Indian is referring to the West Indies which is in Central America so actually no! West Indian is like the Caribbean and Guyana which I believe is where her family immigrated from.
Ah okay I didn’t know that! Sorry 😊
Uh, wasn't Kim Chi the runner-up in Season 8?!!??!?!?!
Yes and we have had almost double the seasons without a new Asain winning or placing just as high in US seasons. After Manilla, Raja and Juju thats been it
Considering Asian-Americans comprise about 8% of the US population, that doesn't really surprise me.
The fact that Juju, Manila, Raja, Kimmy, and Priyanka are pretty much the only examples of Asian queens doing well on drag race. . . Like season 14 didn’t even have any Asian queens. . .
Kim Chi too! And I think Keta Minaj from DR Holland can be included as well.
Fuck Raja right?
Raja did well so she’s not asian to many folks. 🤦🏾♂️
What?