Okay, so let me preface this review by saying: I love Alaska. I used to see her out back in the days, and we used to have mutual club friends and would chit-chat here and there. I also used to work on casting for RuPaul's Drag Race (the earlier seasons). So with that said.
Let me say I was not expecting this movie to deliver so much .... Anxiety...... So when I saw this mini-series pop up on my feed, it was an instant "click play and cancel" on what I was doing, and I rounded up my partner.
Now, was this show a polished diamond of cinematic perfection? Absolutely NOT! In fact! This was more like a less polished gem and more like a bedazzled rollercoaster flying off the tracks with a wig in the wind and lashes stuck to the ceiling.
It was chaotic. It was stressful. It was the kind of anxiety that makes your cuticles recede. I have never, and I mean never, been so stressed watching something that wasn't security cam feeds at 2 am after some edibles! I have to say I don't think I would have been able to do with these girls did. There were times we literally were ripping our hair out and seriously felt every emotion and all the anxiety they were living with (rent-free) in that moment.
Now that it's over, I feel inspired and compelled to jump on here and express how much I loved it. Yes, I LOVED IT!. After the glitter settled and the final credits rolled, I sat there blinking like I'd just been hit by a sweaty breastplate! Followed by a cannon of emotions. What seemed like a hot mess expressed in stilettos actually turned out to be one of the rawest, most honest pieces of art I've seen in a while.
Every single performer, every crew member, every moment soaked in panic and emotion -they didn't give up. When most folks would've tapped out (I know I would have), these queens and artists pushed forward.
Obstacles? (It is an understatement.) Honey, they had run through obstacles, jumped through hurdles, and literally had to dodge bullets, and still, they turned it out and persevered in the moment. Not just for themselves, but for the audience, for the culture, and for the moment, and I am thankful they shared that moment with us.
And that is the beauty of it. Most TV and film today spoon-feed us airbrushed fantasies where no one breaks a sweat and every lighting cue is perfect. But what "Behind the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant Competition Award Contest Competition" showed is in this experiance was 100% real and it was a reminder that sometimes things fall apart, the sound guy quits, the wigs go missing, and the universe says "not today, sweetie"-and still, the show goes on.
So yes, watch "Behind the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant Competition Award Contest Competition". Watch it with wine. Watch it with friends. Watch it through your fingers while screaming, "Why is everything on fire?!" But most importantly, watch it to witness the power of community, creativity, and the absolute resilience of this team of friends and how things just didn't go their way!
I always say that we learn more about life and ourselves through the hard times and through the struggles than we do during the good times..... anyways .......
At the end of the day, it's not about a flawless production. It's about the heart, the struggle, and this messy little doc-series that outlines a struggle and what we make of these situations.
