“Bring me back my queens!” On June 30, the French drag queen Nicky Doll, host of “Drag Race France”, will once again deliver all the Frenchified cult lines of the famous franchise, on Friday in the second part of the evening on France 2 and in preview at 6 p.m. on the France.tv platform.
The French adaptation of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” was expected at the turn. How to remain faithful to the original format of the famous American drag queen, extremely codified, while making heard a hexagonal difference? In addition to the marked references to French gay culture (Paloma as Fanny Ardant, musical choices that give pride of place to Dalida, Mylène Farmer or even Céline Dion), it is through a more positive approach to competition, less marked by rivalries, which “Drag Race France” scored points.
The host Nicky Doll has distinguished herself from her American counterpart by a more pronounced empathy towards the candidates. And the queens, far from certain “dramas” that we have seen under other franchises, carried each other. As during the cathartic lipsync (playback competition) between La Big Bertha and Lolita Banana, which saw the latter shave her head in tears. A symbolic stripping and a moment of vulnerability as we had seen little in the RuPaul galaxy.
Stronger rivalries
So what to expect from Season 2? Transform the test, and know how to renew yourself. The cast is very tempting for anyone who knows this universe: Cookie Kunty, icon of the Parisian nightlife recently featured in the film Three Nights a Week, by Florent Gouëlou; the wacky (and very chic) ??Rose and Punani; Keiona and Mami Watta from the ballroom scene… The poster is promising and augurs great moments of humor and fashion.
It is rumored in the small drag community that after a feel-good first season the rivalries will be much more marked. Will Season 2 manage to keep the positive and supportive spirit of Season 1, while relying a little more on the undoubtedly entertaining tricks of “drama”?
Telling about the vulnerability of LGBT people, their life journeys, the parents who kick them out, the precariousness that ensues; and finding an answer to this loss of bearings in the art of drag and its sequins, this is also the strength of this program. “Behind the glam, there is drama”, summed up La Briochée, drag queen and trans woman, taking up a formula from Nicky Doll last year.
In this respect, the audacious choice of France Télévisions paid off: while surfing on an entertaining format with well-oiled reality TV mechanics, it makes accessible to the general public the broader issues of rejection that people still experience today. queer. And opens the door to a fascinating culture that is still unknown to many.
The stakes are high, while in the United States, Sweden or France, certain far-right parties are now openly targeting drag queens, passing “anti-drag” laws or disrupting storytelling for children. Accused of “perverting youth”, drag queens have become, along with trans people, prime targets in the culture war against Wokism.