Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 14 Just Exposed One of The Show’s Biggest Flaws

Ru Paul's Drag Race Season 14 Just Exposed One of The Show's Biggest Flaws

The link that Drag Race has with the lives – and traumas – of its participants is one of the things that has long characterized the program.

It provides the queens with an opportunity to work through and reclaim what they’ve gone through in numerous ways. This seems to be becoming more crucial as the seasons go, with each queen’s trip often seeming to impact Ru’s judgment on who should wear the crown.

It’s what makes a contender like Jan stand out; she was always upbeat, confident in herself, and never had to deal with the problem of an Inner Saboteur (a Ru-ism for the voice in a queen’s mind saying them they’re not good enough).

This usually culminates in the spectacle of finalists talking to pictures of their younger selves about what they wish they knew and the trips they’ll take. Those who do not get that far in the competition, however, may discuss their problems in The Werk Room.

Each episode’s framework often involves a deep, meaningful conversation (DMC) between candidates as they prepare to take it to the runway in a maxi challenge. And although the production’s hinges creak from time to time with some heavy-handed transitions, these are typically the times that enable the queens to become closer to one another, as well as the audience to get insight into the lives of the women who give their all to the stage week after week.

From debates regarding non-binary identification between Bimini and Ginny Lemon to the honesty with which queens like Charity Kase and Trinity K Bonet have discussed living with HIV, this segment of the program has often allowed for some really significant ground to be broken. These conversations about the past, about queer history, about pain, are interwoven in the show’s DNA.

However, one of these talks took an unexpected turn in season 14’s ball episode (January 21), showing a serious flaw in how the program portrays its pre-runway DMCs.

Kornbread ‘The Snack’ Jete bursts into tears as she listens to Kerri Colby about her connection with her gender and family.

Later, in a confessional, she confesses about being “triggered” by what was going on and feels as though she hadn’t gone through the problems in her past that she thought she had. This moment is notable for what it reveals about the Drag Race formula and the problems that it entails – especially for a show that has spent an increasing amount of time in recent seasons attempting to protect and inoculate its contestants from the toxicity that they may face online after appearing on the show.

This incident with Kornbread contradicts this notion and demonstrates the issue of often hurling the queens into a quick, perhaps harsh dialogue. Kornbread characterizes herself as “triggered,” and although it’s easy to dismiss this because of how the phrase has been overused in so much conversation, there’s something crucial about the way she approaches talking about this issue and the vocabulary she chooses is an important part of it.

Kornbread exposes a fundamental fault in the Drag Race concept in many ways: the contradiction that arises between publicly discussing the trauma and the level to which people engaged in – or overhearing – the talks feel safe doing so.

But Kornbread’s confessional moment goes beyond that, shedding light not only on the difficulties of confronting one’s previous grief but also on the significance of developing and conquering it at the appropriate pace.

Kornbread is able to speak about why she finds it tough and what it means to still have these thoughts lingering in the back of her mind, in the – relative – seclusion of the confessional, in the midst of a room full of other queens.

By talking freely and honestly about them, she not only questions whether the Werk Room – which attempts to be the safest of safe places for its participants – is always the right platform for these things, but she also acknowledges the weight that these things may hold.

Kornbread discusses his difficulties in obtaining acceptance, stating, “I felt like a mistake,” and even admitting to having suicidal thoughts (a continuing tragedy in the trans community).

None of this is shared with the other queens; when she returns to the Werk Room, she just discusses how she “pushed back” a lot of the anguish associated with discussing family. Trauma that Kerri’s talk – ordinarily so benign in an episode of Drag Race – appears to have brought to the surface.

The actual significance of this moment isn’t necessarily the issue that it reveals, but rather the fact that Kornbread presents a type of alternate answer to the ways in which Drag Race treats its competitors’ lives. She is able to highlight the complicated, non-linear way of working past trauma by not discussing it immediately with other queens, other than to recognize the difficulties of it.

While the show’s slogan – “if you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anyone else?” – may be a reassuring and uplifting note to close each episode on, what occurs here underscores the difficulties of such an act.

Kornbread explains in a confessional before taking it to the runway that she’s in a good position with her family, but there are still things she has to work out with them.

While she may finish the talk with “get it together, right now it’s time to get ready for the runway,” she’s shown that there’s nothing wrong with not being able to bring it together. Failing to do so isn’t a sign of weakness, and loving yourself – or someone else – isn’t always as straightforward as we may think.

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