Televisual Musings

Image from Showbizcafe

So I finally finished Season 4 of Boardwalk Empire. The last TV show I watched before Boardwalk Empire was Rupaul's Drag Race, where I finished a season and its corresponding Untucked season in 2 days, and it consequently made me incredibly headache-y and sick and I had nightmares about being a contestant. Anyway, so I decided for Boardwalk Empire that I would pace myself and stop my horrible Binge-TV habit. So I watched about an episode a day, and I think that really helped with appreciating the show. Each episode is an hour long, so I felt like one episode was enough. I am really impressed by what HBO is doing at the moment, and Boardwalk Empire was just so phenomenal and the story and locations was so intertwined and complex and fantastic. So I have finished my first period drama. And what a good period too. I think I might read the book as well, seeing as its travelling/lounging by the beach/book reading season.

Image from Monster of Television

So because I finished Boardwalk Empire, I started watching Girls. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. It is so amazing. I finished the whole season 1 in a sitting, then I started looking for season 2 episodes. OH MY GOD. I don't think I have ever watched a TV show in which I can actually, like ACTUALLY relate to the characters in a realistic and meaningful way. The way they deal with situations and people and struggling with finding out who they are, THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING. SO AWESOME. I thought I wouldn't like it for some strange reason, I think some boys told me it was stupid, BUT BOYS ARE STUPID, GIRLS RULE, AND THE SHOW 'GIRLS' RULES.

Girls is now my new favourite show that is still continuing, replacing Community because Community is starting to depress me. Actually Community is #3 and Parks and Rec is #2. Yes.

Image from Televisions Project

In other news, if you're as big a fan of TV as I am and you live in Sydney, there is an art project that is commemorating the official shutdown of analog TV in Sydney, this coming Tuesday. One of the exhibitions is a performance art piece where 2 artists will watch EVERY EPISODE OF THE SIMPSONS whilst fasting. It will take them 8 days. I really want to go see it, or watch it online, because when I read the description I immediately thought 'i wanted to watch all the Simpsons episodes this holidays. Would it really have taken me 8 days? That's not a lot of time...' Is that crazy? Isn't it a lot of time? Maybe this performance art piece will change my mind. On the last day, when they end, they are having a tele_visuals breakfast, and I might go to that.

Link to the project: http://televisionsproject.org/

Link to the exhibition: http://televisionsproject.org/kate-blackmore-and-francis-barrett/

Finally, Ja'mie finishes tonight. I will probably rant about it tomorrow.

Until then, Adieu.

Rupaul's Drag Race

image from logotv

Isn't Rupaul just fantastic...

My friend sent me this video two weeks ago and I immediately began watching season 5. [I usually start watching a TV show from season 1 and finish the whole thing, but because this is a reality competition show I thought it would be fine to start at season 5. I just felt like I had to justify my season choice decision. Because these things are important]. 

I admit, before watching Drag Race, I have had little to no contact with drag culture, except watching Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I absolutely loved that film, it is basically the only Australian film I would actually recommend to anyone [ouch]. I never realised that the reason I loved Priscilla so much is because drag queens are so beautiful and brave and stunning and rhinestones and glitter and ughuhgugh. 

Image from dailymail

Anyway, so I got sucked into Rupaul's Drag Race and finished season 5 in a day. Then I found out that there was Rupaul's Drag Race Untucked which was a 20 minute program showing the queens backstage bitching. The shade of it all.

The reason why I love Drag Race is because it is the ultimate reality TV show. I heart reality TV, I think it's so trashy and superficial and unintentionally campy, which are all great things. But Drag Race takes it to a whole new level. 

Drag Race has elements of all the competition reality shows (mainly ANTM and Project Runway, but also Idol) as the queens are put through series of challenges that test their skills in walking the runway, sewing runway outfits, designing things from floats to magazine covers, singing together, dancing together, basically any sort of obstacle Ru could through at them, he did. And it is so exhilarating.

Also, because the show is about drag queens, the unintentionally campy nature of reality TV just becomes plain camp. Plain, delicious camp. Plus, Ru and the producers are so aware of it, and they take it further by exaggerating and exaggerating the conventions of reality TV to the point where Drag Race doesn't become an escape, as other reality TV does, because it makes you so aware of how scripted it is.

For example, the show follows a very tight script where almost everything Rupaul says is either a catchphrase, drag lingo from Paris Is Burning (which I now have to watch) or a reference to one of his songs. Plus, the product placement in Drag Race is hilarious. Ru is always plugging his music, available on iTunes, or asking the girls to enjoy an Absolut Cocktail in the Interior Illusions Lounge.

So, look, I'm just fangirling right now, but this is seriously a fantastic show. I have learnt so much about drag culture just from this show, and watching families come together in support of their sons is really touching. Many a time have I cried. I have also been shown a way of how reality TV can become more than just reality TV. ahhhh. TV.