4 Times The Judges Let The Queens Change The Personalities of Their Snatch Game Characters
One or two times a year, RuPaul's Drag Race viewers are treated to an annual challenge called The Snatch Game, where the season's top 8 or 9 queens play a drag celebrity version of the classic gameshow, Match Game, where each queen fills in the blanks to a comedic phrase, with the answer that the celebrity they're impersonating, would give. If you watched season' 10's episode of the infamous challenge, you already know that Asia O'Hara proved that playing Beyonce was not her Destiny....Child. (Joke thief alert, I know.) And much of the judges' criticisms were fair: It was one note, and unfunny. Even with the opportunity to play off of The Vixen playing Blue Ivy a few feet from her, it tanked. But one criticism they gave it stood out to me as being a bunch of bs. And I ain't sorry.
They criticized Asia multiple times for taking Beyonce in the direction she did. "Why did you make Beyonce mean?" "Why did you make Beyonce bitter when she's queen of the world?" They hated how she created an interpretation of Beyonce that was off from her public persona... (What that persona is, I'm not really sure, as Beyonce rarely speaks publicly or shows the personal and expressive side of herself, which is why it's not advisable to do her for Snatch Game. Just ask Tyra Sanchez and Lil' Kenya Michaels.) And they're right. Snatch Game is meant to be an activity where you play up the existing personality traits of the celebrity in question, not necessarily create new ones. However, there have been several times when the queens have invented new personalities for their celeb and got away with it completely. Either by being safe that episode, or by even being in the top 3 and winning!
And I get it. Maybe the following queens got away with it because at least they completed the most important task in Snatch Game: Making people laugh. But then I would argue that in that case, they should have focused on schooling Asia more on her comedic abilities, and less on her choices in Beyonce's character accuracy. I call rigga morris.
1. Jessica Wild as the Cracked Out Narcoleptic version of RuPaul
RuPaul seemed disappointed in Trixie's interpretation of her during the All Stars 3 Snatch Game, but nothing was as bizarre as Jessica Wild's choice to do an insane and spaced out version of Ru right in front of her on the show's very first ever Snatch Game. RuPaul, always known for her witty comebacks, statuesque disposition and unapproachable ethereal nature, was being portrayed as a complete lunatic who gets up to dance randomly, is easily distracted and falls asleep on the job. And yet there Ru was laughing his plaid-covered butt off. To quote Kennedy Davenport, "IJS... I'm just saying..."
2. Alexis Mateo as a Ditzy Nymphomaniac Lesbian version of Alicia Keys
Someone get Swizz Beatz on the phone because we need to warn him that his wife is a lesbian...and that she is planning on leaving him for Amber Rose. Oh that's right, that never happened, because it was just a funny running gag that Alexis Mateo created in her completely fabricated version of Alicia Keys' persona. While this impersonation was funny and memorable, it makes me wonder if the pop diva needs to work on her public relations in Puerto Rico. Because Alexis played Alicia Keys as gay, ditzy and obsessed with sex, three traits we've never associate with the songstress. And yet, because it was funny, Alexis placed in the top that week and almost won the entire challenge.
3. Ginger Minj as the Dumb and Out of Touch version of Adele
When you think of Adele, do you think of her being a self-obsessed alcoholic with little to no understanding of the world around her? Hell no! You think of a strong woman who's been through hell and back emotionally, has beat the stereotypes of what kind of bodytypes a popstar can have, and has been a class act throughout her whirlwind career despite her young age. But Ginger Minj played up her cockney accent, joked about her weight and eating habits, and made her seem like an out of touch snob. And it was hilarious. In fact, Ginger tied with Kennedy Davenport for the Snatch Game win due to this performance. No whammies!
4. Katya as the Outspoken version of Björk
I love me some Miss Zamolodchikova, and I love me some Björk, so you can imagine that I was tickled as pink as that ridiculous feathered frock seen above when I found out that my two loves were being combined for the All Stars 2 Snatch Game. And I had so much fun watching Katya go crazy...but she was really moreso playing a high-pitched version of herself, than Björk. Björk is cucu and eccentric and playful...it's what makes her one of the greatest music artists of all time. But it's her subtle personality transition from shy child to outlandish strong woman back to shy child again in her interviews and public appearances that makes her so fascinating. Katya nailed the side of Björk that would say "I am grateful grapefruit" as a full award acceptance speech, but didn't evoke any of her childlike qualities, her quiet tendencies, her ways of reconstructing everyday English phrases, or the side of Bjork that is willing to grab a reporter by her hair for stalking her. Just like the judges, I had a fabulous time watching it, but it reminded me less of Bjork and more like...uhh...
What do you think? Is this gig...rigged? And who do you think deserved to be in the top and bottom this Snatch Game? To follow my future Drag Race articles, please give me a like on Facebook. Until we meet again.