Cover Story: RuPaul on Drag Race’s Future, His Next Great Reinvention, and Why True Drag Will Never Be Mainstream
Published by ☕,
"But that doesn’t mean it will ever be truly mainstream, RuPaul insists. "A superficial aspect of drag is mainstream. Like, the ‘Ooh, girl’ or ‘Hey girlfriend!’ or ‘Yaaas.’ That’s mainstream culture," he says. "But true drag really will never be mainstream. Because true drag has to do with seeing that this world is an illusion, and that everything that you say you are and everything it says that you are on your driver’s license, it’s all an illusion. Most people will never in their lives understand what that is. Because they don’t have the operating system to understand that duality.
"Everything the world says you are on your driver’s license, it’s all an illusion."
"I love that scene in The Matrix where you see the countless [rows] of people living their lives in a pod, but they’re dreaming about this other world. That is such a powerful picture. I think most people have the ability to understand that but dare not go there. Because then they would be forced to deconstruct their whole belief system and build another one. Building a new belief system and then maintaining it is a tall order. A lot of times it means you have to leave your family and friends behind. Because they’re not gonna get it.""