I watched the “Rupaul’s DragU”and I was able to see this episode as a perfect match with Susan Sontag’s essay as a result from how even if the people who were being “drag-educated” were actually women. I believe this because it is not a fact about trying to be someone else but to emphasize in an exaggerated way something that you actually have. Sontag claimed that the camp is not about something different, but about something overworked.
Also, I will like to add that I really enjoyed seeing in this episode that the way of how the theatrical and glamorous way of dressing can be seen as a perfect example of camp. They were going beyond what is understood as normal and they were confident and showing their confidence in themselves.
The concept of the drag queens is that they externalize what is internalized. Like you say, this is a nice representation of camp. They are exaggerating their claims, yet not trying too hard, in which case they would be harming themselves, in the words of Sontag. Although others may not think so, these people are practicing a form of expression that gives way to expression itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that they are just expressing themselves without hurting themselves and I think this is one of the most important concepts of the camp.
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