You know success is such a funny thing, a 2 edged sword that "cuts both ways" as Joan Crawford reminds the old boys club @ Pepsi-Cola in "Mommie Dearest".
That being said, I just wanted to say how happy I am that my friend of 20 yrs in this lifetime (we both dazzled them on Noah's Ark in a previous one) RuPaul is now on top of the world again with his hit TV show "RuPaul's Drag Race" on LOGO Channel.
the only trouble is .. Ive learned that either being someone yourself or being friends with someone who is in the limelight means that you must share them with the rest of the world also , meaning , when they or you are sitting on top , you must busy yourself somewhere else until the media shit storm blows over. which may or may not ever end...
With friends it can be a little challenging , but with partners / husbands / wives damn near impossible , which is why every entertainer we know is always divorced or remarried or hookedup with another celeb. Props to Dolly Parton & Carl Dean for being the one couple whose love and devotion has withstood this matrix fame game.. anyways...
Well... what happens usually, during big bang boom time is that it means I have to start ending all contact with that person while every vuluture and jackal in the media attempt to pick their bones clean during the feeding frenzy..
what is construed as a phone call from a friend, can suddenly turns into yet another person to talk to / "deal with" after you have been pulled on since 4am ..
so I just let it go.. our time will come ..
Now, dont get it twisted, Im VERY happy for my friend to enjoy a 2nd run of mainstream success, nobody works harder and as our mutual friend Flloyyd always says " That Ru bitch is DRIVEN"
I laugh everytime I see Barbara Walters or some gump in the mainstream talk to him like he has FELL OFF the face of the earth because he wasnt in the mainstream media for the last 10 yrs .. Truth is... Ru Paul NEVER Stopped working .. when the perception is that your star has "rescinded" a bit, its actually easier for you to meet fans in the heartland and become more accessible to people who have been touched by your body of work..
Also, for years in our phone conversations Ru & I would often lament the end of glamour , high camp and just anything worthy of your time coming out of Hollywood since the rollicking nightmare of Dickensian proportions began with 8rys of Bush /Cheney .
I would often ask , "where and WHO is the next RuPaul?"" all of this had been buried by our society and our difficulty we exepierence as gay people trying to get anything off the ground in general, I guess Ru wondered himself .. "Yeah who IS gonna fill these pumps when I sashay to the great T-Dance in the sky?" Thus spake Zarathustra.. and I guess Drag Race was born.. and it really could not have come around at a better time..
Young gays today are for the most part IMO, TRAGIC, FUCKING CLUELESS ABOUT THEIR HISTORY , THEIR PEOPLE , & are for the most part, POLITICALLY APATHETIC CORPORATE BRAINWASHED NUNNYMUGGINS who basically exsist now as a sub group to be marketed to by that PIG Madonna , Pharmaceutical Co.'s and Coors Light every last weekend of June...
"COORS LIGHT PRESENTS.. THE OFFICIAL GAY PRIDE DANCE ONLY $100 !!!" ( I cringe every year I see those right wing fucks associated with us)
Im glad that Ru picked up on this and said "Ok, we are doing a reality show of "My Fair Lady" meets "All About Eve" meets "Showgirls" .
I for the most part , cannot STAND reality TV , its an insult to the intelligence of anyone who grew up with classic Hollywood, SNL 1975-80, The Carol Burnett Show, Norman Lear & Roseanne Barr.
Reality Tv was birthed out of the fact people could not stand to see one more cookie cutter Bullshit fake ass sitcom... Anyways, typical Aquarian, I digress.. RuPaul has made a reality TV show I can admit to watching and liking..
With the holocaust of drugs and HIV that has decimated our community , young gay men are left with a gap of generations lost and the knowledge, of art, culture , glamour music , & just HOW to live life period with sophistication and intelligence seem to be dead and buried with it.
Thats why I really applaud this show , I think Ru knew that it would cause an avalanche of gay bars and clubs in the US to begin with pageantry again and demanding any queen who dare wear the crown to be more than just rubber tits and tucking for the Gods but a "complete" package of brains beauty and talent .
Someone to represent what it means to be a gay person in this day and age . A person who can "pass" in the professional realm the way RuPaul has.. A person who can give makeup tips as well as be astute politically / financially and to hold their heads high as a reprensentative of a people who have accomplished so much in so little time..
I knew back in the day that my friend was a star , even with 14th St. knockoff fashions and wigs that make women in Korea scream when you pull the hairs on them , wearing granny boot rollerskates coming down Ave C . towering @ 7foot tall. People's reactions to him were the same then as they are now!!
I just didnt think back then that the conventional realm of showbiz would ever accept him as anything other than eye candy and underground fringe to provide Bruce Willis/ Julia Roberts elements of "realism" in that club scene LOL.. Sure , we had had Divine,Slyvester, Jim Bailey, Rip Taylor and even Flip Wilson's "Geraldine" but that was either str8 men in drag or resigned to the late nite fringes or underground discos for the biggest success..
My friend has now become a one man/woman media empire and a force to be reckoned with and it represents a victory for us all.
BUT... the thing I miss now that Ru is cooking with gas and living large is that he and I dont get to go to the gym together or the movies or sit on the phone like school girls cackling @ the latest plastic surgery disaster or some insanely funny shit MK has written on www.dlisted.com .
Its just hard for me, even though I know its for his best, you miss your friends, especially in my age group , where everyone I know from 22 yrs in NYC has either a.) died b.) is a full time partner/parent or CEO or c.) is just TOO fuckin crazy and dysfunctional for me to deal with anymore now that Ive discovered the all new food groups of boundaries and acceptable behaviour in my 40s .
I have to remember that connections I have with people transcend time and space , there are loved ones in the spirit world I communicate with sometimes almost daily .
but the flesh grows weak and demands to see the hologram of a person in front of me ...
RuPaul, Im beyond happy for you ,my dear, there hopefully will be a time when you are working Mr. Rodgers Drag in sweater and sneakers and you and I can ride bikes and go to the gym again before too long... but for now
GLOW GLOW GLOW!!!
thats all.. carry on bitches..
Monday, March 16, 2009
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