Imagine walking into a room full of people you know, and realizing that you don't know them.
So, I've already written about the show on Saturday, at Hollywood Casino in Bangor. And, I may be doing this a bit backwards, but, it's my blog, and I can write about what I want to, in whatever order I want to. Really, I thought that the tribute to Topaz was a bit more important, than what it's like to watch a group of queens and kings paint for a show.
So, anyway, back to the hook. Imagine that you've just walked into a room full of people that you know, only to realize that you don't know them. It's a weird sensation. Like, really, really weird. You recognize the bodies before the faces, because normally the face that you're looking at, has a boatload of makeup on it. You hear the voice that you know, coming out of someone else's face. It's jarring. And, then, after a few minutes, of gathering yourself, you relax and just go with it. Because, you know, that even though they look different, they're the same person. I've lived with two queens for almost a year, so I know that there's always going to be a tiny bit of "WTF?" going on in my head.
The greetings start, and the catching up starts. And, suddenly, it's all normal. And then, the makeup makes its appearance. If you've never seen the transformation from man to woman, I would recommend taking the opportunity if it ever presents itself.
You would think that living with two drag queens, I would have seen more than enough faces being painted. Surprisingly, in the (almost) year and a half that I've been with Dan, I've only watched the full process four times. Why have I only watched it a few times? Part of it is that I tend to stare. Which makes everyone uncomfortable. And, part of it, is that I don't really want to know how it's done. It's more magical to just think that the queen goes into a room as a male, and comes out as a female. You know, the whole caterpillar to a butterfly thing. 'Cause really, who wants to see what kind of scariness that transformation looks like?
It's interesting to see though, how each person "paints" differently. For some, there's very little on the face, but, a ton of eye makeup. For others, it's a lot all over the face. And, for others, it's layer upon layer of makeup. Foundation, highlights, shadows, contouring around the nose, cheek bones, and jawline, and then the eyes and lips. Powder, powder, powder. Contacts go in. Mistakes get wiped off with baby wipes.
And, all the while, they're talking. A lot of talk about the old times. About back when this performer did this. About how, "I remember back before you even started doing drag..." There's talk about which performers have sticky fingers, and, "How do they expect to get away with wearing that wig that they swiped, around here, knowing full well that everyone knows that they took it?"
Watching RuPaul's Drag Race, last season, with Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese, you kind of got the expectation that everyone was always at each other's throats. Comments about how, "Gurl, look how orange you look!" are what you'd expect after watching the show. As I sat and watched them all painting, there were certain people who I looked at like, "That color's way too dark for your skin." and things like that. But, since nobody else was saying anything, I didn't figure it was my place. Because, it's not. What do I know about makeup? I don't do drag. I just observe. I take it all in, and then write about it later.
And, just like that, the room goes from being a room with six men and a woman, to one king and six queens. And, you're left wondering, how did super long drawn on eyelash lines, turn into a realistic looking eye? And, how did those sheet white highlights turn out to look natural? And, how did that grease pencil turn into a beard full of stubble?
The truth of the matter, is that I don't really want to know all the tips and tricks that it takes to turn out a good face. Once I know all of the pieces of putting it on, it'll lose it's magic for me. Knowing all the secrets of drag, would take away from the experience for me. It would be like taking in The Lord of The Rings series, and sitting through the entire 4 years of CGI creation, instead of the final 2 hour movie. You don't need to know each step that it took over those 4 years to create that scene with 50,000 goblins, in a roller coaster of a cave. You just need to know that the 2 1/2 minutes of filming is amazing. You don't need to know that it takes an hour and a half to put on a face, you just need to know that the face was put on for the 10 minutes or so that the performer's on stage, doing his or her thing.
I think what really surprised me the most, aside from how different they all look out of drag, was how close knit this little community is. Everyone has known everyone for years. They all know (more or less) everyone else's business. And, they're like a family. More like my actual family, than I ever would have expected. They go long periods without seeing each other, but, thanks to Facebook, and other social media outlets, they keep up with what's going on. And, they just pick up, and continue with conversations. And, they all say, "Oh, we should do this more often, instead of just when something bad happens." In the moment, the sentiment is heartfelt, and everyone agrees. But, with everyone's busy schedules, they know that it's pretty much just something that you say, because you can, not because it will actually change anything.
And, I really just need to thank all the queens who let me be a part of the process. Being the odd one out, they could just as easily have sent me out to sit in the hallway the entire time, or sent me to the slot machines, to lose every penny that I have to my name. But, they didn't. And, they all know that I write the blog. So, thank you to all of the queens and king who allowed me to be a part of the show that not many other people got to see.
So, I've already written about the show on Saturday, at Hollywood Casino in Bangor. And, I may be doing this a bit backwards, but, it's my blog, and I can write about what I want to, in whatever order I want to. Really, I thought that the tribute to Topaz was a bit more important, than what it's like to watch a group of queens and kings paint for a show.
So, anyway, back to the hook. Imagine that you've just walked into a room full of people that you know, only to realize that you don't know them. It's a weird sensation. Like, really, really weird. You recognize the bodies before the faces, because normally the face that you're looking at, has a boatload of makeup on it. You hear the voice that you know, coming out of someone else's face. It's jarring. And, then, after a few minutes, of gathering yourself, you relax and just go with it. Because, you know, that even though they look different, they're the same person. I've lived with two queens for almost a year, so I know that there's always going to be a tiny bit of "WTF?" going on in my head.
The greetings start, and the catching up starts. And, suddenly, it's all normal. And then, the makeup makes its appearance. If you've never seen the transformation from man to woman, I would recommend taking the opportunity if it ever presents itself.
You would think that living with two drag queens, I would have seen more than enough faces being painted. Surprisingly, in the (almost) year and a half that I've been with Dan, I've only watched the full process four times. Why have I only watched it a few times? Part of it is that I tend to stare. Which makes everyone uncomfortable. And, part of it, is that I don't really want to know how it's done. It's more magical to just think that the queen goes into a room as a male, and comes out as a female. You know, the whole caterpillar to a butterfly thing. 'Cause really, who wants to see what kind of scariness that transformation looks like?
It's interesting to see though, how each person "paints" differently. For some, there's very little on the face, but, a ton of eye makeup. For others, it's a lot all over the face. And, for others, it's layer upon layer of makeup. Foundation, highlights, shadows, contouring around the nose, cheek bones, and jawline, and then the eyes and lips. Powder, powder, powder. Contacts go in. Mistakes get wiped off with baby wipes.
And, all the while, they're talking. A lot of talk about the old times. About back when this performer did this. About how, "I remember back before you even started doing drag..." There's talk about which performers have sticky fingers, and, "How do they expect to get away with wearing that wig that they swiped, around here, knowing full well that everyone knows that they took it?"
Watching RuPaul's Drag Race, last season, with Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese, you kind of got the expectation that everyone was always at each other's throats. Comments about how, "Gurl, look how orange you look!" are what you'd expect after watching the show. As I sat and watched them all painting, there were certain people who I looked at like, "That color's way too dark for your skin." and things like that. But, since nobody else was saying anything, I didn't figure it was my place. Because, it's not. What do I know about makeup? I don't do drag. I just observe. I take it all in, and then write about it later.
And, just like that, the room goes from being a room with six men and a woman, to one king and six queens. And, you're left wondering, how did super long drawn on eyelash lines, turn into a realistic looking eye? And, how did those sheet white highlights turn out to look natural? And, how did that grease pencil turn into a beard full of stubble?
The truth of the matter, is that I don't really want to know all the tips and tricks that it takes to turn out a good face. Once I know all of the pieces of putting it on, it'll lose it's magic for me. Knowing all the secrets of drag, would take away from the experience for me. It would be like taking in The Lord of The Rings series, and sitting through the entire 4 years of CGI creation, instead of the final 2 hour movie. You don't need to know each step that it took over those 4 years to create that scene with 50,000 goblins, in a roller coaster of a cave. You just need to know that the 2 1/2 minutes of filming is amazing. You don't need to know that it takes an hour and a half to put on a face, you just need to know that the face was put on for the 10 minutes or so that the performer's on stage, doing his or her thing.
I think what really surprised me the most, aside from how different they all look out of drag, was how close knit this little community is. Everyone has known everyone for years. They all know (more or less) everyone else's business. And, they're like a family. More like my actual family, than I ever would have expected. They go long periods without seeing each other, but, thanks to Facebook, and other social media outlets, they keep up with what's going on. And, they just pick up, and continue with conversations. And, they all say, "Oh, we should do this more often, instead of just when something bad happens." In the moment, the sentiment is heartfelt, and everyone agrees. But, with everyone's busy schedules, they know that it's pretty much just something that you say, because you can, not because it will actually change anything.
And, I really just need to thank all the queens who let me be a part of the process. Being the odd one out, they could just as easily have sent me out to sit in the hallway the entire time, or sent me to the slot machines, to lose every penny that I have to my name. But, they didn't. And, they all know that I write the blog. So, thank you to all of the queens and king who allowed me to be a part of the show that not many other people got to see.
