World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the creative duo behind the global success of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, spoke about U.S. state efforts to restrict drag performances during an appearance at the Banff World Media Festival.
“Those Republicans, they want to be drag queens,” Bailey pointedly said during an informal conversation led by The Hollywood Reporter editorial director Nekesa Mumbi Moody.
“We’re at this tipping point in American politics. Today is a pretty profound day, a former president being arraigned,” Barbato added of Donald Trump’s expected arraignment Tuesday on charges of willfully retaining classified documents. “So anything to get people to look someplace else in the culture wars and drag is a big shiny object to deflect.”
Bailey said the targeting of drag performances has only grown in size. “I do think what happened in 2016 fundamentally shifted what’s going on in the country. And the idea that it went away in 2020, that was a delusion. … They’re just growing and amassing. And we ignore it at our peril,” Bailey said.
Bailey said giving visibility to drag queens and other members the LGBTQ community should be encouraged not legislated against. “Why should anyone be invisible? Visibility can only be objectionable to people who aren’t used to seeing certain people and then suddenly see them and they’re, oh, I don’t like that,” he said.
Their comments at Banff came ahead of the duo receiving The Hollywood Reporter’s Impact Award at the Rockies Gala on Tuesday evening. The World of Wonder founders, honored in Banff for their lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry, recalled they never set out to bring marginalized voices into the mainstream. They just wanted to make films that interested them.
“We’re queer. We’ve been queer for a very long time, since the beginning of time. And last century, when we started making stuff, we always made what we wanted to make. Back then, we didn’t think of ourselves as niche. We saw what we were interested in as what we were interested in,” Barbato said.
He talked about other projects that could have been considered niche to others, like Crazy Rich Asians and Squid Game, but found broad audience and critical appeal. “Everything is niche, until it’s a hit… The need to create something for mass appeal has kind of gone away,” said Bailey, who recently authored the book ScreenAge: How TV Shaped Our Reality, From Tammy Faye to RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Bailey and Barbato’s credits over three decades include Party Monster, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Pam: Girl on the Loose, Being Chaz, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, #CandidlyNicole, I Am Britney Jean and Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes.
But its their long collaboration with RuPaul, the face of the Drag Race franchise, that cemented their pioneer status for boosting visibility and creating opportunities for drag queens and other members of the LGBTQ community.
“He’s like 100-feet tall and, in those days, had a different look,” Bailey recalled of starting to work with RuPaul. “It was a big ratty wig and shredded track pants and football shoulder pads and not much else. He was this amazing, startling spectacle”
Barbato added, “He was ambitious in a way that was exciting. We’ve had a friendship more than anything when it started and that’s continued along with the business.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise is in 17 countries worldwide, having encouraged global culture to be more inclusive.
“The reason this franchise is successful is because of the drag queens themselves. They’re just amazing artists. They’re built for television, and it’s shocking they weren’t on television for so long,” Barbato said.
As for what World of Wonder has in mind going forward, Bailey told the Banff panel: “World domination is not a good idea. He then added there are some countries where he would love to expand the franchise: “Drag Race China, Drag Race Russia, Drag Race Afghanistan, Drag Race Iran; people everywhere can live their lives as themselves. And it’s a pipe dream. But I do believe the show serves a larger purpose.”
Source: Hollywood
