Fifteen Seconds of Fame: Rupaul’s Drag Race, Camp, and ‘Memeability’
Mercer, John and Sarson, Charlie (2020) Fifteen Seconds of Fame: Rupaul’s Drag Race, Camp, and ‘Memeability’. Celebrity Studies. ISSN 1939-2397
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Abstract
In this article, we argue that the campy affectations of contestants of RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) serve as the perfect vehicle through which GIFs and memes can be created and have the potential to go viral online. RPDR relies heavily on social media for its success, and we claim that the queens who go on to establish a celebrity persona beyond the show are often the ones who fully exploit this relationship by condensing themselves into self-branded caricatures. These simplified personas, with their distinctive phrases, quirks and idiosyncrasies, can be easily captured and expressed in short GIFs, clips and memes. We argue that memeability – that is, having a persona that lends itself to becoming a meme that in turn acts as a mechanism in the production of stardom – is the online celebrity’s equivalent of charisma in the social media age. In this article, by drawing on queens from RPDR such as Miss Vanjie and Alyssa Edwards, we assert that virality and memes have become part of the celebrity- making process, as well as a vehicle to enable brand collaborations and capitalization.
| Item Type: | Article | ||||||
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| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2020.1765102 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | RuPaul’s Drag Race, camp, memes, virality, celebrity, Miss Vanjie, MET Gala | ||||||
| Subjects: | CAH24 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01-05 - media studies | ||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > Birmingham Institute of Media and English > Birmingham School of Media | ||||||
| Depositing User: | John Mercer | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 22 Apr 2020 10:06 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 12 Jan 2022 16:17 | ||||||
| URI: | https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9153 |
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