Popping culture: Little Edie is reincarnated on RuPaul’s Drag Race

Kudos to Jinkx Monsoon. Boo to the queens who didn’t know who Little Edie was.

On the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the lovely — and narcoleptic — Ms Jinkx Monsoon was getting ready with the rest of the queens for this year’s edition of the Snatch Game, where each queen dresses up as various celebrities and characters. Well, Ms Monsoon decided to perform her own homage to the kookiest of all high- (and low-) society dames, Little Edie Beale, of the famed Grey Gardens.

Now in my book, if you’re a gay man and don’t know who Little Edie is, then that is unfortunate. If you’re a drag queen who makes it onto RuPaul’s Drag Race and you don’t know who she is, then you, my child, are — if I can appropriate a term — ovah.

When Jinkx announces her character to the rest of the crew, many of them don’t know who she is. Some of the younger (read: inexperienced) queens may be given a little slack for not knowing about Beale, her mother, the Bouvier-Kennedy-Onassis connection, the house, the cats and the raccoons. But for queens like Coco? That’s just sad.

Monsoon is genius in the game, throwing shade in ways that goes right over some of those ladies’ heads.

Gawker has video of the episode, or you can watch the whole thing on OUTtv. And really, you should watch the whole thing.

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

Keep Reading

The United States Capitol appears in front of Trans Flag colours; hands holding a smartphone with the TikTok logo on it are shown in front, under a blue filter.

How a U.S. TikTok ban would censor trans people

ANALYSIS: Conservatives are trying to leverage censorship to promote their own anti-trans agenda

In ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt,’ Brontez Purnell balances on a knife edge between hilarity and despair

Purnell's new memoir turns heaviness into humour, and exposes the bleakness under what seems silly and light

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 12 power ranking: Designing women

Who among our top five will fall short of the finale?

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 12 recap: Bathroom babes

The infamous room design challenge returns, this time with … restrooms?