Fifteen seconds of fame: Rupaul’s drag race, camp and ‘memeability’

Abstract

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 capitalisation.