By Mandy Rosenberg ’20
On April 15, Riverdale aired the seventeenth episode of its fourth season, “Wicked Little Town,” the show’s third musical episode based off of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Although Riverdale could have certainly pulled off this episode, at least to their direct audience’s standards, without a particular reason to sing Hedwig songs, the central plot is of that of the gay best friend, Kevin, fighting to sing a Hedwig song at the school’s talent show after being banned from singing in drag.
This spawns a different take on what is a usual turning point for Hedwig in the song “Wig in the Box”, becoming a group sing along to uplift the only boy in the room while performing a slumber party makeover. Then, without taking on new context, while trying to convince her principal that singing Hedwig was fun, Cheryl and the cheerleaders perform a just bearable version of “Sugar Daddy” while dancing on the local diner’s countertops. When Hedwig straddles a random audience member (“it’s a carwash ladies and gentlemen”) it’s fitting and amusing, in this context it makes one uncomfy and an overdone charade.
The subplot of the episode involves the characters’ romance. The couples Betty and Jughead, and Veronica and Archie sing “Exquisite Corpse” in duets about their personal turmoils and how it is affecting their relationships. After this breaking point, which is also one for Hedwig in the show where she strips herself of drag, Archie and Betty duet again in “Origin of Love”, leading to a final admittance of their romantic feelings for one another.
When it finally comes to perform for this talent show, which was side-lined after it was introduced, the four main characters finish off with “Midnight Radio” sneaking glances at one another as the strange love (square?) continues, but we know they’ll be alright because people will stay on for another season.
As a member of a theater community, I know that Riverdale’s renditions of Carrie and Heathers repulsed fans. While something like Carrie and Heathers already takes place in a high school, Hedwig is an emotional exploration of gender, love, and oneself. When watching Hedwig one often forgets that her band the Angry Inch is present, as she hogs the show as a front-woman would.
What all Riverdale’s performances of Hedwig have in common are the complete absence of anything which the original stage musical and cult movie sought to achieve. With the exception of Kevin’s performance in which he is decked out in Hedwig drag, each song is stripped of Hedwig’s baggage, serving by no means as an outlet for plot growth or emotional release from these characters. Songs that originally told the story of Hedwig when she was too choked up to continue with her witty remarks, songs that resonate with LGBTQ people across the world, get messed up with the dark town’s romance drama.
Additionally, their renditions of “Sugar Daddy,” “Wig in a Box,” and “Exquisite Corpse” were sad approprations of queer culture. When a man in drag dances prerogatively on the countertops it may make the straight audience uncomfortable, so it gets replaced with a group of cheerleaders doing cute choreography. While Kevin can perform a song in front of the whole school in full drag, he is not strong enough to face his punishment on his own, the result being the horrifying group rendition of “Wig in a Box.” Had the writers dedicated even three extra minutes to a character which the episode claims to focus on, it could have landed a new, candid rendition of the song, showing the character’s triumph and self discovery.
However, the show’s writers have kept Kevin a flat character whose characteristic is being the friend of the main character when it is convenient; the “GBF” trope. Giving the gay character the gay musical would be most sensical, as this character was in charge of all other musical episodes, but in all three musical episodes he has taken sideline to the other series regulars.
Below: The Riverdale main cast performing “Wig in a Box” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Riverdale doing Hedwig was shocking and disrespectful as it did not attempt to remain genuine to its source material. Considering that this will be the first time Riverdale’s young audience will be exposed to Hedwig, it is disappointing to see how Hedwig’s themes were ignored and were adapted for a majorly heterosexual audience.
On the upside of the week was the premiere of Rupaul’s Celebrity Drag Race on April 22, a spin-off of the original series. The limited series is a four episode installment, with three contestants of each episode following the mentoring of an iconic winning queen. The title tricks the viewer into believing that we will be seeing our absolute favorite stars competing for the drag race crown. This is believable as the show has attracted stars such as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Neil Patrick Harris as previous guest judges.
However, to any regular viewer of drag race, the returning queens featured are considered more of celebrities than the actual “celebrity” guests: Jermaine Folwer (comedian), Jordan Connor (“Sweetpea,” Riverdale), Nico Totorella (“Josh,” Younger). Their lack of familiarity however, was not disappointing. It mirrors the feeling of that when the queens walk into the “werk room” for the first time after a career in downtown Miami.
As a nonbinary influencer, Nico Totorella walked in with the purpose of sharing his gender queer experience with viewers with hopes to inspire. He has a knowledge of drag and Drag Race which his fellow contestants do not. He expressed the influence that Drag Race has had on his confidence in his identity.
The three contestants had to compete in Snatch Game, a parody of the game show Match Game, which has been a tradition on the show since its first season. The contestant has to do an impression of a celebrity and carry out the show as it would. WIth help from queen Monet X Change, he pulled out a hilarious “Lucille” impression, which as an icon I am unfamiliar with, proves the performance can stand alone. On the runway, Nico’s drag character “Olivette Isyou” walked in a bodysuit, untucked as a statement a slip outside the gender binary.
The other two contestants Jordan and Jermaine, both straight males, were strangers to drag. This did not restrain their drive to win. Jordan won the first challenge of the night: the “quick drag” mini challenge, which after he had the privilege of assigning the experienced queens to the celebrities. Trixie Mattel, one of the most influential queens in the media, mentored Jordan and Bob the Drag Queen, Jermaine. Jermaine gave a captivating performance during Snatch Game as Kevin Hart in drag, Kevina Hart, his comedic driven by his comedic strong suit. Jordan did an impression of Crissy Teigan, at obvious his nerves shown through, but was still able to crack many laughs from the first question asked.
While walking the runway, although neither of them could recognize themselves, their lack of experience was invisible. Jordan’s confidence in drag shocked Trixie Mattel, the drag name of Brian Firkus, saying that “not even gay men are comfortable stepping into drag,” that it took him awhile, and that he still does not have many straight male friends.
Below: Jordan Connor, Nico Tororella, and Jermaine Fowler walking the runway as “Babykins La Roux,” “Olivette isYou,” and “Miss Meme Teapot.”
In the final round, the three “lip synced for their charity,” as whoever won the lipsync would win 30,000 dollars for their charity of their choice. While it looked close between Nico and Jordan, the title of Rupaul’s celebrity drag race ultimate queen went to Jordan, Trixie smartly remarking “cool, you’ve been on drag race one day and you’ve already won,” while handing her the wand.
Jordan followed his win with an emotional speech about how he would never forget the experience and that “everyone should try drag once in their life.” Knowing that he helped Jordan discover even a small piece of himself in a couple days, Brian (Trixie Mattel) nearly teared up in pride over his art: drag.
Rupaul’s celebrity drag race will give us an extra dose of our favorite queens and induce giggles over these celebrities that have never touched drag in their life. As drag race has been doing since it’s conception, it will also serve as a bridge to the LGBTQ community. While drag has been used to express gender, sexuality, personality, and often escapism, Jordan’s experience shows that we can all learn from doing something bold.
The LGBTQ community cannot trademark drag, but its history still deserves cautious respect as the culture meshes into the mainstream. While the Riverdale cast was appropriating and misunderstanding an influential, courageous, and iconic character in drag, one of its cast members was exploring its power with integrity.
