I don’t watch RuPaul’s Drag Race, it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m happy that it exists, but I don’t need to watch it. So I still don’t know why I clicked on New York Magazine’s interview with RuPaul, except that I was probably just going to skim the piece briefly and I ended up getting hooked and reading the whole damn thing. I would actually recommend it, if you have 20 free minutes today – go here to read the full piece. It’s not that RuPaul is particularly controversial – in fact, he seems to actively avoid some touchy, hot-button subjects – but I enjoy the way he thinks. He reminds me a bit of American icon John Waters – decadently odd, seeking pleasure in the unique and bizarre, proudly counter-culture. Some highlights:

Whether he’s part of the mainstream: “No. You know, I’ve never been on Ellen or David Letterman or The Tonight Show, and there’s a reason for that, which I don’t want to go into, but there’s a reason that I’ve never been thought of as someone who can go on there… So am I part of the mainstream? No. People know my name, people know what I look like, but am I invited to the party? No, and there’s a reason for it.

Whether he’s ever wanted to be invited to those events: “No. In fact, I made a pact with myself when I was 15 that if I was going to live this life, I’m only going to do it on my terms, and I’m only going to do it if I’m putting my middle finger up at society the whole time. So any time I’ve had yearnings to go, “Aw, gee, I wish I could be invited to the Emmys,” I say, Ru, Ru, remember the pact you made. You never wanted to be a part of that bulls–t. In fact, I’d rather have an enema than have an Emmy.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has never been nominated for an Emmy: “It’s not insane when you take the car apart and you really look at what the car is. You understand that it can’t recognize it, because in doing so it would recognize all of the flaws in their doctrine, in their whole ideology. Drag doesn’t conform. It’s actually making fun of [conformity]. Now, the talk-show hosts … get it if I’m making fun of myself and if I’m a punch line for them, but not as a human being. They would have a transsexual on because a transsexual is saying, “This is who I really am. I’m real.” I’m saying, “No, I’m not real. I’m actually everything and nothing at all.”

What he thinks of Lip Sync Battle: “Oh, I don’t think of it. It’s a poor ripoff of our show. Regular, straight pop culture has liberally lifted things from gay culture as long as I can remember. And that’s fine, because guess what? We have so much more where that comes from. Take it!… But it’s funny how that works, even in gay culture. There’s a certain “gay shame.” Gay people will accept a straight pop star over a gay pop star, or they will accept a straight version of a gay thing, because there’s still so much self-loathing, you know?

Whether the talk of acceptance is bulls—t: “They talk so much about acceptance now today and it’s like, yes, but trust me — I’m old and I know this sh-t — it’s superficial. Because as soon as the lights go out, you’ll see how advanced people’s thinking is. This so-called “Will & Grace acceptance” era is just people f–king posing. Things haven’t changed that much. You see it in politics right now — that’s the f–king truth of people. And you know, people will have you think, “Oh, we’re fashion. We’re gay. That’s my gay over there!” It’s like, no. We’re still a very, very, very primitive culture.”

The drag community’s relationship to the trans community: “I think it’s a boring topic. I don’t really want to talk about that because everybody wants to ask about that. It’s so topical, but they’re complete opposites. We mock identity. They take identity very seriously. So it’s the complete opposite ends of the scale. To a layperson, it seems very similar, but it’s really not. I don’t think it’s complicated. Some people take identity very seriously. I don’t. I choose to laugh at identity and play with it. I’ll wear a suit or I’ll wear a sailor’s outfit. I’ll dress femme. I’ll dress butch queen… I’ll do whatever. All of the experiences I’ve learned and every ascended master you’ve studied will say the exact same thing: Life is not to be taken seriously. Most people are dumb as f–k. If you look at their voting habits and their eating habits, you realize people are stupid. So we could talk about stupid people or we could just stay with smart people who know how to have fun and not even focus on what dumb people do. It’s not worth it. I tell you this as someone who’s a smart motherf–ker: Don’t waste your time fooling with dumb people or trying to figure them out or trying to educate them. It doesn’t work. It’s a lose-lose situation.

What he thought of Carol & The Danish Girl: “I loved Carol. I thought it was a beautiful film. I loved the story. The Danish Girl, I couldn’t see past the wigs, which were terrible. I did love that one time where he gets dressed up and looks like David Bowie. He’s in a suit that has these huge wide legs, cinched waist, and he’s not in women’s clothes, he’s in a man’s suit. It is gorgeous. It’s worth watching the movie for just that one shot. Anybody in that David Bowie suit, oh my God, gorgeous.”

[From Vulture]

There’s so much more in this interview, like Ru talking about how much he loves Judge Judy (he deems her the most important person in pop culture), and how he’s studied Buddhism, how he loves to play with language even if it offends people, and he tells a really beautiful story about meeting David Bowie. I’d also like to point out that RuPaul is 55 years old – he’s getting to be that age where he really has no more f—ks to give, which is why this interview is amazing. I am LIVING for his wig shade and his “don’t waste time on dumb people” shade.

Photos courtesy of WENN.