LEGENDARY isn’t above criticism

Tiffany Haddish on Legendary. | HBO

JAMAL GROOTBOOM

WHEN it comes to queer representation in TV and film, we have come a long way with regards to having storylines, characters and cultural aspects that have made its way to our screens.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the biggest reality TV shows in the world. Pose brought Black/ POC trans women to leading roles on a highly successful show and then we have Legendary that took ballroom from the streets to our screens.

And while these shows have done a lot for a community that hasn’t been able to see themselves in a medium that previously ignored them, it has also spurred a conversation about how we critique these shows.

Legendary has come under fire for its second season, specifically for the judging. The first season had similar criticism with many viewers confused by the addition of Megan Thee Stallion and Jameela Jamil on the panel, as they have little to no knowledge of ballroom.

While Law Roach rubbed many people up the wrong way at first, it was clear in season 2 he went back and did his homework and started giving critiques that make sense and help the houses on the show.

One of the changes from season 1 was the implementation of a point system where the judges give each house a score between 1-10 for their group. Along with individual categories where contestants had to receive 10s across the board with a single chop cutting them from progressing in the category. And the overall winner getting 10 points for their house. These accumulated points then determine who is the superior house and which two houses can take part in a Vogue Femme battle to see who stays and who goes. Now, while this might sound like a pretty fair system, cracks showed quickly.

It became apparent to viewers and lovers of ballroom that there wasn’t a clear consensus if houses were being judged against e ach other or themselves.

Enter House Tisci’s exit. This house sprinted ahead of the other houses by the third episode and subsequently gave some of the most iconic performances in the show but ended up in the bottom during the OVAH! Ball. While their performance was okay for them compared to one house who got 10s, it really didn’t make sense.

Aside from the choice of guest judges, which was very random in season 1, the other issue is the amount of power given to them. It made very little sense to viewers why they were given the power to break a tie since many of them have little to no ballroom knowledge.

Many stated that it made more sense that Leiomy Maldonado was given that power since she was the only consistent authority on the panel. This led to a wide range of baffling choices for category wins with the judges unable to explain their choices since they have no idea what to look for.

The biggest offender of season 2 was comedian Tiffany Haddish who interrupted Leiomy during her critique of one of the houses and had to be shut down by Law, since she didn’t understand that she was a guest in this space.

And again, the sentiment from viewers has been that if the show wants to have more mainstream personalities as guest judges, have them on early in the season or on episodes when no one goes home. Have them on when their vote won’t have such a big impact on the overall show.

In turn, guest judges that come from the ballroom world such as Amiyah Scott should appear on later episodes where a chop or a 10 makes a huge difference as to who wins and who goes home.

Leiomy addressed the criticism the show has received on Twitter and said: “Y’all be storming my tweets with opinions about Legendary as if it’s a suggestion box.

“My question is what are y’all doing for the community to be seen and celebrated? Instead of complaining just congratulate the show and appreciate what we have. Pose has already ended…”

And the thing is… you can support something while still giving valid criticism.

And as queer people, we have just as much a right to voice our opinions and want better.

“We are no longer at the point where we just have to take queer representation no matter the issues with the show. We deserve to be heard and it should not be seen as us trying to take down a show.”

Pose similarly also received criticism and praise, some for the acting ability and storylines on the show. But even with the rushed production of the final season due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was clear that the screenwriters and actors listened and showed improvement.

And the funny part about the criticism towards Legendary is that most viewers want the best for the houses that showcase an important part of queer culture to the rest of the world.

Therefore, we as queer people shouldn’t just take representation at face value and should be allowed the range to inspect, critique and explore the things we are represented in so that they can improve and be better.

FROM left: Law Roach, Megan Thee Stallion, Jameela Jamil, Leiomy Maldonado and Dominique Jackson from the series, Legendary. | HBO Max via AP

Enter House Tisci’s exit. This house sprinted ahead of the other houses by the third episode and subsequently gave some of the most iconic performances in the show but ended up in the bottom during the OVAH! Ball. While their performance was okay for them compared to one house who got 10s, it really didn’t make sense.

Aside from the choice of guest judges, which was very random in season 1, the other issue is the amount of power given to them. It made very little sense to viewers why they were given the power to break a tie since many of them have little to no ballroom knowledge.

Many stated that it made more sense that Leiomy Maldonado was given that power since she was the only consistent authority on the panel. This led to a wide range of baffling choices for category wins with the judges unable to explain their choices since they have no idea what to look for. The biggest offender of season 2 was comedian Tiffany Haddish who interrupted Leiomy during her critique of one of the houses and had to be shut down by Law, since she didn’t understand that she was a guest in this space.

And again, the sentiment from viewers has been that if the show wants to have more mainstream personalities as guest judges, have them on early in the season or on episodes when no one goes home. Have them on when their vote won’t have such a big impact on the overall show. In turn, guest judges that come from the ballroom world such as Amiyah Scott should appear on later episodes where a chop or a 10 makes a huge difference as to who wins and who goes home.

Leiomy addressed the criticism the show has received on Twitter and said: “Y’all be storming my tweets with opinions about Legendary as if it’s a suggestion box.

“My question is what are y’all doing for the community to be seen and celebrated? Instead of complaining just congratulate the show and appreciate what we have. Pose has already ended…”

And the thing is… you can support something while still giving valid criticism.

And as queer people, we have just as much a right to voice our opinions and want better.

“We are no longer at the point where we just have to take queer representation no matter the issues with the show. We deserve to be heard and it should not be seen as us trying to take down a show.”

Pose similarly also received criticism and praise, some for the acting ability and storylines on the show. But even with the rushed production of the final season due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was clear that the screenwriters and actors listened and showed improvement.

And the funny part about the criticism towards Legendary is that most viewers want the best for the houses that showcase an important part of queer culture to the rest of the world.

Therefore, we as queer people shouldn’t just take representation at face value and should be allowed the range to inspect, critique and explore the things we are represented in so that they can improve and be better.