“RuPaul’s Drag Race Best Lip Sync Battle” is a great example of the “camp” genre. For one, the show itself, “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” is a reality television show in which typically homosexual men, dressed as women compete in certain mini-challenges such as a photo shoot, makeover challenge, or in the case of this particular video, lip syncing. The aesthetic component of the video is very enticing. The producers of the show have provided bright lights to stimulate the sight of the viewers, in a way that may keep the viewer engaged. The consistent movement of the lip-syncers themselves, as well as the fast paced, and upbeat singing to keep the viewer audibly engaged. Also, through all of the other visual aspects, the contestants themselves are dressed in crazy clothes, that may seem rather ridiculous to somebody who is uninformed of the context, or premise of the show, which embellishes the “camp” aspect of the video.
One of the main aspects of the “camp” genre is the aesthetic sensation that it brings to the viewer. This aesthetic aspect is very different from fine art, such as a ballet, or a performance such as a Celine Dion show, in that fine art is beauty and grace, whereas “camp” is lively and audacious, and in this case unusual as well. After all, it is not every day that you see drag-queens dancing on a stage, lip-syncing in a competition setting.
This video embodies the “camp” genre through it’s audacious movement, noise, and structure. In the community that most of us live in, this is a show that contains rather unorthodox contestants, doing orthodox things, which is intriguing, engaging, and above all, very entertaining.