Netflix is enjoying the success of adult cartoons! After Big Mouth and Paradise Police, it's Super Drags' turn to appear on the video service. The Brazilian series, not recommended for at least 16 years old, tells the story of three drag queens who become superheroines.
The cartoon is inspired by the famous Super Nanas, but it also has a lot of references to Sailor Moon. The whole thing is supported by salacious jokes and questionable but hilarious humor.
Patrick, Ralph and Doni work during the day in a store and they transform at night: they become Lemon Chiffon, Safira Cian, and Scarlet Carmesim to save their town Belt Buckle Bay. Supervised by Champagne, who looks terribly like Rupaul, they fight Lady Elza, the terrible drag queen who wants to attack the LGBTQ+ community to steal all their "glitter" and make it a destructive force.
The heir to Rupaul's Drag Race
In addition to the humorous aspect, this series has a real societal impact and echoes Rupaul's Drag Race. It's the same reality TV director who handles the animated series. It is also former participants of the reality show who have been chosen to embody the English voices of the characters: Lady Eliza is William Belli, Champagne is Trixie Mattel, Scarlet is Shangela Laquifa Wadley and Lemon is Ginger Minj.
Their voices add value, because they bring a sharp tone and particularly worked lines.
The series therefore chooses difficult subjects such as self-acceptance and homosexuality, but also homophobia with the terrible character of Reverend Sandoval. The latter, who represents the ultra-conservative branch, wants to lock up homosexuals to "cure" them.
This cartoon defeats homophobia and honors drag culture with a very specific vocabulary and codes specific to movement: the playback battle or "throwing shade", which means criticizing someone with powerful sentences.
A series for insiders
However, all these worked codes are difficult to understand for a novice person. The lines fuse and the actions are linked very quickly throughout the episodes, so it is difficult to understand the references with a minimal knowledge of the world of drag queens. Thus, this series is not forthe uninitiated, but it is also not for children.
Even if the cartoon takes codes from children's programs like The Super Nanas or The Totally Spies, it diverts them to make a funny parody. The superheroines even have a " gaydard ", a kind of rainbow medallion that allows them to transform into a drag queen and stay in touch with Champagne.
On a visual level, it is the color that prevails with episodes loaded with twists, which makes them very entertaining. The direction played on a trashy and strange humor, it reduces the potential field of viewers, because the series is not dedicated to everyone.
A way to protest
This series is also a first because it was created by Brazilians in an atmosphere that is not conducive to the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The cartoon serves as a protest in a heavy atmosphere and it gives visibility to a global community far beyond just the United States.
The series shows a form of nonconformism by destroying codes and making fun of everything, even itself. Creating a drag culture cartoon gives the idea that drag queens are now part of pop culture.
Netflix by choosing to produce this series, is placed where we do not expect it. The service becomes a real platform of creativity for drag queens. This series, like others already broadcast on Netflix, gives a voice to this minority and highlights the discrimination and injustices of which they are victims.
