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RuPaul’s Guide to Pop Ru-lture
Drag Show is full of pop-culture Ru-isms. Ru’s memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, acts as an index of references for fans and future contestants.
Instead of the humorous diva Ru we see on the show, he positions himself as a wizened elder who, with help from writer Sam Lansky ( The Woman in Me), tells the saga of his life using clear messages and conclusions, and — despite many descriptions of laughter — few actual jokes. Important divas that Ru in some way impersonates, whether by lip syncing their tracks or simply emulating their work, over the course of this book include: Tina Turner, Carol Burnett, LaWanda Page as Aunt Esther on Sandford and Son, Diana Ross, Cher, Dolly Parton, Fern Kinney, Chéri, Whitney Houston, and Nicole McCloud. Flip Wilson played a character named Geraldine on the 1970–74 series, which Ru describes as the first time he saw Black man transgress the gender binary, and was wildly popular.
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