MEDIA CRITIQUE: HBO'S "WE'RE HERE" Adam Correa, Christine Burke, Fernando Martinez & Katelyn Williams

Background of the Show

We’re Here was created and produced by Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram. Warren is a former Hollywood lawyer and Ingram comes from a background of marketing and advertising. Ingram speaks from his personal experiences, expressing that today there is much queer representation on television, however, he still didn’t feel as though people like him were being displayed in the media. One major goal of Johnnie and Stephen’s series was to showcase the queer community and drag, without the competition aspect we see in competing series RuPaul's Drag Race (Ingram, 2020). Ingram speaks about how he feels that the queer communties in rural America are almost years behind in being accepted by others and accepting themselves, compared to others in their community that are living by America’s coasts (Ingram, 2020). Moreover, We’re Here aims to change the perception of rural queer America through this exposure. This series hopes to be a good example of how important it is to have a local community of people who you feel similar to and accepted by. Finally, We’re Here has a goal of highlighting activism as getting offline, and getting into the real world. Ingram expresses that being a little uncomfortable in the real world, brings real change (Ingram, 2020). Ultimately, We’re Here strives to spotlight the ceremonial effect drag can hold in breaking down walls and bringing individuals together, all while expressing one's genuine self in front of their families, friends, and communities (HBO, 2020).

The HBO series aims to work with queer individuals who are struggling with insecurities that hinder them from fully embracing themselves, and one way to break out of those insecurities is through Drag. Drag began in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in the Shakespearean theater. Drag is defined as conventional clothing worn by the oppositie sex, and it’s women’s clothes worn by a man most of the time. This is because drag is a way of acting in a specific manner. In this case, it can be through doing a drag show, but it can also apply to daily life. Drag performance has the possibility to critique gender or culture. According to Dr. Michael Tristano, a professor studying drag performance, performance is a great tool for raising consciousness about an issue (School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022). Performances and their subject matter become a good way of spreading, for example, something that is happening that can raise awareness. This can also lead the audience to take action. Another thing that Tristano said is performance allows us to see what is possible, that watching a drag show can be a moment of possibilities, showing us what is possible not only in a performance but also in the outside world. Some terms to define in order to understand drag could be drag persona, drag queen, and drag king. Drag persona is a performer who does drag, drag queens can be anyone who dresses up in hyper feminine performances, and drag kings are the people who dress up in hyper masculine performances. During a drag show you can typically expect a performance by either drag queens, drag kings or drag personas that will express their gender or critique culture or gender through the performance.

According to rottentomatoes.com, Season 1 of We’re Here got a 83% audience score and Season 2 got a 100% audience score. Over the two seasons, 240 ratings of the show gave an estimation of 4.9/5.

Season 2 Episode 2 is based in Temecula, California and features consulting producers Caldwell Tidicue (Bob the Drag Queen), David Huggard (Eureka O’Hara), and D.J. Pierce (Shangela Laquifa Wadley). Tidicue, Huggard, and Pierce are a part of the cast as well. Tidicue was born in Columbus, Georgia and is a drag queen. Tidicue was the first Black Drag Race queen to reach one and a half million followers on Instagram. Huggard was born in Bristol, Tennessee and is a drag queen and musician. Huggard competed on the ninth and tenth seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Pierce (also known as Shangela) was born in Paris, Texas and is a drag queen, television personality, and actor. In June 2019, the New York magazine placed Shangela as second on the list of “the most powerful drag queens in America''.

Increase self-acceptance & self-expression

Different aspects of a media example such as, the plot, characters or messaging, may affect people who consume this media source. Based on Social Learning Theory, we will discuss possible effects that the HBO series We’re Here could have on individuals. Through watching We’re Here, it could result in increased self-acceptance & increased self-expression among viewers. As viewers watch the We’re Here cast members on screen and get to know their personalities, they may find similarities of the queens in themselves. Moreover, the cast members; Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and D.J. Pierce are all showcased being their absolute true self and encouraging the episode guests and the audience to do the same. We’re Here is a series that displays a large amount of positivity and welcoming energy. Due to this positive light, viewers could feel more inclined to behave similarly to the subjects in the show. Social Learning Theory discusses rewards and consequences and in We’re Here the cast is rewarded with love, praise and encouragement, therefore, having an effect on viewers. In addition, there are a lot of queer young indivdiduals, especially within the United States, that could benefit from We’re Here. We’re Here may allow people to change their perspective, increase their confidence, or could give them the courage to behave as they may have always wanted. Throughout the show, the queens themselves are nothing but their true, authentic sleeves and based on Social Learning Theory, the viewers may learn how to embrace and express their true selves. This media example displays how true love and acceptance starts within, and based on Social Learning Theory can then make a change in viewers as well.

Follow-Up with Cast Members

Though the show had many things to offer in terms of progress, it is important to showcase the lives of these individuals after their experience with drag to see how it has changed them, especially when examining social learning theory. It is important for the audience to learn from the cast members who have gone through this experience about how to continue staying true to themselves and become their own biggest fans when it comes to confidence. Adding a segment about how they are doing a few months after will show that it is important to continuously work in one's life using the tools that they learned at the time. If the people participating in the Drag show were continuously growing in their lives by commenting about their mental health progression and maybe finding a job that was right for them, they would show that working by yourself can really produce great results. It is known under social learning theory, that learning can be vicarious, meaning people learn how to act by watching others do it on screen. If people see that one show won’t change the course of a person’s life and instead it takes time and effort to work on yourself for change to come, they are likely to do it too. Leaving things in a good place after the show is alright but it can lead viewers to believe that just one week can make a whole difference in someone’s life when sometimes it takes more than that. It is a great start but watching what the individual does on a daily basis to help themselves further is key for people in their shoes going through it as well.

Similarities

We're Here shares certain characteristics with other media. The first one would be that it is a reality TV show, an unscripted program that does not employ actors and focuses on footage of real events or situations, according to howstuffworks.com (Metz, 2007). This type of format is common in other shows like Shark Tank. I think that this format can bring some interesting things like natural reactions or comments, because they are not scripted, as the definition says.

The second one would be that the show is distributed through a streaming service, meaning that in order to see the show, one needs to be subscribed to HBO Max, a streaming platform owned by Warner Bros. Discovery that hosts the show. The same happens with other shows that are delivered exclusively through a streaming service platform, like the Stranger Things show that is only streamed through Netflix, and that in order to be able to see the show, one needs to pay a monthly subscription.

Differences

The show also has some differences with other mediatic content. For instance, they interviewed family members of the participants (James, for instance), whereas in other shows that I have seen -like Shark Tank, the family members are not often involved. Another difference is that they included a neurodivergent member of the LGBTQ+ community, which was something thoughtful, in my opinion, as I had never considered a neurodivergent trans to be part of the show; it illustrated something else.

I think these two things added more humanity to the program, thus making it more impacting. The fact that we were able to listen and see James' mother, Jake's mother as well, and not seeing Andrei's mom, added more to the "picture" of the situation that these people lived in.