Lil Nas X, In Living Color, and Me
No Me Digas. Op-Ed: Keith Price
As the PRIDE season rages on, I recently have been introduced to Lil Nas X and his simultaneous gaysplaining to the hip hop world while scaring the hell out of the moral majority, and I love it. I look at him and think that the young LGBT community has a true role model, especially the queer black youth. I also wrote about it, because I thought about how different my young LGBT development could have been with a Lil Nas X, instead of the few models that were out there at the time. However, in my recollections, I completely forgot about Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather from IN LIVING COLOR, deliciously portrayed by comedic legends, Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier, respectively. You can blame it on my age.
Now before anyone gets on a high horse about the stereotypical tropes that made these sketches legendary, I dare you to tell me that every other queen on Ru Paul’s Drag Race is not truthfully living in some energy of those characters? That is probably why I overlooked them the first time. Rewatch PARIS IS BURNING and you will see that Blaine and Twoine were not based on thin air. While in Dr. Joni Jones’ Dramatic Performance of Literature class at the University of Texas at Austin, I did a monologue from George C. Wolfe’s THE COLORED MUSEUM. It was The Gospel According To Miss Roj. I pulled from my own world AND Blaine Edwards’ energy to find Miss Roj.
Mr. Wayans and Mr. Grier are both confirmed heterosexual men, as well as, great actors, so I will not deny the genius in their portrayals. I am not going to shy away from the fabulous comedic impact that they had on me. The idea that the black gay male stereotype of a Snap Queen was seen as an equivalent to the Nance/Twink type character, often associated with gay white men, fascinated me. Retrospectively when I think of these guys’ portrayals, I’ve always felt as if they both saw Blaine and Twoine as true characters and not just stereotypes.
I want to believe that as a Yale trained actor, David Alan Grier, had a great backstory for Antoine that he may or may not have shared with his castmates. I am sure that he encountered many “Twoines” in his theater career, so the backstory must have been great to put together. Damon Wayans’ power of mimicry and character commitment is based on years of being able to observe quickly, figure out what is funny, and deliver it. He is from the projects of NYC, too. I bet if you ask him, did he KNOW at least one unapologetic “Blaine” that lived in his building, his neighborhood, or even in his large family growing up, he would probably say yes. There might have been a gaggle of them.
During my college years, I remember some of the big groups like GLAAD going after IN LIVING COLOR for some of their gay characters and content. It was even addressed at a recent reunion of some of the cast members. As much as GLAAD allegedly tried to speak for ALL of us (said with a side eye), I remember amongst us black queens back in Texas, we were falling out everytime a new “snap” was introduced. Hell, we came up with some of our own variations.
After a little time on YouTube, I found some of the other gay sketches involving Jim Carey that probably were the REAL reason that GLAAD finally got involved. No tea, No shade to Jim Carrey, because I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS redeems him for me, but his early gay portryals were very ‘on the surface’ and disconnected in comparison to Blaine and Twoine. Looking back now, isn’t it interesting that GLAAD went out of their way to also be concerned about black gay imagery, too, or were they? They are still confused about what to do with Michael K. Williams and his roles in THE WIRE and HAP AND LEONARD, but I digress.
At the height of IN LIVING COLOR, the Balls of Harlem that are now revered by GLAAD thanks to the show POSE, were still an underground thing with a vocabulary that most gay folks of color DID recognize in Blaine and Twoine. Honey, we howled. The only real problem that GLAAD probably had was the characters were played so convincingly by straight, black men. I am sure if there were any out, gay, performing men of color, then they would not have done it for fear of being compared to doing a different kind of modern day blackface. If it was a problem for gay men of color, then they were probably the closeted or “straight acting” ones hoping to “pass” or stay on the “down low.” That is why when I think about Mr. Wayans’ and Mr. Grier’s character work, I add “brave”, because as infamous and funny as those characters are, they inadvertently opened a door that some 25-30 years later, the Ru Paul generation has kicked wide open, took the keys, and now own a nice share of the airwaves.
What is sad? Political correctness will probably keep them both from ever fully revisiting those characters. It’s a shame, because I think that they could drop back in the scene older, wiser, and sassier. I am sure that Mr. Wayans’ and Mr. Grier’s understanding of the LGBTQ+ community has increased, but they still retain their sense of humor. These guys are masters of improvisation, and I would LOVE to see them do a read with some of the queens of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Far be it for me to remind the children that Antoine Merriweather said “the books have been read, and the library is closed” on national television long BEFORE RuPaul. I know that they would be able to hold their own or bust us up with laughter trying. If ever I get a chance to interview them, I would really like to know how they approached those characters and then really played with them. I took it upon myself to curate a few of my favorite clips. Watch without prejudice. Happy Pride.
Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay Distanced.
