Newbie to pose but I’m just wondering how they paid for damons college?

OH MY WORD that show it beautiful. Especially for the last season I kept crying basically every episode because of all the emotions it had. I'm glad, when reading through comments on other posts, that people share that same sentiment and it ain't just me. If they stated it was based on real people, it would've been tragic for me and I'd be a mess of tears. The only thing I disliked was how they wrote Damon at the end, I really feel like they could've turned it a different direction instead of what they went with. Other than that, lovely show.

I just finished watching Pose and my eyes are bawling!!! I miss the girls so much!!! They hold a special place in my heart. I just hate how the production rushed the creation of the final season —it feels like there's a lot of missing pieces to each character's storyline. Regardless of the said fact, I still love how the writers build up every character especially Elektra, Pray Tell, Angel, Papi, and even Lulu and Candy. Damon's character on the otherside lacks resolution after the production focuses on Damon from Season 1 until Season 2.

The only thing I really don't like about this show is that Damon is not a great dancer. They praise him so highly and put him on a pedestal, but he is average at best. I'm rewatching season one and I LOLed at how mediocre he is.

Porfis ayusa

I watched the first two seasons and want to share my thoughts about them. I don't care about the third season and won't watch it.

First, the writing for the show is terrible. And I feel that the show promotes a TON of terrible behaviors. But nevertheless, I want to start off by saying that Elektra was a much better mother than Blanca.

Blanca v Elektra: Starting a House

Blanca started a House after she learned that she had HIV. A carrier of HIV was almost always certain to develop and die from AIDS, and Blanca didn’t want to die without being remembered. She thought that forming a house that would dominate the Balls would help her leave a legacy.

Elektra started a House after seeing that Blanca needed a mother. When Elektra saw Blanca at her first Ball, it was clear to Elektra that Blanca was vulnerable, homeless, and hungry. So after Elektra defended Blanca from some bullies at Ballroom, she fed Blanca and adopted her.

When we compare Blanca's motivations for starting a House to Elektra's, we see that Elektra was more pure and selfless. Elektra decided to become a House Mother to help someone in need. Blanca decided to become a House Mother for her own gains.

Blanca v Elektra: Threats of Homelessness

Elektra started the show with 6 children living in her first House (House of Abundance). It was clear that Elektra's children had options as far as housing. We see that Blanca was able to easily get an apartment, and afterwards, Angel moved in with Blanca. The other four children left Elektra right away once they learned she ran out of money. Two of those children started a House of their own with no problem.

In the first two seasons, we see Elektra threaten to kick someone out of her House twice. The first time was when she "fired" Candy after Candy walked the body category that everyone knew she would lose. Elektra later said that she wasn't serious about firing Candy, so Candy was able to stay in Elektra's home. The second time Elektra threatened to kick out a child was when Ricky had a chance to dance for Madonna. Elektra told Ricky that he shouldn't "bother coming back" if he didn't get accepted on Madonna’s tour. Ricky did not dance for Madonna and he also lost a Ballroom dancing category, but despite this, he was never kicked out of Elektra's House.

Blanca had a total of four children in her home. Out of those four, the show made it clear that three of them joined Blanca's House because they had no where else to go. Blanca threatened to kick her children out multiple times and used their housing insecurity to get them to do things that they didn't want to do. For example, when Blanca banned Damon from the Snow Ball, Damon said he would go anyway. We then hear Blanca tell Damon that she would throw him out if he didn't listen to her. This resulted in Damon not attending the Ball he was most excited about.

Another example is when Blanca questioned her children about Papi's drug use. When she questioned Ricky, Ricky originally refused to tell her anything negative about Papi, but then he became scared. Ricky was fearful that Blanca would throw him out, and this caused him to tell Blanca that Papi sold drugs. We even see Ricky ask Blanca to not throw him out after he gives her this information.

Blanca would also throw her children's lack of housing options in their face if they said anything she didn't like. For example, when Damon complained about her cooking, Blanca said that her cooking was better than what he "ate on the park bench."

If we compare Elektra and Blanca's behavior in this section, we see that Elektra provided a more stable, comfortable, and secure place for her children, even when her children upset or disappointed her. For example, when Candy cursed Elektra out, tried to attack her, and walked and lost the body category TWICE, hurting Elektra's chances of winning Mother of the Year, Elektra still took back her statement of "firing" Candy from the House. Compare this to when Blanca blatantly threatened Damon if he attended the Snow Ball. And we never see Elektra throw one of her children out, something that Blanca did to Papi without hesitation. Blanca only changed her mind about throwing out Papi after she overheard her golden children, Angel and Damon, talk about how upset they were he was gone.

Blanca v Elektra: Playing Favorites

Elektra had over 9 children during the course of the series. We never see Elektra play favorites with any of her kids.

Blanca had four children. She clearly couldn't stand two of them, but tolerated them to make her favorite children happy. For example, the only reason Blanca let Ricky join her House was because Damon liked him. Damon brought Ricky to Blanca, and Blanca said that Ricky could live with them, but he shouldn't get too comfortable. Blanca wanted to test Ricky and told him that he was expected to keep Damon "on track".

Once Ricky and Damon's relationship fell apart, Ricky left Blanca's House. Blanca didn't try to go get him and didn't care when she heard that Ricky joined the House of Wintour (Elektra's second house). In the last episode when Pray Tell read Blanca's will, we learn that Ricky wasn't in her will and therefore, she didn't consider him to be one of her children.

Blanca didn't like Papi either. She was very eager to put him out of her House early in the series, and she was also very eager to blame him for Angel's drug use later in the series. She didn't help Papi get a job nor did she encourage him to pursue an education. She also didn't help him with his modeling managing business.

In short, Elektra welcomed a lot of children into her home and treated them equally as far as we can tell. Blanca had far fewer children and treated some better than others.

Blanca's Treatment of Damon

Blanca met Damon when he was homeless and dancing at a park. She was impressed with his dancing skills and thought that he would perform well at the Balls, so she recruited him to be one of her House Children. She even stated that Damon was her House's "secret weapon."

Once Blanca had Damon and Angel as her House Children, she challenged Elektra's House at the Ball. Elektra's House danced better than Blanca's House, and Blanca realized that her House wasn't ready to compete with Elektra. After that, she forced Damon to go to a dance school he did not apply for and demanded that Damon be allowed to audition for the school. The school officials agreed to watch Damon dance, so Damon danced his heart out and got accepted into the school.

Damon had expressed that he wanted to be a professional dancer and a star. However, throughout the episodes, when Damon had a chance to tour and dance with famous musicians, Blanca discouraged him. She constantly told him that school was more important and that he would have opportunities to tour once he got a degree. But why did she do this?

It was stated that Blanca "encouraged" (forced) Damon to attend school because she wanted what was best for him. In my opinion, this isn't true. Blanca was aggressive in getting Damon into dance school not because she wanted what was best for Damon, but because her House had previously lost at the Ball. Blanca felt that if Damon improved his dance skills, he would be able to better compete and win Ballroom trophies for her House. Her theory is proven in the last episode of Season 2. Once Damon had graduated from dance school, he effortlessly danced a category at the Ball, got all 10s for a score, and won a trophy for Blanca's House.

Blanca Controlling Angel’s Life

Angel was clearly Blanca’s favorite child since Angel and Blanca were both transwomen. They had also lived in Elektra’s House as “sisters,” so Blanca and Angel’s relationship was not new when Angel joined Blanca’s House.

During one scene with Blanca and Angel, Blanca reveals that she has HIV. Blanca then says that when she dies, Angel has to take care of all of Blanca’s children. This scene showed how controlling Blanca was to her children. It showed how Blanca thought that she knew how other people should live their lives and how she thought that she should be able to make important life decisions for others. Being a House Mother is stressful and a lot of responsibility, and Angel had never expressed the desire to be a House Mother before.

Additionally, Blanca had also tried to insert herself into Angel’s modeling career. When Angel didn’t book a campaign, Blanca attempted to call Angel’s agent to complain. Blanca’s attempts at controlling Angel was probably why she was eager to move out of Blanca’s House and live with Papi.

Blanca v Elektra: The Conclusion

Elektra was a mean yet selfless, generous, and forgiving person. She adopted many children, invited them to live in her world of luxury free of charge, fed them, clothed them, and provided them with shelter. She allowed her children to express themselves and practice independence. She was so beautiful that she was able to find wealthy white males willing to give her lots of money in exchange for her company. Her creativity and hard work helped her House dominate the Balls and win tons of trophies. She ends the series (in my opinion, this is season 2) winning Mother of the Year at the Ball yet again. She has her health, beauty, a nice home, and a house full of talented children.

Blanca was a nice yet controlling, manipulative, and self-centered person. Whenever she did something questionable (keeping Damon from the Snow Ball, throwing Papi out), we were told she's only trying to do what's right. We had to constantly be told that Blanca was a good mother because she wasn't. And we were told that her children's accomplishments were due to her, but they weren't. Papi became an entrepreneur on his own, Angel became a model because of Papi photographing her and helping her book gigs even after she was outed as a transwoman, and Damon was already a talented dancer who didn't need a dance degree to book auditions and tour with musicians.

The truth is Blanca was an "ugly duckling" (according to the series. In my opinion, the actress for this character is beautiful) who wanted what Elektra had but wasn't good enough to have it. She wanted the glory that Elektra had at the Balls, but didn't have the creativity to get it. She had to have the announcer at the Balls, Pray Tell, design her Ballroom outfits, yet she still struggled to win trophies. She wanted to be liked and accepted by white males (think the gay bars) but never was. In fact, through the series we see that Blanca was very rarely desired by males of any race. Blanca wanted to be Elektra, but she just ended up being a dying and physically "ugly" person who lived in a bleak, depressing, and empty home.

Final Thoughts

I don't think there are any good characters in this show. I think that this show is exploitative and overall gross. I also think that it's messed up how the actors and actresses had to act out traumas they endured in real life (Pray Tell with HIV, Elektra's sex work and homeless issues, Damon with his abusive childhood, transwomen being told they look like men).

This show also glamorizes

-stealing (the museum, "mopping", stealing from the poor)

-drugs (people did hard drugs but never had any serious consequences from them)

-mutilation (cutting off the penis)

-predatory large age-gap relationships

-Being unnecessarily mean and rude to people

-BDSM (I really don't think this is healthy. I kink shame. IDC)

-attacking and throwing things at people because they said something you didn't like (Candy)

Things I'm confused about

-Why did they sing sad songs to cheer up AIDS patients?

-Was Elektra not upset that Angel left her House? Angel was originally Elektra's daughter.

-Why the horrible lighting?

-Why didn't those two guys get any lines? They could've been used to make the series more interesting, especially with Blanca's storyline with the gay bars. Like have them go to the bar, bring Blanca along, and then get mad when she isn't wanted there. Ya know?

-Why would Angel partake in a LGBT, televised protest at a church if she didn't want people to know she was trans?

-Why didn't the landlady just wait until the evening to close the nail salon? Why did she have to do that in the middle of the day?

-Why ghost Candy?

This series was trash, but the concept is interesting. The scores are 6 6 6. The mark of the beast, and an E for Effort.

Season one is impeccable, no notes. Season two was GREAT. Season three felt like a fanfic + the pray tell show and was very rushed. Still love it and bawl during the finale.

God how I love this show. The scream I scrumpt when Damon came back, Blanca’s performance, Elektra winning mother of the year, the entire Candy storyline, PAPI AND ANGEL. Not a single miss story wise I cannot wait for season 3-

just had a rough sobbing session 😭. after watching it the first time, seeing how mean pray was to her made it 10 times more painful when she sang never knew love like this. so far this is the only show that has made me cry this way

I can't find this anywhere but i know it happened

I love this show but oh my god Season 2 Episode 2’s writing made me feel like I was having a lobotomy. There were like fifty different major events happening (AIDS protest, Ricky comes home, Electra leaves Evangelista then goes to ferocity then leaves ferocity…). To add onto that was the almost nonsensical flow of events at times. Blanca tells Ricky and Damon they’re having a family meeting, I assumed that this would lead to a scene in the living room where something important is discussed. Instead they cut to a funeral scene. I get that writers aren’t required to stick to a typical three act structure or whatever for storylines, but it’s become the standard for a reason

That’s all, I just wanted to yap to someone other than my boyfriend about this episode :)

Hey, did anyone watch last night's episode? The scene where the plastic surgery addict sat in his cabin at the vanity mirror and slowly removed his makeup, then retired to his bedroom; only to be found dead the next morning was basically the exact same scene from POSE when Pray Tell died!!🤔😒

We have developed the first app for ballroom culture in the world! It's available on Google Play and Apple Store! Download it and tell us what you think! 

Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/ballroom-plus/id6698861169

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ballroom.plus

i would kill to be at a ball in 1990 when madonna released vogue

ever since i watched candys funeral, i fell in love with the song she lip synced. But now i cant listen to it without becoming an emotional wreck, my throat swells and my eyes water like crazy. The thing is if you actually read the lyrics its supposed to be such a happy uplifting love song. I suppose the reason why it is so emotional is because candy only felt that pure joy in death when it was too late. Listening to the song makes me appreciate everyone in my life who shows me kindness and love, makes me want to cherish everyone because no one cherished candy while she was alive. I could go on and on about how much i love this song and all the things i feel when i hear it but i have a feeling other people know what i mean.

So this is my first time watching the show in full, i’m in season 3 ep1 right now and who the hell is chris?? He just came out of blue. As far as i’m aware i’ve watched every episode of the last 2 seasons in the past 3 days and nowhere is chris mentioned. Do we get a back story of how they met or something later in the show?

Hey y'all, I'm a little confused about how old Pray Tell and Electra are supposed to be. In season 3, both seem to have left home as teens/early 20 somethings about 20 years ago (specifically in '78 for Electra), making them in their 30s in season 1. But season 1 makes it seem like they are in their 40s or 50s and they give a '48 birthdate for Pray Tell on his quote. What do y'all think?

I know sometimes things need to be retroactively changed and that makes sense. I'm just wondering if they had to be community elders so young

We have developed the first app for ballroom culture in the world! It's available on Google Play this week and coming to Apple Store soon! Android users download it and tell us what you think! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ballroom.plus

Here's Angelica Ross when she was in "Chicago" on Broadway last year. She was really good in it!

In watching the series over, for the 30th time! If you had to choose, do you think Damon or PrayTell was Ricky’s true love? 💕

Just finished the show tonight and came on here because I had no one to talk to it about. It’s lovely reading through all your posts!

I started watching season 1 with my father in summer 2018. He passed away November 2018 and I found out I was HIV+ myself January 2019.

I watched Season 2, but it was bitter sweet continuing it without my father, but I felt quite invested in the characters and story.

I think I held off on Season 3 because I just didn’t want it to end and was worried it would be more negative. I knew something would tear jerk me at the end, but it was actually quite hopeful and healing to watch many of our chosen family make it.

I’m so happy this show exists, it helped me find acceptance and learn about queer history.

I’m now on the board of a HIV non-profit in Los Angeles trying to pay it forward however I can.

The category is LIVE!

I watched the first two or three episodes of season 1 and loved it, but skipped to season 2 cause I’m particularly interested in the shows focus on the AIDS epidemic. I’m about five episodes in and inclined to just keep going, then go back and finish the first season. Will it make a difference, or should I go finish season 1 first? I really appreciate any responses.

im rewatching pose and why do they write it like blancas clocky shes so passing it makes me so mad when ppl act like she looks like a man in a wig

*passes

Rewatching the show, and I bet that food fight scene was so much fun to film. I laugh every time I see it. They’re screaming like wild animals in the jungles while flinging food about. I especially lose it when Pray Tell stands on the table, his arms spread out like a bird, releasing a feral scream.

I can’t be the only one that laughs hysterically when that scene comes on. 😂

Sentimental sh*t

AUGH! Words can not describe how this show has changed many people obviously and touched many hearts. But of course, its effect on me was magical; I’m still a queer, nearly young adult living in a safe home. I am fortunate to be in the position I am in to have supportive parents and a mostly accepting outer family. But everyone has their struggles that they wish they could overcome; I, for one, loved pose because of the slay it brought. To see the stories of my predaceous told in such a beautiful way, of course, any young gay should and want to educate themselves on the pride and struggle it took to get rights in certain countries. I feel for those still struggling in their own home, country, and life; it is devastating to be living where I am and know that I have brothers, sisters and siblings still unable to live their truth. I loved Pose because I got to see myself in another person’s shoes and live the life I want; I love my life now, but gosh, when I’m older, I want to do so many things.

Anyway, as much as I love to write sentimental stuff and could go on for hours, that’s different from what this post is about or what you want to read about.

Boring stuff about how I can’t watch TV shows quickly

I am horrible at watching shows even if I love them; here’s the thing: you can re-watch a one to two-hour movie again and again to get your “fix” of the movie, I’ll call it. But this series has many hours to spend reminiscing about the characters, love, and story again. So, I take my time watching things to live in that world for longer. It may have taken some people not a long time to watch it, and that’s fine. I just take my time, which means I now stay with the story a little longer, which I like…It took me nearly a year to finish it.

Actually, talking about the show.

 I LOVED the first season (from memory 😂). I love seeing Even Peters; from memory, the storyline was good, and how he treated Angel was pretty unbalanced at times, and I can’t remember when or why his character left. Either way, I enjoyed seeing all of season 1; season 2 was even better; it delved deeper into the AIDs crisis, which was terrific to be educated upon, the importance of the whole nail salon saga and what Federica said when she was in jail, was touching and regrettably true. Candy’s death was beautifully done. For context, I watched the first season until episode 5 of season 2, and I’ve just recently watched the rest. I loved the beach episode and Christopher’s introduction. This show is fantastic at giving closure, which is a testament to its writers. Since season 3 was challenging to watch, knowing it would come to an end and the storyline. Maybe challenging is the wrong word, but it was heartfelt, and Pose will generally stick with me, but this season was beautiful. Pray’s alcohol abuse, Damon, Lulu, and Angel’s drug abuse were well written and true to how life was and is still dealt with. It is unfortunate that we lose some people to substance abuse, but it was the magic of how the show showed that having a family or chosen family is all that is remarkable to have because they are there for us. It was beautiful to see Pray go back to his hometown and reconcile with his past; I also unfortunately got spoiled by a TikTok about his death, but I know how he died. So, I was on edge all season, lol, but in the finale, it still hit so hard because I felt on that episode. He knew he was going to die that night at the ball, what he was talking to Blanca about, after seeing the scene when he was washing his makeup off after the ball, how long and beautiful that scene was, he knew he was going to die that night. God, when Ricky found him, I started crying, and I don’t cry at many things, and I was like, “It’s just characters in a TV show,” but know they’re more than just actors; they’re storytellers, and the magnificence they create is incredible. When Ricky told Balance, AUGH, I was sobbing the rest of the episode. I was so sad but so happy at the same time. When I saw the choir singing, I completely forgot Ricky was in there. I was crying at the fact that none of the original members were there, and then I saw Ricky singing, and I was really sobbing there.  Going back a bit to the wedding episodes, those were astonishing; the character arc of everyone was done so well, with Angel’s acceptance of becoming a mother and Papi filling his role as a father. Elektra gets what she deserves, Balance becomes a nurse, Lulu becomes an accountant, and Damon finds sobriety. It was sad not to have Damon in the last season, but it is entirely understandable why the actor couldn’t be in it.

This series has changed me for the better, and I am in love. “Whatever will I do now?!?!” might I ask myself. Maybe I’ll write about how Netflix is cancelling all these queer shows for literally no given reason other than ‘numbers’. Anyway, I am writing this as I just finished Pose, so I’m feeling the feels and definitely experiencing Post Show Blues 😭I couldn’t recommend this show more; it is powerful, it is inspirational, it is sexy, it is beautiful, and most of all, it slays.

Live. Werk. POSE!
“The world may not give you what you deserve, but you have the power to take it.” – Pray Tell.

I’m a writer. I often write fanfictions as practice in technique and plot-building (it’s easy to practice writing in a setting where most of the hard work has already been done).

Watching Pose made me a MUCH better writer overall, and I’m feeling grateful for it.

In many fandoms, there’s a way to save beloved characters that still lets you take the plot seriously. You can’t do that with Pray Tell’s death.

Pray Tell’s death was too perfect. There was no way to save him without sacrificing the plot along with it. And despite how horribly sad it was, it was also perfect in that his death made sense. I wish he hadn’t died, but I couldn’t even imagine an alternate plot where he escaped that fate, let alone write it.

His perfect death just made me have a deeper appreciation for tragedy in stories. Some deaths, no matter how horribly unfair they are, are totally necessary to the story. I feel like the quality of my writing has greatly improved because of it.

I just wanted to share that somewhere.