Being Bebe: the fabulous Bebe Zahara Benet

REVIEW by Drew Rowsome - photos supplied by publicist

8 Jun 2022 -

"Bebe hates being vulnerable," says  Nea Marshall Kudi during a psychologically probing acting class. That is a problem when Bebe Zahara Benet, Kudi's alter-ego/drag creation is the subject of a feature documentary.

Being Bebe is actually two documentaries stitched together into one. Director Emily Branham has shot footage of Bebe/Marshall for 15 years, charting his rise through the clubs of Minneapolis to winning the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, through a roller coaster post-Drag Race career as an aspiring pop star, television personality and working queen. Poised, as always, on the verge of a comeback success, the pandemic hits and as Marshall says, "For 2020 I had a full calendar and then crickets. So now I'm unemployed. How about that?" The initial structure of Being Bebe has Branham, on Zoom, showing Marshall footage from his past and having Marshall comment on it. The rags to riches to rags saga of an ambitious drag queen is fascinating, fierce and fabulous. And Marshall/Bebe is an engaging and lovable subject who never fails to entertain or have a quip. 

The really interesting career trajectory takes place after winning Drag Race. As it was the first season, the monolithic marketing machine was not yet in place and while Bebe had just won what would become the most coveted and financially remunerative awards in the drag, possibly the gay, world, he had to invent how to capitalize on it. He tries pop music and has middling success before creating his own vehicle, Creature, a spectacular stage show that sold out for months in NYC. The clips are deliciously entertaining. At that point Bebe creates a show Reveal that is meant to showcase her talents but also delve into her true self and features Marshall on film. It was a success artistically but not financially, and Bebe wound up moving back to Minneapolis to work in the club where it all began. There is a tragic scene where Bebe trades repartee with a drag queen who has spent 19 years working at the same club. Bebe, ever a trouper, plots another comeback.

Running parallel to the 'I wanna be a star' storyline is an attempt to plumb the psyche of Marshall/Bebe and by extension that of our equally complicated world. An immigrant from Cameroon, where draconian anti-LGBTQ laws are less of a threat than the mobs who will gladly stone a gay or lesbian, Bebe relies heavily on her heritage for her performances. She continually returns to drum-heavy African goddess material that flirts with casual racism. After the murder of George Floyd, Bebe has a change of heart and creates a show, with several other black drag queens, Nubia, that is a celebration of 'Black Queens Matter.' Bebe's family are supportive, some very charming scenes, but the fact remains that Bebe would be in severe danger if she, or if Marshall, returned to Cameroon. Yet audiences chant "Cameroon!" at her shows, and she bills herself as 'Cameroonian-American.' It is a rich confusing immigrant story that Being Bebe explores as far as Marshall/Bebe will allow.

Marshall/Bebe's sexuality is, surprisingly, just as complicated. Neither Marshall nor Bebe will admit to being gay. Marshall says that if he were in a relationship with a man, his parents would "kill me." He doesn't like the term 'drag,' preferring "female illusion." It is a closet  that harkens back to the golden age of Hollywood when gay and lesbian stars played straight, or current times when they are deliberately ambiguous. When her music producer suggests she find a way to lose her Cameroonian accent, Bebe, or Marshall, signs up for acting classes. The classes are almost a parody of method acting trauma but it is fascinating to find that the Marshall acting in class, or baring his soul in class, is identical in demeanour and presentation to the Marshall/Bebe who sits on the couch watching clips and being evasive. The acting teacher asks to speak to Bebe and therein is the most incisive and intriguing moment in Being Bebe. Marshall become Bebe instantly and utters the line, or the truth, "Bebe doesn't do vulnerable." 

Of course any drag persona is a construct, carefully crafted and cultivated. A glamorous fearless warrior against the small minds of the dominant heterosexual culture. And a black drag queen is also combatting racism. Being Bebe cracks open Marshall and Bebe's relationship. Marshall himself admits that he doesn't know who came first. While Marshall can never admit to being gay, Bebe allows herself to be ribaldly fabulous. In fact she revels in it. In some very early footage, Marshall muses on his need to do drag. He just can't figure out how to make it a financially viable career. If he is a huge success, he hopes that his family, and by extension Cameroon, will accept him. He never goes beyond that to wish to be an ambassador for LBTQs to Cameroon but, we see footage of closeted and persecuted gay men (who we have met briefly previously) watching Bebe perform on their phones. Their disbelief and then inspiration, and then hope, is cathartic. Whether Bebe, or Marshall, will ever achieve enough success to satisfy themselves remains to be seen, but the good they have done in their process is something they should be very proud of. And may just be worth the personal cost.