“The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special” Review: The Importance of Celebrating the Holidays Your Way

The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special is a fun way to spend an hour. Top-tier Drag Queens Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme put on a Christmas variety show to share the importance of tradition and fostering an inclusive community.

I was provided with a free digital screener of The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special for review. The opinions I have shared are my own.

Viewers of RuPaul’s Drag Race are quite familiar with the powerhouses that are Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. The two have been friends for years. The electric chemistry between them lights up every moment of the holiday special. I wanted it to be longer than the 1-hour runtime because I was having so much fun.

Recorded on a soundstage, the premise deals with Dela wanting to celebrate the joys of Christmas and deciding to put on an elaborate show. However, Jinkx isn’t into the festivities and wants to be left alone to drink and hook up with a handsome man in peace. The special has Dela not backing down and trying to force the holiday cheer upon an uninterested Jinkx. Dela making contact with her dead grandmother, who manifests as a glass of eggnog, doesn’t help the situation as she encourages Dela to keep trying to get Jinkx to embrace the Christmas spirit. 

There’s a meta-ness to the entire thing as the two leads address the audience and make changes to the script on a whim to one-up each other. As expected, there’s a bunch of Christmas-themed musical numbers, quick outfit changes, and lots of jokes. However, I was quite surprised by what this special had to say.

As the story progresses, we find out that Jinkx and Dela experienced very different holidays growing up. Jinkx’s family didn’t have the funds to plan lavish holiday parties. They also fought a lot during family dinner. So, it was understandable why Jinkx wasn’t interested in what Dela was suggesting. Not only that, I liked how Jinkx was upset about how her emotions regarding the holidays were being ignored by Dela. The narrative also explores Dela’s persistence of wanting to keep her family traditions alive and why doing so is meant to her.

During the course of the holiday special, the two go through character growth that allows them to see each other’s perspectives. Not only that, the narrative asks the audience to think about the significance of their own holiday traditions. Are certain traditions actually bringing you joy or are you just repeating them every year because it’s hard to break away from your past?

Through Dela’s conversations with her very problematic dead grandmother, the script asks whether or not certain traditions are even worth keeping alive. Christmas and other holidays tend to be quite tough for a number of people in the LGBTQ+ community. Wouldn’t it be better to come up with new traditions to celebrate the holidays the way you want to?

From global warming to respecting other people and embracing inclusivity, there’s a lot that Jinkx and Dela touch upon in this 1-hour long hilarious holiday special. I highly recommend you watch it. Also, don’t skip the end credits because it has a number where Jinkx and Dela sing about the different holidays celebrated across the globe.

The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special is screening in Alamo Drafthouse theaters. You can find it digitally on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu. The DVD and Blu-ray can be purchased from the official website. 

If you’re able to get a ticket, you can catch The Return of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, LIVE!

The live show is currently happening, with the final tour date being December 30, 2021.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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