Well, I think Ru and Michelle just aren't used to feedback from people who aren't cringing at their feet.
Michelle Visage talks some utter nonsense, especially on that podcast. I heard her say the other day that taking antibiotics can make your body resistant. That's not how it works. That's not how any of it works.
More importantly, I think they're actually reacting to the fact that people have been really disappointed with this season. People have been saying silly things for years. But this is the first season that people seem really unhappy with from the ground up. The editing was bad. The decisions were incoherent. Fan favorites were sent home from almost week one, while less favorable choices were kept the whole season.
If you're going to create anything people care about, you're going to find that some people's feedback is vehement. That means that when you create a phenomenon like drag race, and then you half-ass a season, there's going to be hell to pay.
I also think people are cottoning onto the fact that there are some cheap tricks associated with the program
Trying to turn Pearl's childhood trauma into a 'moment' on the show. That was low. RuPaul doesn't know the queen's real names, but she thinks that their deepest, darkest secrets should be divulged to the world for five minutes of entertainment. The only thing sadder than Roxxy Andrews being left at a bus stop is the fact that it was used to sell the show. The shoe-horning in of personal tragedy in between costume challenges needs to stop.
RuPaul isn't as emotionally involved with drag, the show, or the contestants as she makes herself out to be. To her credit, she states this fairly often in various ways, but still makes 'heartfelt' speeches about how much she cares about her queens after spending maybe 10 mins with them one on one in 6 weeks. It's disingenuous.
The maquettes. Oh my god those nasty maquettes, which are shoved into the hands of queens who literally just lost their chance at the crown. There's product placement and there's mercenary tackyness.
The kicking people off the show for 'not showing their talent', when they've been given almost nothing besides insane group challenge after insane group challenge. That John Waters thing was just fucked up. Getting on Fame and Violet for not selling a song about eating dog poo? Uh, okay, whatever Ru. Was that supposed to be entertaining? Funny? I think the challenges deserved to be sent home, frankly.
How about a challenge that isn't scripted, which actually allows the queens to show their own talent? How about allowing them to, I don't know, use their own words? In past seasons, queens wrote routines, songs, and more. It was great. This season has given the queens very little scope for creativity and then mercilessly punished them for it.
Honestly, I got more entertainment out of Katya's RuGrets than I did the actual show. And if that's 'vile' or 'nasty' then so be it. Personally, I think they broke their own 'don't fuck it up' mantra here. And I also think that instead of freaking out because social media went insane, they should be more aware of the role they played in the clusterfuck that was this season.