In any show about a found family, relationships are going to be critical, and there are plenty of relationships to love on Pose. But I think my favorite is probably the friendship between Blanca and Pray Tell (a few spoilers.)
Even though Pray Tell is the emcee for the balls and ostensibly meant to dole out praise and shade indiscriminately, he has a soft spot for the Evangelistas from the beginning, especially for Blanca. When Blanca doesn’t have the funds to match the high fashions of Elektra’s house, she turns to Pray Tell for some custom designs and regular advice. He’s the first person she tells about being HIV+, and when Pray Tell in turn tests positive himself, she’s the one he confides in. They share their dreams and fears with one another, their relationship woes, their ball strategies, and their plans for disrupting the systems of discrimination that are holding them back. In short, they’re friends and confidantes.
And, as friends, it’s natural that they fight. Each is both highly-opinionated and very protective of the other, and there are moments on the show when either finds themselves in a spiral of self-pity, unwilling to listen to the other’s well-meaning advice and encouragement. When they have a real knockdown dragout battle of wills, over Pray Tell’s relationship with Ricky, it gets ugly fast. As two dramatic people on a show filled with dramatic people, tempers flare quickly, and Blanca righteously rages while Pray Tell defends and accuses.
But while those clashes between them are significant, their relationship is much more frequently characterized by support. They keep one another accountable in their HIV treatments, taking turns to build one another up in low moments. Blanca frequently has Pray Tell’s back when he starts getting involved in Act Up protests and other AIDS-related causes, and he offers her counsel when she faces obstacles trying to get her own nail salon off the ground.
One thing that I really like about both characters and how they operate together is how seriously both take their responsibilities as elders. The concept of elders is important in both the Black and Latinx communities, as well as the LGBTQ community, particularly in connection with struggle – the pioneers who’ve paved the way and are trying to guide the younger generations through an environment that’s hopefully a little kinder than the one they came up in. Even though Blanca is quite a bit younger than Pray Tell and Elektra’s generation, her position as a house mother means she takes on an elder role in the community (and I suppose in a community dogged by family rejection, employment and housing discrimination, hate crimes, and now disease, people grow up fast.) Blanca and Pray Tell both look to offer protection, support, and wisdom to the younger people coming up in the balls. And that means advising them on their fashions and their voguing, yes, but it also means encouraging them to go after their dreams, setting standards for them to live by, and trying to keep them safe in a world that seems out to get them. While other house mothers seem to be in it maintain to acquire acolytes and win trophies at the balls, Blanca is in it to nurture and shepherd, and even though Pray Tell doesn’t head up a house of his own, he looks out for the young men in his circle, trying to teach them about everything from love to safety to skincare. I love whenever Pray Tell and Blanca take on a new project together to help the “children” or teach them a new lesson, because I know there’s little stopping the two of them when they put their minds together.
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