In a time when so few stories are told truthfully, it’s hard to learn about your roots. With movies like 2015’s Stonewall, the whitewashing of LGBT history has created a narrative that places white people at the forefront of all of our movements. Paris is Burning is a 1990 documentary that highlights ball culture, a subsection of queer culture that is often forgotten. Balls are contests featuring participants displaying outfits and looks that fulfill a fantasy of theirs. According to Dorian Corey, “at a ball, you can be anything.” Instead of making a white person the face of the movement, director Jennie Livingston spotlights the gay men and trans women of color who created this scene.
Paris doesn’t follow a direct narrative; instead, the focus sits on the interviews and balls themselves. Viewers are given glimpses into the lives of ball walkers and house mothers, who discuss what the scene means to them and the various terms and phrases within their culture. Prominent figures such as Pepper LaBeija, Kim and Freddie Pendavis, and Dorian Corey are featured through interviews and ball footage. Some scenes are serious and some are funny, but all of them are intensely and openly personal. In one scene, Freddie Pendavis recounts how he and a couple of friends stole food from a restaurant in an act they call “mopping.” This memory, while funny and light-hearted, displays the economic climate that surrounds the subjects of Paris. The interviews are separated by footage of balls, where these people truly come to life. Ball culture is very different from the drag scene that modern media portrays; Paris depicts ball culture as a community within a community. The outfits are not always intricate and the makeup is not always flawless, and Livingston captures these moments as they were. Paris is a collage of ball walkers, “legendary” house mothers, queer terms, and family that create a full picture of the ball scene.
Paris is about much more than the performances. Featured are a number of “houses,” collectives of people (usually lead by a “house mother”) who live together and consider each other family. They generally adopt a family name such as Xtravaganza, Pendavis, Corey, etc. These groups create a dynamic within the ball community that shows togetherness in face of competition; Paris highlights a community in which everybody belongs and everybody is accepted. Paris also illustrates the tensions that rise between the houses during balls. Because of the climate towards HIV/AIDS, queerness and especially trans identities at the time, these houses give young, homeless queer children a place to freely exist. Honesty pours out of Paris in form of these scenes.
With television shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race rising in prominence, watching Paris in a modern context creates room for a discussion that needs to be had. Paris takes the metaphorical reins from white queer people and highlights the accomplishments that queer people of color have achieved. Many younger queer people don’t understand where queer slang comes from, but Paris brings this history to light. Viewers are educated on “shade,” “reading,” and “eleganza,” all of which are heavily-used terms in the queer community to this day. Paris used to be a shocking film about subculture and queer rebellion, but has since become a core piece of queer entertainment. Since its release, Paris has become an instruction manual of sorts for gay and trans entertainers, but is so much more than that. Paris is a declaration of freedom that presents hope and love in a time of uncertainty and fear.
