Paris Is Burning
Composite Score: 85.27
Featuring: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée, Pepper LaBeija, Junior LaBeija, Willi Ninja, Sandy Ninja, Kim Pendavis, Freddie Pendavis, Octavia St. Laurent, and Venus Xtravaganza
Director: Jennie Livingston
Genres: Documentary, Biography, LGBTQ+
MPAA Rating: R for language and sexuality
Box Office: $3.91 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Paris Is Burning is Jennie Livingston’s documentary about 1980s ball culture in New York City, focusing on the gay and trans people who made it all happen. It takes a deep dive into this now nonexistent subset of NYC culture, featuring interviews with the participants and actual footage of the balls, showcasing the many facets of the culture, including houses, balls, different takes on homosexuality and transgenderism, voguing, reading, and shade. The film is both uplifting and informative, highlighting (probably somewhat unintentionally) the impact of the ball culture of NYC and the gay and trans people involved in it on modern vernacular, pop culture, and fashion. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest documentaries ever made, and its exploration of this black and Latino gay and trans subculture just manages to hit that nail right on the head with infectious energy and undeniably empathetic characters.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
As with anything that highlights the impact of minority cultures on the broader culture, Paris Is Burning walks a fine line between appreciation and celebration of a subculture and instead celebrating the appropriation of that culture. I think, as documentaries of its kind go, this is definitely one of the better ones in that field, leaning much harder into the celebration of balls and their peripheral culture than it does when looking at the wider impact that they have had. Obviously, in watching the film, it’s impossible to ignore the ways that ball subculture of NYC has seeped into our everyday life through the dancing (voguing), which is fairly innocuous, and through language, which might be more sinister and appropriative. The fact that I didn’t realize until watching this film that “shade” and “reading” came out of this specific subset of African American and Latino culture speaks to the ways that the terms have been appropriated into modern vernacular without celebrating those who coined the terms. I did recognize the terms as originating from the cultures of racial minorities and celebrated them for that, but the connection to such a specific subset of those minorities had been lost on me, and I think that it’s probably lost on many people who use those words in that way, which shouldn’t be something that we are just okay with. That’s pretty textbook appropriation. I don’t necessarily view that as the goal of this film, simply an unfortunate byproduct of the commodification of minority subcultures, which could be furthered by watching this film if you’re not careful.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
What makes Paris Is Burning work despite its tiptoes into cultural appropriation is the infectious energy of its leading figures. Each of the featured players – Brooke Xtravaganza, Venus Xtravaganza, Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, Dorian Corey, and the rest – have poured so much of themselves into the world of NYC balls that their very beings permeate the film beyond just interviews and stock footage. It all feels so real and personal and meaningful, giving the documentary a sense of ironic authenticity that you sometimes miss with documentaries that feature the people they are about. These queens are unapologetic in their sense of self and importance, and you want to be part of what they have going on. You want to celebrate their successes with them. You want to know who has beef with whom and why. It's a celebration of their lives and impact that goes beyond just fan-service into something resembling a medieval sense of homage, paying tribute to the people who made it all happen. It’s unlike so many documentaries in that it’s not trying to make you like these people, but you can’t help but love them anyway.
Paris Is Burning wins the day thanks to the authenticity of its marginalized central players who remind the audience why they are worth telling a story about over and over with the anecdotes and dreams that they share with us, making this a wildly successful documentary and one of the Greatest Films of All Time. Its exploration of this subculture borders on appropriation at times but never steps fully into that space, celebrating it and elevating it at every turn. The film is currently available to stream on Max if you’d like to check it out in the coming days.
