| Genre: Documentary IMDb Rating: 8.2 Director: Jennie Livingston Cast: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée, Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, Freddie Pendavis |
“Paris is Burning is a film that is important for anyone to see, whether they’re gay or not. It’s about how we’re all influenced by the media; how we strive to meet the demands of the media by trying to look like Vogue models or by owning a big car. And it’s about survival. It’s about people who have a lot of prejudices against them and who have learned to survive with wit, dignity, and energy.”
Jennie Livingston
Paris is Burning works so wonderfully because of its format. New York Ball culture of the 80s is presented through interviews of the queer people involved (most prominently Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent, and Willi Ninja – but also many other queer voices as well). It is their voices that form the film.
Even more than that, it is the collection of their voices. No single aspect of ball culture (general description, houses, vogueing, and so on) is explained by one voice. Rather, every element is explained by a collection of voices, highlighting the importance of community.
Similarly, when voices conflicted, they were still equally presented. For example, there is a moment in the film where one voice disagrees with sex changes while another sings their praise. The collection of voices and images is ultimately both a mourning and a celebration. There is prejudice, desire, and even death, but there is also a community and family.
What makes this even more effective is that it is mostly a display of feelings and personal experiences that add up together to paint the picture rather than straightforward definitions.
Furthermore, queerness itself is not always defined. The extent to which someone is transgender, gender fluid, gender nonconforming, bisexual, pansexual, homosexual, and so on are not defined.
None of them are forced to sit there and put an exact label on their own identity. Some do, others do not. No form of expression of queerness is placed above or below another form/expression.
Besides the powerful presentation of Paris is Burning and an array of voices, it is also a very well-made documentary. The way the camera moves gives the film a very “home video”-Esque aesthetic that works quite well. Also, the sound is shockingly good.
There is not a whole lot else to say about this film besides a simple instruction to watch it (it is free on YouTube and only an hour and sixteen minutes long). There is so much discussed and presented in the film that is obviously done much better there than I could do in my measly review.
However, there is also controversy surrounding this film. It’s debated whether or not the queer people who took part in Paris is Burning were adequately paid for doing so. Similarly, while Livingston herself has since discovered her own queer identity (supposedly – I couldn’t find a worthy source on this), there has been a critique that since she was a white woman, her eye was othering Ball culture.
As a white queer woman myself, I don’t really think I can comment on that. I found the film to be a celebration of many different voices, specifically POC queer people, that came across to me as queer people being able to talk about their own culture.
However, I am getting that vibe as a white person, and there is always something to be said about who gets the final voice. Pepper LaBeija, Octavia St. Laurent, Willie Ninja, Angie Xtravaganza, and other queer POC may have had their voices heard, but it was filtered through Jennie Livingston’s eyes.
Whether that had a negative impact on the film or not, I myself do not know – but it is worth noting.
