​33 Years Later, ‘Paris Is Burning’ Is Still in Vogue

By Annie Prafcke

annieprafcke@gmail.com

A bold white title card reads, “New York 1987.” Wide shots of the glimmering nighttime NYC skyline appear before we move into a lively neighborhood. Upbeat music kicks in. People are out. They’re dressed up, dancing in the street, laughing.

We follow an elegant Black drag queen, covered head to toe in sparkly, shiny gold. She struts into a dimly lit dance hall. It’s not a place of wealth but it conveys O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E opulence. Red velvet curtains frame a stage in the back. A table draped in a white, lacy tablecloth holds what look like liquor bottles and a frosted cake.

Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary, “Paris is Burning” is a joyous, vibrant film, inviting us to celebrate a Black and Latinx ballroom community while tackling the injustices they face as queer people of color. This film is at once an admiration of resilience and a brazen exposure of injustice.

“Paris is Burning” spotlights the drag vogue ballroom culture of Harlem’s 1980s queer community. We meet an array of multidimensional characters, including William R. Leake, aka Willi Ninja, a dancer and choreographer christened The Grandfather of Vogue; Dorian Corey, a seasoned drag performer who has witnessed multiple eras of drag and explains the ins and outs of ballroom culture with wit and finesse; and Venus Xtravaganza, a young and petite yet audacious trans woman with teased out blonde hair and a sugary drawl.

These queens and many others introduce themselves to us at the Imperial Lodge of Elks, a former ballroom in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. Here they fully immerse us in their community, full of aspirations, strife and talents. At its heart, this film is about a group of outcasts finding family in each other – a family that sees them for who they are.

In a world where racism and homophobic rejection are the expectation, these individuals rely on their found family for support, which “Paris is Burning” beautifully portrays.

Longtime house “mother” Pepper LaBeija explains that many performers are estranged from their biological families who do not accept their queer identities. “I’ve had kids come to me and latch hold on me like I’m their mother or like I’m their father,” LaBeija says.

Young drag performer Freddie Pendavis says he helps fellow house member Kim Pendavis iron his clothes before each show. “It helps out when somebody else is there in your corner at your side,” he says. The love these characters express for each other feels genuine and moving.

“Paris is Burning” makes it easy to feel joy for this extended family and coalition of marginalized people.

Many camera shots take place in the middle of the action – on the ballroom floor, in the crowd, up close to the faces of queens battling it out through the art of “vogue.” In all the balls, the crowd cheers for glammed-up queens of all different body shapes, sizes and colors, an inclusivity that feels progressive today.

Yet outside the ballroom’s glam and the glitter, we learn that the people in this drag community face poverty, harassment and violence. The film doesn’t shy away from these themes. Instead, it conveys that balls provide not mere escapism but an alternative reality where these individuals are loved and supported for who they are.

Octavia Saint Laurent insists, “This was not a game for me or fun. This is something that I want to live.”

Even the soundtrack cleverly conveys both the elation and the tough realities this community faces. On multiple occasions we hear Cheryl Lynn’s 1978 disco hit “Got to be Real,” hinting both at the positive, upbeat environment and the survival strategy of these performers to “be real,” or pass as straight in public.

It’s difficult to not to love these characters because the film wraps you into their familial intimacy. Through Livingston’s deeply personal interviews, we meet these individuals in their own spaces and in their own words – Dorian Corey in her dressing room putting on makeup, Octavia Saint Laurent in her room plastered with posters of the models she adores.

During these interviews, the film’s montage sequences and fast pacing slow down, with long takes and close-ups, giving everyone the attention and the time to open up. The lighting is natural. The music disappears. Without their makeup and flashy clothes, these humans feel vulnerable, real. Octavia tells us her dreams of becoming a famous model. Venus says she wants a church wedding.

While this film portrays the effervescent aspects of this community, it also takes seriously the discrimination they face as queer people of color, something that feels hauntingly relevant today. In the film’s opening montage, a marquee sign scrolls, “White supremacist church begins national confere …” (not lingering long enough to finish the word).

As people dance in the streets, a voiceover from a performer explains the three strikes against him – he’s Black, a Black man and gay.

The film is interspersed with footage of wealthy white New York socialites donning fancy jewelry and designer clothing – the life many of the people in this community long for. Dorian Corey says an aspect of “realness” for these ballroom participants is the ability to get home from the subway without bloodshed.

“Paris is Burning” beautifully conveys the love this ballroom community has for one another, as well as their talent and their resilience. It somehow does all of this without brushing over their vulnerable position as people oppressed by society, a message that still carries weight today.

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YOU SHOULD KNOW

“Paris Is Burning” is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, HBO Max and Kanopy. Running time is 1 hr 17 m.