Pride and the Art of Realness

Filmed throughout the 1980's, director Jennie Livingston's seminal documentary about a group of disenfranchised young people of color finding their community in the face of formidable opposition feels as important today as it did when it was first released in 1990. Paris is Burning introduces us to a world of drag balls where gender-non-conforming members of various "Houses" vie for awards and titles that temporarily allow them a means of escape from the precariousness of their daily lives. 

Mostly African-American and Latino (or some combination thereof), these young people--all LGBTQ+--spend their days scrounging for food, shelter, money and acceptance. But, on some late nights, they are members of an elite group of "children" belonging to the Houses of Xtravaganza, LaBeija, Ninja, Corey, Pendavis, Saint Laurent, and Dupree. Each house functions as a sort of sanctuary that provides support, and a measure of safety, for runaways, misfits and street kids as they enter this electrifying world--a bubble, really--that offers them a chance to become the icons they aspire to be--even if only for a brief time. Once a month, the House Mothers present their proteges in pageants--or balls--in such venues as the Elks Lodge in Harlem. Attired in splendid gowns (either hand-made or purloined from shops), professional wear, heritage classics and military gear, the contestants vie for human-sized trophies as they sashay before a court teeming with anticipation. Two important category groups are Realness (the ability to "pass" as a real female executive in the business world or as a schoolgirl, for instance), and Voguing, a form of dance that combines acrobatics, posing, sashay and elaborate hand and arm movements.  

Woven into the fabric of this highly competitive ballroom scene are the individual stories of the House Mothers and participants, many, if not most, of whom are--sadly--no longer alive. The older interviewees tend to be tougher and (reluctantly) accepting of the limited opportunities they've been given. The younger ones are often funny, feisty and full of ambition, hoping to be lifted out of their "real-life" situations so they can live happily ever after in their own realness; they have their dreams but even they are not unaware that the dream may be out of reach. 

Inside the ballroom, the children (late teens and early-to-mid 20's) are male, black/Puerto Rican, and gay and/or trans--at least five strikes against them from the get-go. The fact that most are unhoused, intelligent but unschooled, abused or tossed aside by uncaring parents (and the system), and a few turning tricks just to make a few bucks makes the hill even steeper to climb. 

Some of the most moving portions of the movie come from a pair of 13ish-year-old boys hanging around outside the ballroom, one living on the streets, the other without parental supervision. It's unclear if these kids are actually gay, although they seem to be fine with the ballroom culture and with gay people in general. They're cheerful, seemingly carefree, yet you can't help wondering what became of these wayward urchins, whether they became performers in the balls, moved on to marry and have families, or whether some darker fate awaited them. 

More than anything, Paris is Burning is a tale of adversity, resilience, generosity and the power of chosen family. The movie, with its colorful costumes and performances, its wisdom and wit, is joyful but also rather sad. The spectre of AIDS hangs heavily over the film as it makes its way through that deadly decade of the '80's (although the disease, itself, remains an unseen presence in the film). There's also the constant threat of violence in the outside world (as revealed in one tragic scene), the racism, the trans- and homophobia, the elitism, the uncertainties of day-to-day living--most of which remain firmly--and shamefully--ingrained in the America of today. 

The FX series Pose (2018-21) is an obvious beneficiary of this groundbreaking movie, as is RuPaul's Drag Race (2009-Present). Very soon after this film's release, Madonna incorporated ballroom culture into her own work with the 1990 hit, Vogue. I love Vogue, as a song, a video and as part of the Blonde Ambition tour, but my lived experiences (and, most likely, Madonna's as well) were fundamentally, incomprehensively different from those living within this incredible film. So, it's understandable that her unwelcome appropriation of non-white culture was seen as an affront to many. I am relieved to say that I'm more aware of this fact now than I was in 1990. 

We may talk more about the Blonde Ambition tour at a later date but, for now, here's a brief history of ballroom culture.