Paris is Burning (movie review)

A documentary which has made a bigger cultural impact than it was maybe aware of at the time; Paris is Burning (1990) takes us through the incredible world of the underground vogue/ballroom scene. It takes place in the mid-late 80’s in New York City, where Black and Brown LGBTQ+ individuals were (and, still are) alienated from wider social scenes; and a new era of dance, fashion, and giving face was born.

Though – that doesn’t even begin to give justice to the important conversations taking place in this film. About transmisogyny and homophobia, the AIDS epidemic, abuse, and this film was ultimately a survival guide for their community.

Many cultural sayings and slang dialect people often attribute to Ru Paul’s Drag Race can be heard here. We even get a run down of the very precise difference between a read and shade, so eloquently explained by Dorian Corey; who gives us some truly stellar quotes throughout this entire film. Here’s part of my favourite from her:

“Everybody wants to leave something behind them, some mark upon the world.

Then you think you left a mark on the world if you just get through it ….and a few people remember your name. Then you left a mark. You don’t have to bend the whole world.

I think it is better to just enjoy it. Pay your dues and enjoy it.“

The best way to enjoy this movie is by actively listening to what these people have to say. It’s very easy for some to brush this off as simply a dance documentary, but at the same time depicts a community in crisis who were pushed so heavily to the margins, that of course an underground social scene would form eventually.

This movie would go on a Mandatory Watching for Gays list if there were one, and all of us watching could learn a thing or two about perseverance and living authentically.