Paris is Burning 1990
By sabu Jun 28, 2006 | 2 out of 2 found this Paris Is Burning (1990) review helpful
Pros: The real lives of Harlem New York's gay, bisexual, transgender, and male woman transsexuals are revealed for the first time by them and from their point of view.
Cons: A little more explanation would have been helpful to those who are clueless about the interactions of gender and sexual supremacism and how they impact people's lives financially. That point needs desperately to be brought out by the community that lives it.
DVD 2005 In Harlem, New York, in the 1980'2, primarily black younger gay and transvestite men have come up with a way to overcome their deep depressions due to social ignorance, gender and sexual supremacism, and poverty: it's called "vo...guing." Dorian Corey, a legendary drag queen, narrates and stars in this historical GLBT work of art. We see he/r using typical drag queen techniques to make up he/r face, lift he/r skin, and virtually turn he/rself into a male woman transvestite (transvestite meaning for a fun temporary period of time; rather than transsexual, meaning all the time, and quite seriously so). We learn that in NYC and Harlem there are so called "Houses": The House of Xtravaganza; The House of Pendarvis; The House of St Laurent; The House of Ninja; and the House of Labeija. Each house is named after a famous voguer or transvestite, whose style must be nearly perfected by the voguer in order to be part of the house that competes in vogues, or modeling, or dancing competitions of handmade extravagant clothes. The art that goes into designing and making the clothes is remarkable and demonstrative of the talents of the participants. Voguing doesn't necessarily cross genders. A poor man may vogue as a rich man which has nothing at all to do with gender or sexuality. It's about transcending status. Voguing is striking a pose (as Madonna says and does); putting on a silent dance routine to background music; sometimes in outlandish clothes and other times in typical street attire; and especially bringing honor to the House the voguer is affiliated with. It's much like being in part of a Scottish clan, for example. The more contest winners the house produces the higher its status. What is refreshing about "Paris is Burning" is that these men take their aggressions out on each other and society through amazing gentle series of arts. They channel their attitudes into the ones that match the Mother of their House. We learn words like "Shade" which is an attitude these guys use to put each other down, within the acceptable bounds of their Houses. No one gets hurt. Surely, being shaded will only fuel the voguers to compete with each other during the next contest. Instead of drugs and guns there are fabrics and sewing machines. And a host of rules for the competitions. In the early 1990's when "Paris [a Harlem bar]is Burning" came out, the show received 8 major awards including the NY Film Critics, LA Film Critics, the Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize; was voted one of the ten best films of the year by Time and US Magazines, The Fresno Bee, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Dayton Daily Times, and scores more. No doubt because the theme of the show is dealing with being socially under-statused. There is no doubt in my mind that voguing was the answer in Harlem during the 1980'2 to extreme social conservative violence, rivalry among clothes designing men, and man transvestites. It is rare to actually hear the narration by Dorian Corey about how voguing became a major alternative to lowered self-esteem, poverty, hopelessness, boundryless values, living on the streets with nothing to look forward to, all transformed into a series of competitions which gave voguers a great deal of pride. Plus, belonging to a House meant you were part of a family. One that wouldn't reject you for being gender or sexually different. m_d.md.m_d Read more Less
