Paris Is Burning (1990) - full transcript

[man] I remember my dad used to say,

"You have three strikes against you
in this world.

Every black man has two, that
they're just black and they're a male.

But you're black and you're a male
and you're gay.

You're gonna have a hard fuckin' time.

If you're gonna do this, you're gonna have
to be stronger than you ever imagined."

Hold it.

They have to open the door.
Y'all have to open that door too.

[man on PA] Get off the floor.

Get off the floor!

Learn it, and learn it well.



[person] All right!

All right, Miss Pepper!

Girl, give me those motherfuckin' heels!

Do you want me to say who I am
and all of that?

-[woman] "I'm Pepper LaBeija, and..."
- Oh.

I'm Pepper LaBeija, the legendary mother
of the House of LaBeija.

Not the founder.

Crystal was the founder. I'm...

I just rule it now,

with a soft glove.

And it's important to me to be the mother,

'cause there's so many little kids
that I have to look out for.

Although they don't listen to me
and they buck my authority.

I still think I rule it pretty well.
They like me.



I'm one of the more popular ones.

And I've been around for two decades.

Reigning, that is.

You know, I've got more grand prizes
than all the rest.

[man] Gay people, men,
gather together under one roof,

and decide to have
a competition amongst themselves.

- Balls.

[man 2] I went to a ball,

I got a trophy,
and now everybody wants to know me.

This movie is about the ball circuit
and the gay crew that's involved in it,

and how each person's life
brought them to this circuit.

It's like crossing into the looking glass.
Wonderland.

You go in there and you feel,
you feel 100% right

as of be - being gay.

[woman]
That's not what it's like in the world?

That's not what it's like in the world.

That's not what it's like in the world.

You know,
it should be like that in the world.

This society,
they flip going to a football game.

Basketball. That's their entertainment.

You know, a ball is ours.
We prepare for a ball.

We may spend more time
preparing for a ball

than anybody would spend
preparing for anything else.

- Exactly.
- A ball is like our world, you know.

The balls to us is as close to reality
as we're gonna get

to all of that fame and fortune
and stardom and spotlights.

[Pepper] I'd always see
the way that rich people lived,

and I'd feel it more, you know,
it would slap me in the face.

I'd say, "I'd have to have that," because
I never felt comfortable being poor.

I just don't.

Or even middle class doesn't suit me.

Seeing the riches,

seeing the way people on Dynasty lived...
these huge houses.

And I would think, "These people
have 42 rooms in their house.

Oh, my God. What kind of a house is that?"

And we've got three. So why is it
that they can have it and I didn't?

I always felt cheated.

I always felt
cheated out of things like that.

[emcee] You have space
to do all that you intend to.

Now, the categories are Butch Queen,

one through 17.

And for the girls, 18 through 30.

As far as all of y'all not walking,

please realize that we all,
at one time or another,

have lusted to walk a ballroom floor.

So, give the patrons and the contestants,
you know, a round of applause for nerve.

'Cause with y'all vicious motherfuckers,
it do take nerve.

Believe me.
We're not going to be shady, just fierce.

Those balls are more or less
like our fantasy of being a superstar.

You know, like the Oscars or whatever.
Or being on a runway as a model.

You know, a lot of those kids
that are in the balls,

they don't have two of nothing.

Some of them don't even eat.

They come to balls starving.

And they sleep in the under 21,
or they sleep on the pier or wherever.

They don't have a home to go to,

but they'll go out
and they'll steal something

and get dressed up and come to a ball
for that one night and live the fantasy.

[man] A ball is, the very word,
whatever you want to be, you be.

So at a ball, you have a chance
to display your arrogance,

your seductiveness, your beauty,
your wit, your charm, your knowledge.

You can become anything and do anything

right here, right now,
and it won't be questioned.

I came,

- I saw, I conquered.
-[emcee 2] You know what she want.

That's a ball.

[emcee 2] Give her what she want.
She bring it to you every ball.

Why are y'all gagging so?

I guess I like the excitement.

You know, cheering and screaming
if you were good.

And that's what got me.
I like the competition.

Makes me stronger.

Makes me think more.

Makes me want to come back and get them.

It's not just the winning.

It's...

It's the giving too, 'cause I feel that
I give a lot of enjoyment

to a lot of people that go to balls.

And they enjoy to see it,
and I enjoy to walk for them.

So, that's my...

philosophy, as I should say.

To be legendary is, like, their goals.

To be legendary. You know.

Let you know I'm legendary, you're not.

You know, it feels good to them.

-[interviewer] Like it's -
- An Oscar.

- A Oscar, right.
- It's the same thing.

Become a legend, you have an Oscar.
It's the same thing.

I don't really consider myself
a real legend.

I've - I've been at the balls
with the legendary children,

and I've stamped myself
with the legendary children.

But I'm really, I'm one of top
upcoming children, legendary.

We have legendary children
and upcoming legendary children.

We're the upcoming ones. We've been out
longer than the ones that are here now.

Mm-hmm.

And we done, had our...
We have our status in the ballroom.

How long did it take you
to do the tank top?

[Kim] A-An hour.

An hour?

- Yes.
- You don't do that.

It usually doesn't take you an hour
to do a shirt,

especially a tank top.

Mm-mmm.That's not your speed.

[emcee 2] Kim Pendavis!

Statement: "Future legend."

Kim and me have - We've been together.

And it's more or less me.
I'm the one that's Kim's protégé.

Because I go with Kim to the balls,
help him out, help him iron.

'Cause if I don't go to a ball with him
and iron, I mean, he'll be there wrinkled.

Or he'd be there ironing, but,

you know, it helps out when
somebody else is there in your corner,

at your side to say, "Yeah, you can do it.
You're gonna be fine.

Just go out and do what you usually do."

What do I get out of it?

Just simple, you know, joy, satisfaction.

That's it. Not - You know,
I don't really ask much.

And then from time to time,
later on I can wear the outfit.

Yeah!

- Work!
-[emcee 2] Everyone waiting in the wings,

you know you have to make room
for Pepper LaBeija.

Pepper LaBeija.

Pepper LaBeija.
Give her some walking room.

[man] Liz Taylor is famous.

[emcee 2] Pepper LaBeija.

-[man] So is Pepper LaBeija.
-[emcee 2] Pepper LaBeija.

[man] In a sense, so am I.

But a very much different quantity.

No magazine's gonna run up to cover me
if I go to a premiere.

But it's still a fame.

It's a small fame.
But you absorb it, you take it.

And you like it.

You like the adulation, the applause,

the people cheering you on,

the winning.

It's like a physical high.

And you know, it's a good high.

It's an addictive high, like all highs

in the long run turn out to be,

but it's a high that won't hurt you.

If everybody went to balls
and... did less drugs,

it'd be a fun world, wouldn't it?

I'm dressing, of course, to go do a show,

because
I've always done this professionally.

And I was a dancer.

And I'm trying to remember
when the first time I went to... a ball.

That was the early-type ball
when everybody just walked,

and they gave away like four or five
prizes in a very limited category.

And the children now,

most of them,
75% of the children you see at the ball

wouldn't know what a ball was
if it knocked them in the head.

When I first started going to balls,
it was all about drag queens,

and they were interested in looking like
Las Vegas showgirls.

Backpieces, tailpieces, feathers,
beads and all that.

But as the '70s rolled around,
the thing started changing.

It started coming down to just wanting
to look like a gorgeous movie star,

like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor.

And now they've went from that
to trying to look like models

like lman and Christie Brinkley
and Maud Adams and all those children.

[Dorian]
Everyone couldn't be a Las Vegas showgirl.

Everyone couldn't put on
a stack of feathers and a big headpiece.

So they made the categories for everybody.

That's what really made the balls change,
so there was more involvement.

Everyone that goes to one of
these affairs now damn near participates.

Eventually,
over the course of a year's balls,

they've all walked the runway
in some category or another.

Either you've got a nice body,
or you are very fashionable,

or you're very pretty,

or you're very real looking.

But there's always something there
for everyone.

And that's what keeps them all coming.

And it's like - it's like in nature.

I'm such a nature fan.

Young ones are always bucking to move
the - the old bulls out of the way.

That's why they change,

go through all these mad categories
that I never can stay awake for.

[emcee 2] Upcoming Pretty Girl, 1986,

-take it to the floor.
-[disco music]

- They're showing off for the press.
-[cheering]

Audience,
please back up and give them air!

Next category,
High Fashion Winter Sportswear,

the Poconos versus the Catskills.

[emcee 2] ls there anyone walking?

Some children were asking me
what I meant by "Miss Cheesecake."

That means you must not only have a body,
but you must be sexy.

A lot of people have bodies,
but are not sexy.

Big body!

- Body!Body!Body!
-[cheers]

And toned!

A body that says,
"Come up and see me sometime, big boy."

Going to school. School.

Elementary.

High school.

College.

Not here. School.

[cheering]

Looking like a girl going to school.

Do she look like a girl going to school?

Town and Country.

Exclusively done.

Dupree!

Dupree! Dupree!

[man] Get into their suits, I said.
The well-dressed men of the '80s.

Get into the suits and get into the pumps.

[Dorian] In real life,
you can't get a job as an executive

unless you have the educational background
and the opportunity.

Now,
the fact that you are not an executive

is merely because of
the social standing of life.

That is just pure thing.

Black people
have a hard time getting anywhere.

And those that do are usually straight.

In a ballroom,
you can be anything you want.

You're not really an executive,
but you're looking like an executive.

And therefore you're showing the straight
world that "I can be an executive.

İf I had the opportunity, I could be one
because I can look like one."

And that is like a fulfillment.

Your peers, your friends are telling you,
"Oh, you'd make a wonderful executive."

[emcee 3] Is this the businessman
of the '80s or what?

[emcee 2] High-fashion Parisian.

Model Yvette.

Chanté, chanté.

Chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté.

Model!

Thin!

Streamlined!

Trim!

Model!

[emcee 1] The category is
Butch Queen First Time in Drags at a Ball.

You know what I mean.

You know what Paris means.

Exactly! Butch queen!

- Butch queen.
- Butch queen!

- Butch queen.
- Butch!

[cheers and applause]

[Paris] First time in drag at a ball.
That's what I wanted to hear.

[slow "Star-Spangled Banner"]

[man] The military scene is a basic scene.

It doesn't call for

a bunch of flamboyant turkey boas
and bugle beads, rhinestone.

-[military music]
- It's a basic category.

The more natural you are,

the more credit your outfit is given.

[emcee 1] Come on, now. It is a known fact

that a woman do carry a evening bag
at dinnertime.

There's no getting around that.

You see it on Channel 7
between All My Children and Jeopardy!

Another World, Dallas and the whole bit.

A evening bag is a must.

You have to carry something.
No lady is sure at night.

With the current children,
the children that are young,

they've gone to television, you know?

I've been to several balls...

and they've actually had categories.

Dynasty-.

You know,
want you to look like Alexis or Krystle.

And I guess that's just, um,
a statement of the times.

When I grew up,
you wanted to look like Marlene Dietrich,

Betty Grable.

Fortunately, I didn't know that
I really wanted to look like Lena Horne.

When I grew up, of course, you know...

black stars were stigmatized.

Nobody wanted to look like Lena Horne.

Everybody wanted to look like
Marilyn Monroe.

[man] When you're a man and a woman,
you can do anything.

You can almost have sex on the streets
if you want to.

The most somebody will say is,
"Hey, get a hump for me," you know.

But when you're gay,
you monitor everything you do.

You monitor how you look, how you dress,
how you talk, how you act.

"Did they see me?
What did they think of me?"

[Dorian] To be able to blend.

That's what realness is.

If you can pass the untrained eye,
or even the trained eye,

and not give away
the fact that you're gay,

that's when it's realness.

Banjee.

Looking like the boy
that probably robbed you

a few minutes
before you came to Paris's ball.

[Dorian] The idea of realness
is to look as much as possible

like your straight counterpart.

Shake the dice and steal the rice!
Right here. Come on, baby.

Yes, daddy,
I got my food stamps and card waiting.

All right.

Dust, coke, base, soap, Rolaids,
he got it.

[Dorian] The realer you look,
it means you look like a real woman.

Or you look like a real man.

[Dorian] A straight man.

[emcee 2] Sweetheart, with the cigarette
you're giving me a banjee girl effect.

This is Banjee.

You know, the girls that be on the corner
talking about your man,

one that can hang out with the roughest.

[Dorian] It's not a takeoff or a satire.

Can we have her score, please?

[Dorian] No,
it's actually being able to be this.

[emcee 2] Brenda Xtravaganza
looking like a banjee girl.

Banjee.

Banjee girl realness.

You know, one that can take
her little baby brother to school.

One that say, "You know, hey - I saw
those things walking down the street."

[Dorian] It's really a case of
going back into the closet.

Ten!

Ten!Ten!

Ten!Ten!

Are there any more?

Okay, girls, have we come to a decision?

[man] They give the society
what they want to see,

so they won't be questioned.

Rather than having to go through
prejudices about your life and lifestyle,

you can walk around confidently,
blending in with everybody else.

You've erased all the mistakes,
all the flaws, all the giveaways

to make your illusion perfect.

-[disco]
-[emcee] Bernie,

Diane, Frank.

[Pepper] My mother knew I had trophies,

but I was telling her
I'd won 'em for basketball.

I had won trophies for running track.

I was walking up 145th Street
with my girlfriends.

I had on white hot pants,
a chiffon blouse,

a ponytail.

My father was waiting for the light
in his car

and he saw me, he recognized me.

And he went straight to my house before
I could get there and told my mother,

"Your son is a woman."

She didn't press it then.

But, like, maybe a few months later
when she noticed that I had breasts,

everything started coming together.

She really was devastated.

"How could you have breasts bigger
than mine? You're growing nails.

You're becoming a woman
right before my very eyes.

I can't hold my head up. I'm embarrassed."

She still loved me,

but the nagging and the, oh, my God,
about this women's clothes.

And when I had women's clothes
stashed in my closet

and she found them,
she would destroy them.

She burnt up a mink coat.

I was so devastated.

She smelled the perfume I liked to wear,
which was Jungle Gardenia at the time.

She said, "This ain't no girl's coat.
This is your coat."

Took it downstairs in the backyard
of the building and burnt it.

And I stood there and cried like a baby.

As long I have the mustache and all that,
it's cute for me.

She don't want me being in girls' clothes.
She can't take it.

[Dorian] When they're undetectable,

when they can walk out of that ballroom
into the sunlight and onto the subway

and get home
and still have all their clothes

and no blood running off their bodies,

those are the femme realness queens.

And usually
it's a category for young queens.

Some of them say that we're sick,

we're crazy,

and some of them think that we are the
most gorgeous, special things on earth.

[Venus] I would like to be a spoiled,
rich white girl. [laughs]

They get what they want
whenever they want it,

and they don't have to really struggle

with finances and nice things,
nice clothes,

and they don't have to...
have that as a problem.

I don't feel that there's
anything mannish about me,

except maybe
what I might have between me down there.

Which is my little personal thing, so...

I guess that's why I want my sex change,
to make myself complete.

I was about 13, 14 years old,

and I used to do it
behind my family's back, just dressing up,

till finally they caught on with it.

And I didn't want to embarrass them,
so that's when I moved away.

[emcee 2] She's off to the opera!

[Venus] I moved to New York
and I continue doing it.

[no audible dialogue]

When someone has rejection from
their mother and father, their family,

they - when they get out in the world,
they search.

They search for someone to fill that void.

I know this for experience, because for-
because I've had kids come to me...

and latch hold of me

like I'm their mother,
or like I'm their father.

'Cause they can talk to me, and...
I'm gay, and they're gay.

And that's where a lot of that "ballness"
and the mother business comes in.

Because their real parents
give them such a hard way to go...

they look up to me to fill that void.

-[man] How old are you?
- I'm 15.

- What time is it?
-[laughs]

Right here, homeboy.
Look at the time over there, 2:26.

- And y'all - how old are you?
- Me, I'm 13.

Thirteen and you're out here at 2:26?

- Where you live?
- Me, I live in Harlem.

And why you down here?
Where's your mother?

Hanging out. I don't have a mother.

Everybody has a mother,
or we wouldn't be here.

- Where's your mother?
- She's gone.

- Where's your father?
- He's gone too.

- So who you live with?
- With a friend.

- And you too?
- I live with my mother in the Bronx.

- And y'all just hanging out like this.
- Hanging out, right there inside.

[Pepper] A lot of these kids that I meet
now, they come from such sad backgrounds,

you know, broken homes or no home at all.

And then the few that do have family,
when the family finds that they're gay,

they "X" them completely.

[chattering]

[Dorian] A house? A house? Let's see.

Let's see if we can put it down sharply.

They're families. You can say that.

They're families...

for a lot of children
who don't have families.

But this is a new meaning of family.

The hippies had families,
and no one thought nothing about it.

It wasn't a question of
a man and a woman and children,

which we grew up knowing as a family.

It's a question of a group of human beings
in a mutual bond.

["Love ls the Message" by MFSB]

[Dorian] You know what a house is.
I'll tell you what a house is.

A house is a gay street gang.

Now, where street gangs get their rewards
from street fights,

a gay house street-fights at a ball.

And you street-fight at a ball
by walking in the categories.

["Love ls the Message" continues]

[Dorian] The houses started
because you wanted a name.

The people that the houses are named after

were ball walkers
who became known for winning.

[emcee 3] Work, Paris Dupree.

Work, Paris.

[Dorian]
After the first few houses were started

and named after people
who had won trophies,

they also would create houses, like
a new group of kids would create a house.

Then they'd work at building its name up,
which worked.

The House of Xtravaganza,
the House of Saint Laurent.

Overness.

Pendavis.

Adonis.

LeMay.

Pendavis.

Saint Laurent, of course.

Dupree.

They saw me and they all liked me,
all the rest of the Xtravaganzas.

And they decided, "Well,
if you want to become an Xtravaganza,

you have to walk a ball for us.

And if you snatch a trophy,
then you can become the Xtravaganza."

That's how it's supposed to work
with any - everyone.

But, uh...

like that, it wasn't with me.

I just became an Xtravaganza.

Hector Xtravaganza.
He's the one who started the house.

He was the first gay man I ever met.

The first time he took me to the Village,
which was my birthday,

I had just turned 15 years old.

And he threw a party for me... out there.
He bought me a cake.

I met a lot of drag queens, transvestites

that I didn't believe were
because they were so beautiful.

And that kind of sunk into my head.

And I guess that's why it kind of made me
want to even do it more.

They treat each other like sisters.

Sisters or brothers,

or mothers or...

you know, like I say,
"Oh, that's my sister,"

because she's gay too, and I'm gay,

and she's a drag queen or whatever.

[man] My mother is Angie Xtravaganza
and my father is David Xtravaganza.

The House of Xtravaganza has done a lot.

It's made me feel like I have a family.

We're always together. We're always -

If we're not together,
we always speak on the phone.

My name is Angie Xtravaganza, and I am
the mother of the House of Xtravaganza.

When there's a ball, I'm always doing
something for everybody in my house.

I do that one's hair,
the other one's makeup, you know,

choose their shoes, their accessories.

I always offer advice, you know,

I mean, as far as what I know
and what I've been through in gay life.

You know,
I ran away from my house when I was 14,

and I've learned all sorts of things,
good and bad.

And how to survive in gay world, you know,
it's kind of hard.

Xtravaganza power!

I bought her her tits. I paid for them.

- He paid for my tits.
- I paid for these implants.

- My tit.
- I gave my mother her implants.

-[man 1] Shake them tits, mommy.
-[man 2] Shake those tits, mama.

[Angie] He paid for my tits.

[man] And we gave 'em to her.

[chattering]

Our mother even nurses us!
She's a good woman.

She nourishes us.

[emcee 2] From the House of Xtravaganza,
for Mother of the Year,

keeping her children intact.

Can we have Angie Xtravaganza?

Work for us, girl. Walk that runway.

This is from Andre Christian, girl.

[man] My birthday will come and I always
get a birthday gift from Angie.

Won't get one from my real mother.

Like when I got thrown out of my house,

Angie let me stay with her till
I got myself together and I got working.

She always fed me.

She can be a pain in the ass sometimes,

but I wouldn't trade her
for any other mother.

[emcee 2] Ninja.

[man] You know, you have to have
something to offer in order to lead.

The mother usually becomes the mother

because she's usually
the best one out of the group.

I'm Willi Ninja,
the mother of the House of Ninja.

[emcee 2] Give him what he wants!

[Willi]
I'm the mother of the House of Ninja

because they say I'm the best voguer out.

To be the mother of the house,
you have to have the most power.

Take a real family,
it's the mother that's the hardest worker,

and the mother gets the most respect.

As far as my naming my house
the House of Ninja,

ninjas hit hard, they hit fast.

An invisible assassin.

And that's what we are.
We come out to assassinate.

The House of LaBeija
is the legendary house above all of 'em.

I have the most members,
I'm the most popular.

New York City
is wrapped up in being LaBeija.

So... it speaks for itself. And I am
the fiercest mother out of all of 'em.

LaBeija?
I wouldn't be caught dead in that house.

I'm sorry. I don't see that house.

Only reason I see my house, Pendavis,
is because Kim and Avis.

'Cause both of them walked.

And at the last ball,
Avis showed her goddamn ass off!

They call them competitions.
But believe me, they're wars.

And they often do lead to fights.

The emotions be very high. They're
very intense - very intense affairs.

But I guess that's what makes them fun,
like a good movie.

If there's no emotion...

you don't enjoy it.

I don't talk too much about the ball kids,
because I want them to talk about me.

Because I haven't walked yet.

And it's like, well, William says,

"I want you to walk in my ball.
I want you to walk in my ball."

And I keep telling William, I say,
"I'll walk when I walk.

I'll walk when I want, not when you want.
I'll walk when I want."

And so far,
I don't know when I'm gonna walk.

I'm thinking somewhat
around the time of the Legends Ball.

But don't quote me on that.

I mean, it really causes hate, actually,
between two individuals.

It's like a war on the floor.

Like World War Ill.
But the only thing about it, they're gay.

[emcee 1] Now - I'll cut the music.

Now, I said...

I said, men's garments!

What?

[Dorian]
He look like he had on a man's fox coat.

Tell this child
where are the men's garments!

[man] I paid for it, motherfucker!
A man bought it!

It buttons on the right side!

The judges said...

It buttons on the right side!

[Dorian]
Someone came up and told the emcee -

Are you a judge?

[Dorian] ...that it was a woman's coat.

I thought it was kind of silly to nitpick.

Ooh, that's shady! They throwing shade
at him. I can't believe it.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute now.

- Let's not get loud.
-[person] David, David.

[Dorian] Now, David.

David.

- David.
-[hollering]

[Dorian] That's the one thing
that I find faulty with the balls.

After they've laid down
these little categories,

then they try to become a stickler
for exact interpretation.

Merely a point to...
discredit the contestant.

Like in the Olympics
where the Russian judge

brought the fact that the American coach
had stepped onto the floor,

and that was a disqualification for the,
uh, contestant.

Just as picky as a ball.

So those little flaws like that,
that's because that's a part of shade.

That's the idea, knock 'em out if you can.
Get 'em any way, hit 'em below the belt.

- It was typed out!
-[clamoring]

Where is it? Where is it?
Where is it? Where?

Stop! This is no ball.

Shade comes from reading.

Reading came first.

Reading

is the real art form of insult.

Now you wanna talk about reading?
Let's talk about reading.

What is wrong with you, Pedro?
Are you going through it?

You're going through some kind of
psychological change in your life?

- She went back to be a man.
- Oh, you went back to being a man.

Touch this skin, darling.

Touch this skin, honey.
Touch all of this skin.

Okay?

You just can't take it.

You're just an overgrown orangutan.

You get in a smart crack,
and everyone laughs and kee-kees

because you found a flaw
and exaggerated it.

Then you've got a good read going.

I am a person just like you.

You cut me, I bleed the same way you do.
I bleed the same color.

[Dorian] If it's happening between
the gay world and the straight world,

-it's not really a read.
-[laughing]

[Dorian] It's more of an insult,
a vicious slur fight.

See, see? There go my sister right there.

She don't even want to even admit
that she my sister. She a bulldagger.

[Dorian] But it's how they develop
a sense of how to read.

That's my husband right there.

And that's my girlfriend right there.

[Dorian] They may call you
a faggot or a drag queen,

you find something to call them.

But then,
when you are all of the same thing,

then you have to go to the fine point.

In other words, if I'm a black queen
and you're a black queen,

we can't call each other black queens
'cause we're both black queens.

That's not a read. That's just a fact.

So then we talk about
your ridiculous shape,

your fa - saggy face, your tacky clothes.

- Let me see what you are.
- Spreading lies!

- Let's see.
- No paint!

- Yes, it's paint! It's paint!
- No motherfuckin' paint, girl!

What?
She wears more makeup than my mother did!

Then reading became a developed form
where it became shade.

Shade is, "I don't tell you you're ugly,

but I don't have to tell you
because you know you're ugly."

And that's shade.

-[disco music]
-[cheers]

-[emcee 2] Pump.
-[whistle blowing]

Dip.

- Spin.
-[whistle continues]

Pump.

Dip. Spin.

[Willi] Voguing is the same thing as like,

taking two knives and
cutting each other up,

but through a dance form.

[emcee 2] Pump. Dip. Spin.

Vogue. Dip.

Go turn it out.

[Willi] Voguing came from shade,
because it was a dance

that two people did
because they didn't like each other.

Instead of fighting,
you would dance it out on the dance floor.

And whoever did the better moves
was throwing the best shade, basically.

[emcee 2] No touching. Neither one of you.

If you touch, I'm chopping you.
I'm telling you right now.

[Willi] You could take
the pantomime form of the vogue.

This is what generally sometimes I do is,

I make my hand into a form
like a compact or a makeup kit.

And I'm like beating my face with blush,
shadows, or whatever to the music.

Then usually I'll turn the compact around
to face that person,

meaning, like, almost like my hand
is a mirror for them to get a look.

Then I'll start doing their face,

because what they have on their face
right now needs a dramatic makeup job.

So voguing's like
a safe form of throwing shade.

[emcee 2] Paris Dupree.

Work.

Paris Dupree.

Work. Ooh!

All right, Miss Fishy. Ooh.
Go knock off Miss Paris.

[emcee 2] Come on, baby. Take your time.

Bring it to the judges.

Judges, get into the form and the style.
Work.

Let's hear it for her!

[Willi] The name was taken from
the magazine Vogue

because some of the movements of the dance

are also the same as
the poses inside the magazine.

-[electro music]
- The name is a statement in itself.

I mean, you really wouldn't go to a ball
to do the Mademoiselle.

No way.

[emcee 3] Now I want all of you
to get up on the floor!

New York and Jersey.

Wake up! Come on!

All right. This is Saint Laurent.

This is Overness. [indistinct]

-[music continues]
-[emcee 3, indistinct]

Whoo! Show 'em how to do that. Mm-mm-mm.

[cheering]

Ouch!

Work! Work! Work! Work! Work!

[screaming]

[Willi] Like break dancing,

the dance takes from
the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt.

It also takes from
some forms of gymnastics.

They both strive for

perfect lines in the body,
awkward positions,

but it goes one step further.

It's starting to make a name for itself,
but I want it to be known worldwide,

and I want to be on top of it
when it hits.

I want to take voguing
not to just Paris is Burning,

but I want to take it to the real Paris...

and make the real Paris burn.

That's what I wanna do,
and not just there,

but to other countries as well.

My house name is Ninja...

and I would really like
to take my whole house and go to Japan...

and really let loose and do it
and have them accept it there.

I want to be a big star.

Uh... known, generally,
every corner of the world.

You know, maybe as a choreographer,

a famous dancer,

a singer.

All of them.

What the balls has to do with that,
as far as the dance field,

is maybe perfect my craft a little better,

to learn new things...

new ideas,
and bring 'em to the real world.

It's been really unbelievable, my life.

If was to die today or tomorrow,

I could not say
I've not had an exciting life.

I have had a fabu -
And I'm not rich, mind you.

Just imagine if I had the dollars.

Ooh, it'd be too much for the world.

İf I had the riches and I had the fame,
trust me,

all of y'all in here
would be rich for points,

'cause I'm very generous.

You know, I can't, I wouldn't enjoy
having a whole lot of money,

like being a millionaire, and hoarding it,
you know?

I'd share it with all my loved ones.
You know, I'd want them to have it too.

We'd all have to go.

I'd want to charter a plane,
and we all fly to Paris.

O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E.

Opulence.

You own everything.

Everything is yours.

["Triumphal March" continues]

[man] This is... white... America.

Any other nationality...

that is not of the white set,

knows this and accept this,
till the day they die.

For that is everybody's dream
and ambition as a minority,

to live and look
as well as a white person,

is pictured as being in America.

Every media you have,
from TV to magazines to movies to films.

I mean, the biggest thing
that minority watches is what?

Dynasty and The Colbys, All My Children,
the soap operas.

Everybody have a million-dollar bracket.

When they showing you
a commercial from Honey Grahams

to Crest or Lestoil or Pine-Sol,

everybody's in their own home.

The little kids for Fisher-Price toys,
they're not in no concrete playground.

They're - They're riding around the lawn.
The pool is in the back.

This is white America.

And when it comes to the minorities,
especially black...

we, as a people for the past 400 years,

is the greatest example
of behavior modification

in the history of civilization.

We have had everything taken away from us,

and yet
we have all learned how to survive.

That is why in the ballroom circuit,
it is so obvious

that if you have captured
the great white way of living...

or looking...

or dressing or speaking...

you is a marvel.

I think if I could just be on TV
or film or anything...

I'd do that instead of the money.

Of course, I do want the money because
I want the luxury that goes with it.

But...

I want to be wealthy.

If not wealthy, content, comfortable,

you know?

I want to be somebody.

I mean, I am somebody.

I just want to be a rich somebody.

[emcee 2] You ain't gonna tell me
you see her in the supermarket,

and you gonna say, "That's a hag."

[Octavia] Women don't go out of their way
because they are women.

I went out my way because I wasn't,

and I felt that
I wanted to be the best I can be.

[emcee 2] The Virginia Slims girl is here.

[Octavia]
This was not a game for me or fun.

This is something that I wanna live.

[emcee 2] She's here in person.

Hopefully, God willing,

by 1988, I fully hope to become
a full-fledged woman of the United States.

You look at all these models on the wall.

Every one of them are gorgeous.

Every one of them are beautiful.

But every one of them have their own look.

This is my idol, Paulina.

Someday I hope to be up there with her.

If that could be me,

I think I would be the happiest person
in the world just knowing that I am,

that I can compare to Paulina,

to stand next to her and to
take pictures with her.

And I look at her here,
and I'd say she's seductive

and she's... alluring.

I look at her there,
and I say she's sexy and provocative.

I look at her here, and I think that
she's childish and little-girl type.

You know?
And I look at her here and it's the same,

and I look at her here,
and I think of wicked beauty.

You know? That's how I see her.
I admire her.

You know, the red-hot fire of hair and...

the whole bit.

[man] You're not really trying
hard enough, then I become hard.

Do not believe just because I'm a guy
that I cannot do it.

In order to be a teacher
to show girls how to do it,

I have to know how to do it.

I've taught for various shows,
like for FIT, I've taught models.

Girls that are from various agencies
that come to me by word of mouth.

[steel drum music]

New York City women
are a little bit harder than most women.

Basically,
I'm trying to bring their femininity back

and bring some grace and poise.

You know,
whether they become models or not,

it's nice to know
because it's more attractive to men.

But the walk that she's doing

is basically to get more movement
in your hips naturally.

Don't exaggerate it.

[orchestral music]

[Willi] Most likely,
she'll get what she wants.

You know,
especially if she's in a man's world,

she can still have her equal rights,

but be able to manipulate a man
by using her feminine wiles.

She can't use it by using masculine.

[emcee 1] Are they soft?
Looking from head to toe, would you know?

Is this realness or not?
Let it be motherfuckin' hot.

["Love Hangover" by Diana Ross]

[emcee 1] Miss Octavia,
you don't feel this realness?

Where are you at, sister?

Oops, you're right there, not bothered.

[emcee] LaBeija.

Realness in the daytime, darling.

She goes to school as a woman.

Get into it.

Get into both of them,
and see which one is realer.

Feel the flesh or whatever it may be.

Is it soft or not?

[man] It's soft.

Come, come, come.

[emcee 2] Score Miss Octavia first.

Step forward. Accept your scores.

Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten.

Score Tennille.

-[emcee 2] Nine, ten, ten.
-[applause]

[emcee 2] Grand prize, Octavia.
First place, Tennille.

There's people who sit home all day.
They have potential. Okay?

I mean, they go to the balls
and they prove that they have potentials

on actually selling a garment, okay?

But they, like,

"Being that I have this potential,
the ballroom tells me,"

okay,
"the ballroom tells me that I'm somebody."

But when the ballroom is over,
when you come home,

you have to convince yourself
that you are somebody,

and that's where they get lost.

[emcee] It's also in a magazine.

What's the name of the magazine?

Paris Dupree.

[Dorian] It was a time when you could
spend a - a great deal of time,

making outfits,
and preparing for something.

Now they come very quickly,
and the moods change very quickly.

I come from
the old school of big costumes,

feathers and beads.

And they don't have that anymore.
Now it's all about designers.

And it's not about what you create,
it's about what you can acquire.

What do you think?

Isn't that beautiful?

$559. How's that for a simple dress?

İf you have on a label, it means
that you've, uh - you've got wealth.

When it doesn't really,
'cause any shoplifter can get a label.

You can't come down the runway
in something for 14.99 or 49.99,

and say, "Well, I'm lovely,"
and expect to win.

Okay, to describe, explain mopping.

Mopping, you - go into a store, and...

just look for -
look for whatever you wanna see.

Look for whatever. Mopping is stealing.

General stealing.

However it's done, it's stealing.

If you're working every day,
you're struggling to buy this outfit.

When you walk, you're like, "This is me."

And your facial expressions
as well as your means

of projection of your outfit,

it shows if you actually stole it,
or you purchased it.

-[interviewer] You can actually tell?
- You can actually tell.

Faggots are a stunt in themselves,
regardless.

Make no mistake.

First, it comes...
Okay, when it comes to a stunt,

it goes in three - it goes, in order.

It goes faggots, then girls, then boys.

Because boys are the stupidest.
They don't know how to do a stunt right.

Now, faggots will do a stunt,

and I mean, you will never
catch up with it until years later.

And then, I mean, you'll be like,

"Oh, shit!
This faggot pulled this stunt on me."

We went down there, and we had fun,
we act stupid and came back.

But I think the best thing we did
was Roy Rogers.

That was fun.

You would've had something to eat,

'cause how much did you pay for that -
for that sandwich?

[interviewer]
I don't remember. Maybe $5 or so.

Around five - $5?

Make no mistake, we got your $5 back.
flaughs]

I had two double cheeseburgers,

two fries,

a Coke, a Sprite and an orange,
chicken and chips.

Just going back and forth.
I lived on that line.

We got over around -
around say around $200 in food.

See, they put cheese on the meat.

I hope after this, Roy Rogers
does not change how it has its food.

Because if it does by this interview,
I will be so upset.

I will be so upset. I'll be squallin'.

I'll be hurt, I'm telling you.
I really will be - 'cause I mean it.

Where else can you go in,
get it done your way,

and go out without paying?

[emcee 1] Carla Xtravaganza said,

will you please return her black
patent leather shoes, size seven?

There is a reward.

She want her pumps.

She said it's not going to work,
taking her shoes. Give 'em back.

Daytime, if they go out,
they're only going out...

to try to hustle up a quarter or two...

to get their things for the ball...
or go to a little job.

Lot of them have little jobs now.
They work. Don't think they're lazy.

In New York City, you -
you work or you starve.

You work, or - some kind of work...

legal or otherwise,
but you have to work to sustain yourself.

-[disco]
-[emcee 1] The legendary Tennille Dupree,

and the father of the House of Ebony,
Max Debuciak,

presents a night
of living hell and punishment...

at the Imperial Elks Lodge,

160 West 129th Street,
which is right here.

Doors open at 5:00 a.m.

Grand march is at 7:00 a.m.

[woman] The boys are usually later
because of the fact that

we're waiting
for the working girls to get there.

[interviewer]
And what is it those girls are doing?

Well, they're making money for the balls,
or they're making their costumes,

their outfits, or, you know,
getting it together like that.

[woman] What's their profession?

Usually showgirls.

- Usually, they're, you know, showgirls.
-[woman] Uh-huh.

- You know.
-[woman] Anything else?

Well, it depends. It depends.

I don't know a lot of their professions,
but usually they're showgirls, usually.

The thing that helped me make
my most money through the escort service

is being that I'm so little.

I'm so petite and tiny.

Um...

The blonde hair and the light skin,

the green eyes and the little features.

And the client's hands
will be bigger than my hands

while they would hold my hand
or something.

You know, they'd like feeling that they're
with something perfect and little,

and not someone that's bigger than them,

because I guess
that kind of disturbs them.

Most all the drag queens
that are involved in the balls,

say, 90% of them, are hustlers.

I guess that's how they make their money

to go to the balls
and get whatever they need and stuff.

I used to hustle in New York
to make my money.

I was with a guy,
and he was playing with my titties,

until he touched me down there.

He felt it and he seen it, and he, like,
totally flipped out.

He said, "You fucking faggot.
You're a freak.

You're a victim of AIDS,
and you're trying to give me AIDS.

What, are you crazy?
You're a homo. I should kill you."

You know, stuff like that.

And, like, I was really... terrified.

So I just jumped out the window.

I grabbed my bag
and just jumped out the window.

But see, now I don't like
to hustle anymore. I don't.

And I'm afraid of what's going on,
the AIDS, and I don't want to catch it.

Like later on this evening,
I'm supposed to meet someone,

a friend of mine,
a very good old friend of mine.

He's a young, very good, attractive,
handsome young man...

and, um - he's taking me out to dinner
later on this evening

or for cocktails after midnight.

I know he'll give me some money...

just for me to maybe
buy a pair of shoes and a nice dress.

So that the next time he sees me...

he'll see me looking
more and more beautiful...

the way he wants to see me.

But I don't have to go to bed with him
or anything like that.

At times they do expect sexual favors,

but that is between myself and them,

so I do not wish
to further speak about that - if they do.

But at most times, 99% of the time,
they don't.

95% of the time, they don't.

But I feel like...

If you're married,

a woman in the suburbs -

a regular woman
that's married to her husband -

and she wants him to buy her
a washer and dryer set.

In order for him to buy that,

I'm sure
she'd have to go to bed with him anyway

to give him what he wants
for her to get what she wants.

So, in the long run,
it all ends up the same way.

[Octavia] If money wasn't so important
in the world today...

to survive,

I guess I wouldn't want anything
but what I have now.

But since money does...

I hope that the way I look
puts money in my pocket.

You know?

I'm really working hard.
I'm gonna work even harder.

-[shutter clicks]
-[man] Yeah. There we are.

- That is lovely. Still.
-[shutter clicks]

Great. Couldn't be better. There.

It's beautiful like that for the light,
when you kind of, you know,

do this to the light.

[Octavia] I want people to look at me as
there's the model Octavia.

There's the actress Octavia.

There's
Miss Supermodel of the World Octavia.

Is this endless, this catalog of poses?

I could keep going longer than you could.

-[shutter clicks]
{photographer} Yeah, just there. Mm-hmm.

[Octavia]
I don't want to end up an old drag queen

with nothing going for me
but trying to win grand prize at a ball.

[photographer] Yeah, no.
Back a little bit like you did.

Yes, that.

Twisting a little bit more to the light,
just coming around. Yeah, right.

Couldn't be better.

[Octavia] I don't think
the world has been fair to me.

- Not yet, anyway.
{photographer} Lovely. Lovely.

[shutter clicks]

I've been a man,
and I've been a man who emulated a woman.

I've never been a woman.

I never... had that service once a month.

I've never been pregnant.

You know,
I can never say how a woman feels.

I can only say how a man who acts like
a woman or dresses like a woman feels.

I never wanted to have a sex change.

That's just taking it a little too far,
you know?

Because if you decide later on in life
to change your mind, you can't.

Once it's gone, it's gone.

A lot of kids that I know,
they got the sex change because they felt,

"Oh, I've been treated so bad
as a drag queen.

If I get a pussy," excuse the expression,
"I'll be treated fabulous."

But women get treated bad.

You know, they get beat, they get robbed,
they get dogged.

So having the vagina,

that doesn't mean
that you're gonna have a fabulous life.

It might, in fact, be worse. You know?

So I've never recommended it, and I myself
would have never, ever got it,

and I'm so thankful that I was that smart.

Because right about now,

this next 40 or so years
that I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna live.

And for those children that can't take
the fact that I still look youthful, ha!

Suffer.

No bags, no lines. Lovely.

- Don't fall.
-[laughing]

[gulls calling]

America's nice. You can do
what you want if you have the money.

[chuckles] You can be what you want,
certainly, Look at me.

[laughing]

In '84...
I've had a nose reconstructed job.

I've had my cheekbones risen.

I've had a chin implant
and breast implants.

Yes. Tell them like it is.

The most important factor in my life
that has been completed recently

is that
I've had a transsexualism operation.

That means I've had a sex change.
I'm no longer a man.

I am a woman. I feel great.

[laughing]

- I'm very happy.
- She has to rub it in.

And I feel like the part of my life
that was a secret is now closed.

- For now.
- I can close the closet door.

There are no more skeletons in there.

And I'm as free as the wind
that's blowing out on this beach.

[laughing]

- Except that voice is still there.
-[laughing continues]

- Ah!
- As free as this beach.

[saleswoman]
A free gift today at the Dior counter.

Sample Poison by Dior, ladies.

Sample the elegance today. Poison by Dior.

- Can I sample it?
- Yes.

Dior's Poison.

- Very nice.
- Delicious, yes?

Folks, please keep moving.
We're trying to keep the aisles clear.

[woman] Please keep moving.

Woman on PM The Ford search
for the Supermodel of the Year,

the seventh search of this type.

Mrs. Ford is here
with two of her top models,

and we're interviewing candidates

who hope to become
the Supermodel of the Year.

Clients like models who will be helpful,

who never say the clothes are terrible
even if they are.

Because after all,
not everything is perfect.

They have to make the least
perfect of clothes look like a Dior.

And so that they can't just say,
"That's the worst thing I've ever seen."

They have to make it look good.
They have to be very, very cooperative.

And they have to be cheerful. Nobody likes
to go in and hear your troubles, you know.

When people ask how you feel,

don't tell them if you're sick,
'cause they don't really care.

-[woman] And then you drop it off...
-[man] Three, two, one.

But while the faces of the '80s
stood on line,

the feet of the '80s did some waiting.

Half an hour and round the block,
all the way to Third Avenue.

One of these young ladies could become
the Supermodel of the World.

Exciting?

Try again.

How does this type of thing square
with women's lib?

What about men?
Do they take you seriously?

Or when they hear you're a model,
how does their reaction change to you?

What about, like I asked before, does this
square with the women's lib movement?

[woman] Can I have a few of you over here?
Okay. Can I have a few more women?

-[woman 2] How you doin'?
-[woman 1] Good. How are you?

Fine. Nice to meet you too. I'm Shari.

- Shari, my name's Janet.
- Hi, Janet. So you want to be a model?

- Yes.
- So you need an application.

Actually, I was in this contest.
That's how I started. That's me.

- I can't believe that.
- Yeah.

- That's five years ago.
- You still look great.

Thanks a lot.

We look at 75,000 pictures.
I mean, well, you know,

that's the average amount that
we look at each contest.

What have girls become? Are they the same?
How are they different?

Girls are not different...
from yesterday or the day before.

Everybody who's young
has a hope and a dream...

and I don't think that it's ever been
any different in the history of the world.

I believe that
there's a big future out there...

with a lot of beautiful things.

Lot of handsome men.

Lot of luxury.

I want a car.

I want be with the man I love.

I want a nice home away from New York,
up the Peekskills, or maybe in Florida.

Somewhere far, where no one knows me.

I want my sex change.

I wanna live a normal, happy life,

whether it's...
being married and adopting children,

whether it's being famous and rich.

I want to get married in church in white.

Sometimes I sit and I look at a magazine.
I try to imagine myself

in the front cover, or even inside.

I want to be a complete woman,

and I want to be a professional model
behind cameras

in the high fashion world.

I want so much more. I want...

I want my name to be a household product.

I want everybody to look at me and say,
"There goes Octavia."

I want this. This is what I want.

And I'm gonna go for it.

Amy... Xtrava... ganza!

Amy Xtravaganza!

Swinging--

vogue.

Vogue. Vogue. Vogue. Vogue.

Amy Xtrav...

Previously, I introduced, uh, rap music,

along with the dancing

to Japanese people,

and they really loved it.

[female reporter]
This, ladies and gentlemen, is voguing,

a form of dance
that has its roots in Harlem,

a takeoff on runway modeling, which
they had plenty of last night as well.

-[cheering, applause]
- Voguing is an attitude, a style.

It's - It's...

Kind of an institutionalized showing off.
But not without its entertainment value.

It's something very spectacular.
Very important art form. Very important.

It's just so theatrical.
And the energy. Oh, it's just terrific.

[reporter] In addition to perhaps
putting voguing in vogue,

this love ball, sponsored by
the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS,

raised more than $350,000

for research and housing
for the homeless who have AIDS.

And I had never seen
anything quite like it.

And I'm Connie Collins, News 4, Manhattan.

[Willi] Two years ago,
I was working in a health food store,

still teaching,
and trying to perform on my own.

Well, now - [chuckles]

My foot is, like, in every little doorstep
that you can think of.

Um... I'm doing a lot of runway work.

I'm dancing, performing for
Malcolm McLaren, various other people,

doing choreography,
helping people put their shows together.

So it's going very good.

This earring that I have here is...
I bought this in Japan.

As you can see, it says "House Couture."

I can't read the rest of it.
It has a scissor,

and it has "Junior Gaultier '89" on there,
of course.

That's the Gaultier label emblem.
I bought it, mind you.

I have the receipt still.
Where? I don't know, but I bought it.

[Willi] The balls have kind of gotten
toned down compared to what it used to be.

Now when I tell people what it is,
and they go and it's not what they expect,

you know, it's like they feel a little bit
of a letdown, you know?

And they say, "Oh, it was long,
it was dragged out, it was boring."

Okay, the balls are always long
and dragged out,

but they were never boring.

I really do kind of miss
the street element.

I mean, but everything changes,

and - and everything's been changing
drastically, you know.

Um... New York's not even the same -
[laughs] anymore.

["Let No Man Put Asunder" by First Choice]

[Angie] I always said to her,
"Venus, you take too many chances.

You're too wild with
people in the streets.

Something is gonna happen to you."
But that was Venus.

She always took a chance.
She always went into strangers' cars.

She always did what she wanted
to get what she wanted.

I had a booking
for a Christmas show at Sally's,

and the DT's came to me
with a picture of her, murdered,

and they were about to cremate her
'cause nobody had came to verify the body,

and I was the one that had to give
all this information down to her family.

Actually,
they found her dead after four days,

strangled under a bed in a sleazy hotel
in New York City.

I'm hungry-

[Angie] We use to get dressed together,
call each other,

and say what we were gonna wear,
and, you know, she was like my right hand,

as far as I'm concerned.

I miss her.
Every time I go anywhere, I miss her.

That was my main...

the main daughter of my house,
in other words.

But that's part of life,

as far as being a transsexual
in New York City and surviving.

I always had hopes of being a big star.

And then I looked.
As you get older, you aim a little lower.

And I just say, "Well, yeah,
you still might make an impression."

Everybody wants to leave
something behind them,

some impression, some mark upon the world.

And then you think...

you've 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's better to just enjoy it.

Pay your dues...

and enjoy it.

If you shoot a arrow
and it goes real high...

hooray for you.

["Got to Be Real"]

Bring the cameras closer, Mr. DeMille.
I'm ready for my close-up. And so...

Okay, Winter Sportswear.

Preferably fur, but if not, you know,
in error, you can... natural fibers. If-

if you choose the polyester, God help you.
You know how the children are.

Okay, you add "U-G"
at the end of your word, right?

But you have to take off the first letter,

or the first letters,
until you get into a vowel.

I'm not looking for anything.
I think all men are dogs.

I honestly do.

You know,
every man starts barking sooner or later.

I'm a quiet person.

And if you believe that, you know,
I own that island right over there too.

They want to be with their kind.

- Right.
- They want to be gay-gay.

It's probably, like, just like,
just all right.

Just like, again, just like a community.

In a religious community,
they want to pray together a lot, right?

-[man] I suppose.
- Well, this gay community might wanna...

Or-Or they, like, wanna be together.

[woman] All right! All right!

[woman] All right! [laughing]

[woman] Go ahead!

[woman] Work at it! Work!

-[woman] All right!
{cheering}

So this is New York City,
and this is what the gay life is about.

-[interviewer] Right.
- Right?