Paris Is Burning Essay Questions

What is ballroom culture?

Ball culture began as an underground queer subculture in early 1920s New York City. However, it gained a tremendous amount of popularity in the 1980s. Ballroom culture involves people of the queer community (typically black and latino men) who compete for trophies, prizes, and bragging rights while dressed in elaborate fashions, all while performing in some way: dancing, lip-syncing, and/or modeling. Ballroom culture is credited with the creation of drag shows and drag competition.

What is vogueing?

Vogueing is an incredibly stylized dance set to house music in which dancers throw "shade" at a particular person, or the audience in general, through their oftentimes symmetrical, flexible, and rigid movements (it is often thought of like miming). The name is taken from the fashion magazine Vogue as many of the movements mimic high-fashion modeling poses. Vogueing started as a way for queens to compete with one another but evolved into a popular dance after Madonna released her hit single, "Vogue," in 1990.

In what ways did the ballroom culture of New York in the 1980s influence modern day culture?

Ballroom culture has had a tremendous impact on modern day culture. First, the film – and the ballroom culture it depicts – introduced audiences to a number of different phrases that have become part of contemporary English slang. Those include: throwing shade, vogueing, banjee boys, and drag. To that end, ballroom culture also helped bring to light the phenomenon of vogueing, as well as serious issues in the queer community like the growing AIDS crisis. Today, many musical artists have been inspired by ballroom culture, most notably Madonna and Lady Gaga.

What is the film's overall argument?

While the goal of the film is generally to introduce audiences to what was, at the time, a relatively underground phenomenon, it is also political in nature because of its subject matter. The film brings the average viewer closer to what is likely unfamiliar territory (the queer ballrooms of New York City in the 1980s) and shows the extent to which the performers in these balls are faced with impossible struggles, rejection, and violence. At the same time, the film also emphasizes how participation in ballroom culture requires dedication, creativity, and labor; the film argues that balls (and the queer people who throw them) are not frivolous entertainment but are shining examples of queer community and queer artistry.

Why does the film jump forward at the end to 1989?

The majority of Paris is Burning was filmed in the early to mid 1980s. At the end of the film, it jumps to 1989 and interviews the same performers it did years prior. This time jump is significant because it allows the director to showcase how ballroom culture changed (and eventually deteriorated) over time, while simultaneously highlighting how perceptions of the queer community also began shifting in mainstream culture. Crucially, this jump also allows the film to inform viewers of the violent death of Venus Xtravaganza, whose interviews were filmed three years earlier. By including the news about Venus's death, the film reminds viewers of the ongoing violence lodged at queer people on a daily basis.