I do not own a television. Frankly, it is a waste of time and money. I have over 100 books on my shelf and over 500 books on my Kindle that need to be read. Instead of paying for cable, I can go to the consignment shop twice more a month. I do have a subscription to Netflix though. Many complain that they have an outdated movie collection, but all my favorite foreign films and BBC dramas are present. One day I was looking for documentaries about New Orleans when I stumbled across one of my favorite documentaries of all time: Paris is Burning.
If you have never seen this film, please please watch it. It will break your heart, inspire you, and help you bring out your inner drag queen while you're brushing your teeth in the mirror. I think this is where Beyonce got Sasha Fierce from, and you KNOW the Queen of Appropriation, Madonna (as much as I love this woman), stole one of her eras from. The Vogue era if you don't know what I'm talking about. Madonna may be Queen of the gays, but she's largely Queen of the Caucasoid gays. Black gays were hardly visible at this point. I mean, you've got Langston Hughes and James Baldwin but they weren't out out. This is a fascinating view of Black, gay, subculture in the late 1980s. Remember how hip hop started break dancing as a way of non-violent posturing among crews? Voguing was of a similar vein, non-violent posturing among houses.
And honey, the best part of the whole documentary is this 4-minute clip about "shade."
Do yourself a favor and try not to judge the people in this film. Take this documentary for what it is: a peek into the lifestyles of sexually and racially marginalized people.
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