{"id":968,"date":"2023-11-01T01:35:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T01:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/?p=968"},"modified":"2023-11-01T15:24:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T15:24:26","slug":"viewer-paris-is-burning-show-dont-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/2023\/11\/01\/viewer-paris-is-burning-show-dont-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"(Viewer) Paris is Burning: Show Don’t Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paris is Burning <\/em>(Livingston, 1990) <\/em>is a documentary that showcases the livelihood, ambitions, and conflicts in the drag queen community in New York City in the late 80\u2019s. The late 1980s was a difficult period for members of the LGBTQ community. The AIDS epidemic was roaring across the United States and was receiving little support from the federal government. The zeitgeist among the white middle class and upper class was that Gay men were the root cause of this epidemic, especially those of color. We now know that this is untrue, but homosexual men were still the most affected by HIV\/AIDS. This subjugation of the LGBTQ community was likely the reason why Livingston decided to go to Harlem to document Drag Ballrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bordwell and Thompson claim that documentaries in categorical form are \u201cdesigned to convey categorized information.\u201d Unlike categorical forms, however, rhetoric form documentaries make an argument and persuade their viewer that it is correct. Furthermore, Bordwell and Thompson state that a rhetorical documentary often \u201cpresents arguments as if they were simply observations or factual conclusions.\u201d Paris is Burning <\/em>presents a main thesis: Drag Queens, Transgenders, Gays, and Bisexuals (particularly Latino and Black members of these communities) are held back because of their sexuality and race. As a result, members of this community formed Balls (ballroom competitions) to compete with each other and enjoy themselves for who they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To provide evidence for her argument, Livingston documents numerous people involved in Ball culture in Harlem. For example, take Octavia St. Laurent. She didn\u2019t popularize vogue dancing like Willi Ninja or hold a significant position of power like Pepper LaBeija. Instead, she was depicted as a normal drag queen, opening up emotionally about her hopes, dreams, and desires such as becoming a modeling star. Livingston suggests that every member of the LGBTQ community, not just Octavia, have dreams like these. Most Straight, white Americans, at this time, had a distorted view of drag queens and gay people. As such, dreams of becoming wealthy, or even comfortable were heavily inaccessible. Therefore, in balls, people expressed themselves as executives, soldiers, and high fashion Parisians to live the life that they couldn\u2019t due to uncontrollable circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that Livingston\u2019s strategy of maneuvering her argument is intelligent. In the long run, most people are better convinced when they aren\u2019t told what to believe, but subtly shown something that changes their belief. Therefore, it is a brilliant choice to choose Ball games as the main setting for her documentary. She films life inside and outside the ballroom. Drag queens glimmer with enjoyment inside the ballroom but are often penny-pinching on the streets of NYC. Drag queens, such as Freddie Pendavis attempt to maneuver the outside world by putting on a mask. This fa\u00e7ade is extremely discouraging and unbearable. As a result, ballrooms were a haven for thousands as people were allowed to freely express themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, “Paris is Burning” is a convincing rhetorical depiction of the challenges, hopes, and resiliency of the New York City drag queen community in the late 1980s. The director, Jennie Livingston makes a strong case for the systemic difficulties that members of the LGBTQ community, especially those who belong to oppressed racial and ethnic groups, experience by highlighting the ballroom culture of Harlem. She shows us evidence, rather than telling us blatantly. The film emphasizes the common human need for self-expression, acceptance, and acknowledgment by skillfully presenting the life stories of drag queens like Octavia St. Laurent and Freddie Pendavis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paris is Burning (Livingston, 1990) is a documentary that showcases the livelihood, ambitions, and conflicts in the drag queen community in New York City in the late 80\u2019s. The late 1980s was a difficult period for members of the LGBTQ community. The AIDS epidemic was roaring across the United States and was receiving little support from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8646,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":974,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions\/974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/introtofilm2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}