Throughout the article, the author discusses how unique Paris is Burning truly is, with an emphasis on the idea of race surrounding the film’s characters and audience. For gay, African American, Latino people, and more, the documentary gave representation to minorities in a time period that lacked representation and diversity in entertainment. Despite almost all of the film’s characters being non-white drag queens, struggling to stay afloat financially in NYC, those producing and consuming the movie did not look the same or share the same background. Created by a white, wealthy filmmaker with no previous knowledge of the ball scene in NYC, the article questions whether this film was truly made to serve as a source of representation and inclusion for minorities or if it was made for the entertainment of white people. Thus, later on in the article the author questions if the awareness that the documentary spread about these drag queens and ball culture had truly stopped the negative perception that many had of these people and events, or if the film was simply viewed as entertainment.
While director Jennie Livingston mentions how her race—her “whiteness”—gave her a platform to produce the film, she also argues that her advanced group of creative directors reflect the notion that the film wasn’t solely intended for white audiences. Madison D. Lacy, a black producer, and Henry Louis Gates jr. both saw Livingston’s vision for the film and supported her. Above all, Livingston argues that she made the film as a white filmmaker not for other white people, but because those in the film could not afford to make it themselves and she wanted to help reveal the hidden practices of the ball scene.
Additionally, the article mentions the filmmakers dynamic to those on-screen, noting that their meager salaries—$55,000 spread to 13 people in the film—was not representative of the work that they did in making the documentary so popular. One of the drag queens—LaBeija—mentioned how the characters immediately jumped at the prospect of being in a documentary without considering how they should be compensated, leaving them disappointed with their share of the revenue. Although, despite all of this criticism about her intentions while making the film and how she could’ve done more to help the drag queens, Livingston maintains a firm stance that her intentions were good and her portrayal was honest in one of the most influential documentaries of the 20th century.