"Paris is Burning": The Fetishization of Normalcy

Everybody wants to be accepted by society, so these people made their own society.


"Paris is Burning" is a documentary about transgender and queer people living in Harlem during the late 1980s.  More specifically, this movie follows the fashion shows, called balls, that the LGBTQ community competed in to showcase their fashion sense.  This film is very obscure yet well-received by critics, winning an award at Sundance in 1991.


I find that this film is less about sexuality and more about being comfortable enacting one's fantasies.  Not many people are capable of living out their true fantasies while feeling accepted, and these competitions are so powerful because they make the people feel normal being themselves.


All these people want is to be taken seriously for who they are.  The people that dress like women at the ball want to be seen as real women, the people that dress like businessmen want to be seen as prosperous and so on.  The realness that the participants strive for is all about feeling accepted and being successful despite having a non-traditional sexual orientation or preference.


All the terminology the children use is very intriguing.  At these balls, there are different ways that the people talk and interact, some of which has become a part of mainstream culture today.  It's like these people were rejected by the world, so they came together and formed their own secret culture.


I would strongly recommend this documentary because it is fascinating and powerful.  There are so many interesting perspectives being brought to the table, and the clips from the balls are all very dazzling.  If you are at all interested, "Paris is Burning" is available on Netflix.