Paris is Burning (1990)

(On Cable TV, August 2022) I don’t think it’s possible to watch the drag-queen documentary Paris is Burning today, in an age of glam-drag chic, in the same way as audiences did back in 1990. Despite the documentary’s considerable affection for its topic, there is still an element of queer exposition here for elements that are far more familiar today. But again—writer-director Jennie Livingston’s documentary has aged rather well. In its explanations of drag show minutiae, vocabulary and culture, it presents a portrait of a very specific slice of Manhattan life in the late 1980s, with participants proud to showcase a community that accepts them for what they are, often fleeing intolerant family along the way. The documentary is predictably colourful when on the catwalk, but it does not skimp on showing its participants in more vulnerable states—and the film still packs a gut punch in its final minutes, as it reveals that one of the most likable interviewees was found murdered a few months after being recorded for the film. There’s a strong sense of intersectionality here, as sexuality, race, class and gender all play a role in how the drag scene has evolved. That by itself would explain why the film remains equally interesting (in different ways) to watch today—respect goes much farther than anything else in securing a legacy, and it’s no accident if Paris is Burning remains, even today, an entryway in complex controversies and issues. Few documentaries from 1990 can still claim that.