Paris Is Burning- 1990

[giovanni_hotel]

At least 75% of Madonna's career in the Nineties was based off the whole NY drag ball scene.

That song 'Vogue' was a complete rip, but at least she gave the whole scene a bigger profile.

[flabbybody]

absolutely.
before Madona, drag was strictly a New York phenomonum with smaller stages in a few other cities like Philly and Detroit. She along with the success of PARIS IS BURNING brought the pagent culture to mainstream America
Unfortunately, most of the girls who were featured never benefited from the financial success of the movie. Just another example of corporate Hollywood taking care of the wealthy investors and screwing the folks who actually made the thing

[yodajazz]

absolutely.
before Madona, drag was strictly a New York phenomonum with smaller stages in a few other cities like Philly and Detroit. She along with the success of PARIS IS BURNING brought the pagent culture to mainstream America
Unfortunately, most of the girls who were featured never benefited from the financial success of the movie. Just another example of corporate Hollywood taking care of the wealthy investors and screwing the folks who actually made the thing

I think it was the case of a fledgling film maker, Jeanne Livingston saw the scene and wanted to give it to the world. Which she did. The movie did make national distribution. I saw it in a theater myself. But who knows what money was made off of it. The movie theater is known for showing independent and foreign films and is the main consistant one in the city. As far as I know it did not make the main cineplex circuits.

Jeanne Livingston only got wide plublicity on one other movie to my limited knowledge. If she had made so much money someone would have been backing her for more projects, is the way I see it. I was most impressed by Octavia, in the movie.

It was a 'funny' thing that when 'Dorian', who was in the movie, died, they found a dead body in an old trunk of hers. This scenario was later used the fiction book about the trans community called "The Champagne Slipper".

I aslo recall seeing a Phil Donahue's talk show about the movie, show featuring the director and several of the people featured in the movie.

[tatsu1]

Awesome, awesome movie. I saw it about 4 years ago in a film class. it was my last year in college and it may have put me on to the whole tg scene. The doc is so well crafted, you feel bad (I'm a blatino from harlem so "I know the struggle /rich vos") but feel really good about a lot of these people accomplished through adversity. They made something for themselves, without excluding ANYONE. Shit, I was in class and watching Willi Ninja do his thing, my mouth was literally dropped. Sooooooooooo awesome.

[Alyssa87]

XTRAVAGANZA POWAAAH!

[2009AD]

Unfortunately, most of the girls who were featured never benefited from the financial success of the movie. Just another example of corporate Hollywood taking care of the wealthy investors and screwing the folks who actually made the thing

PIB was not a big money production. It cost about 500K to make and brought in less than $4 million at the box office, hardly a blockbuster.

[Nowhere]

Not that this is remotely new to me (I think I saw it in the 90s), but I have to say that Jennie Livingston was insanely fair and respectful in making this film. It could have been exploitative, bigoted, biased, and didn't have an once of it. Bravo to her.

But, speaking of it, what exactly came of the ball scene, anyway?