( dance)
(indistinct chatter)
(man) I remember my dad said,
"You have three strikes against you in this world.
"Every black man has two -
that they're just black
and they're male.
"But you're black
and you're male and you're gay.
You're gonna have a hard
fucking time."
Then he said,
"If you're gonna do this,
you're gonna have
to be stronger than you ever imagined."
You have to open the door.
You-all have to open that door, too.
(cheering/shouting)
(man) Get off the floor.
Get off the floor.
Learn it... and learn it well.
All right, Miss Pepper.
All right!
Girl, look at
those velvety heels!
Do you want me to say
who I am and all of that?
(woman)
I'm Pepper LaBeija... Oh.
(laughs)
I am Pepper LaBeija,
the legendary mother
of the House of LaBeija.
Not the founder.
Crystal was the founder.
I'm... I just rule it now.
With a soft glove.
And it's important to me
to be the mother
'cause there's so many
little kids that I have to look out for.
Although they don't listen to me
and they buck my authority,
I still think I rule it
pretty well. They like me.
I'm one of the more popular ones
and I've been around
for two decades.
Reigning, that is.
You know, I've got more
grand prizes than all the rest.
Gay people - men -
gather together under one roof
and decide
to have a competition amongst themselves.
Balls.
I went to a ball,
I got a trophy
and now everybody
wants to know me.
This movie is about
the ball circuit
and the gay crew
that's involved in it
and how each person's life
brought them to this circuit.
It's like crossing into
the looking glass in Wonderland.
You go in there and you feel...
you feel a hundred percent right
as being gay.
And that's not what it's like
in the world.
That's not what
it's like in the world.
That's not what
it's like in the world.
You know, it should be
like that in the world.
This society - going to a football game,
basketball - that's their entertainment.
You know, a ball is ours.
We prepare for a ball.
We may spend more time
preparing for a ball
than anybody would spend
preparing for anything else.
You know,
a ball is like our world.
A ball is, to us,
is as close to reality
as we're gonna get to all
of that fame and fortune
and stardom and spotlights.
(Pepper) I'd always see
the way that rich people lived
and I'd feel it more, you know.
It would slap me in the face.
I'd say,
"I have to have that."
Because I never felt
comfortable being poor.
I just don't. Or even,
middle class doesn't suit me.
Seeing the riches,
seeing the way people
on "Dynasty" lived,
these huge houses.
And I would think,
"These people have 42 rooms in their house!
Oh, my God, what kind
of a house is that?" And we've got three.
So why is it that they can
have it and I didn't? I always felt cheated.
I always felt cheated
out of things like that.
(man) You have space to do
all that you intend to.
Now, the categories are:
Butch Queen, one through 17.
And for the girls,
18 through 30.
As far as all of you-all
not walking,
please realize that we all,
at one time or another,
have lusted to walk
a ballroom floor.
So give the patrons
and the contestants, you know,
a round of applause for nerve,
'cause with you-all
vicious motherfuckers,
it do take nerves.
Believe me. We're not going
to be shady, just fierce.
Those balls are more or less
like our fantasy of being a superstar.
You know, like the Oscars
or whatever,
or being on a runway
as a model.
You know, a lot of those kids that are in
the balls, they don't have two of nothing.
Some of them don't even eat.
They come to balls starving.
And they sleep in the Under 21,
or they sleep on the Pier
or wherever.
They don't have a home to go to,
but they'll make...
They'll go out and they'll steal something,
and then get dressed up
and come to a ball
for that one night and live the fantasy.
( disco)
A ball is the very word.
Whatever you want to be,
you be.
So at a ball, you have a chance
to display your elegance,
your seductiveness,
your beauty, your wit,
your charm, your knowledge.
You can become anything
and do anything
right here, right now
and it won't be questioned.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
That's a ball.
(man) Give her what she want!
She bring her to you every ball.
Why you-all gagging so?
I guess I like the excitement.
You know, some cheering and
screaming, if you were good.
And that's what got me.
I like the competition.
Makes me stronger.
Makes me think more.
Makes me want to come back
and get them.
It's not just the winning,
it's... it's the giving, too.
'Cause I feel that I give
a lot of enjoyment
to a lot of people
that go to balls.
And they enjoy to see it
and I enjoy to walk for them.
So, that's my philosophy,
as I should say.
To be legendary is, like,
their goals. To be legendary.
You know, let you know
I'm legendary and you're not. That's...
You know,
it feels good to them. (woman) Like in...?
An Oscar.
An Oscar, right.
You become a legend,
you have an Oscar. It's the same thing.
I don't really consider myself
a real legend.
I've been at the balls
with the legendary children
and I've stamped myself
with the legendary children.
But I'm really...
I'm one of the top, upcoming children.
Legendary.
We have legendary children
and upcoming legendary children.
We're the upcoming ones. We've been out
longer than the ones that are here now.
And we done had our...
We have our status in the ballroom.
How long did it take you
to do the tank top?
An hour.
An hour?
Yes.
You don't do that.
It usually doesn't take you
an hour to do a shirt,
especially a
tank top. Mm-mm.
That's not your speed.
(man) Kim Pendavis.
Statement, "Future legend."
Kim and me have...
We've been together...
And it's more or less me.
I'm the one that's Kim's protg.
Because I go with Kim
to the balls,
help him out, help him iron.
'Cause if I don't go
to a ball with him and iron,
I mean, he'll be there wrinkled.
Or he'd be there ironing.
But, you know, it helps out
when somebody else is there in your corner,
at your side to say,
"Yeah, you can do it. You're gonna be fine.
Just go out there and do
what you usually do."
What do I get out of it?
Just simple, you know,
joy, satisfaction.
That's it. Not... You know,
I don't really ask much.
And then from time to time,
later on, I could wear the outfit.
Yeah!
Everyone waiting in the wings,
you know you have to make room
for Pepper LaBeija.
Pepper LaBeija, Pepper LaBeija.
Give her some walking music.
(man) Liz Taylor is famous.
Pepper LaBeija.
So is Pepper LaBeija.
In a sense, so am I.
But a very much
different quantity.
No magazine's gonna run up to
cover me if I go to a premiere.
But it's still a fame.
It's a small fame.
But you absorb it,
you take it.
And you like it.
You like the adulation,
the applause.
The people cheering you on,
the winning.
It's like a physical high,
you know?
It's a good high.
It's an addictive high,
like all highs,
in the long run,
turn out to be.
But it's a high
that won't hurt you.
If everybody went to balls
and did less drugs,
it'd be a fun world,
wouldn't it?
I'm dressing, of course,
to go to a show,
because I've always done this
professionally
and I was a dancer.
And I'm trying to remember
when the first time I went to a ball
that was the early-type ball
when everybody just walked
and they gave away, like, four
or five prizes
in a very limited category.
And the children now,
most of them,
75 percent of the children
you see at the ball,
wouldn't know what a ball was
if it knocked them in the head.
When I first started
going to balls, it was all about drag queens
and they were interested
in looking like Las Vegas showgirls -
back pieces, tail pieces,
feathers, beads and all that.
But as the '70s rolled around,
the things started changing.
It started coming down. They just wanted
to look like a gorgeous movie star...
like Marilyn Monroe,
Elizabeth Taylor.
And now, they've went from that
to trying to look like models -
like Iman
and Christie Brinkley
and Maud Adams
and all those children.
(Dorian) Everyone couldn't
be a Las Vegas showgirl.
Everyone couldn't put on
a stack of feathers and a big headpiece.
So they made the categories
for everybody.
That's what really made
the balls change.
So there was more
involvement.
Everyone that goes
to one of these affairs now
damn near participates.
Eventually, over the course
of a year's balls,
they've all walked the runway
in some category or another.
Either you've got a nice body
or you are very fashionable
or you're very pretty
or you're very real-looking,
but there's always something
there for everyone.
And that's what keeps
them all coming.
And it's like in nature -
I'm such a nature fan -
the young ones
are always bucking
to move the old bulls
out of the way.
That's why they change
and go through all these mad categories
that I never can
stay awake for.
Upcoming Pretty Girl 1986,
take it to the floor.
They're showing up
for the press.
Audience, please back up
and give them air.
Next category,
High-Fashion Winter Sportswear.
The Poconos versus
the Catskills.
Sexy body.
Is there anyone walking?
Some children were asking me
what I meant by "Miss Cheesecake."
That means you must not only
have a body,
but you must be sexy.
A lot of people have bodies
but are not sexy.
Best body!
Body, body, body!
And curves!
A body that says,
"Come up and see me sometime, big boys."
Going to school. School.
Elementary,
high school, college.
Not here. School.
(cheering)
Looking like a girl
going to school.
Do she look like a girl
going to school?
Town and Country,
exclusively done.
(man) Dupree, Dupree, Dupree.
Get into their suits.
I said,
the well-dressed man
of the '80s,
get into the suits
and get into the pumps.
(Dorian) In real life,
you can't get a job as an executive
unless you have
the educational background
and the opportunity.
Now, the fact that you
are not an executive
is merely because of
the social standing of life.
That is just the pure thing.
Black people have a hard time
getting anywhere.
And those that do
are usually straight.
In a ballroom,
you can be anything you want.
You're not really an executive,
but you're looking like an executive.
And therefore, you're showing the
straight world that I can be an executive.
If I had the opportunity,
I could be one,
because I can look like one.
And that is, like,
a fulfillment.
Your peers, your friends
are telling you,
"Oh, you'd make
a wonderful executive."
Is this the businessmen
of the '80s or what?
High-Fashion Parisian,
model Yvette.
Shante, shante, shante,
shante, shante, shante, shante.
Model!
Thin, streamlined, trim, model!
(man) The category is
Butch Queen First Time in Drags at a Ball.
You know what I mean!
You know what Paris means.
Exactly! Butch Queen!
Butch Queen.
Butch Queen!
Butch Queen.
Butch!
(cheering)
First Time in Drags at a Ball,
that's what I wanted from you.
( "The Star-Spangled Banner")
(man) The military scene
is a basic scene.
It doesn't call for a bunch
of flamboyant turkey boas
and bugle beads, rhinestones.
It's a basic category.
The more natural you are,
the more credit your outfit is given.
Come on now, it is a known fact
that a woman do carry
an evening bag at dinnertime.
There's no getting around that!
You see it on Channel Seven
between All My Children and Jeopardy!,
Another World, Dallas
and the whole bit.
An evening bag is a must!
You have to carry something!
No lady is sure at night.
With the current children,
the children that are young,
they've gone to television,
you know?
I've been through several balls,
and they've actually
had categories - Dynasty.
You know, want you to look
like Alexis or Krystle.
And I guess that's just
a statement of the times.
When I grew up, you wanted
to look like Marlene Dietrich,
Betty Grable.
Unfortunately, I didn't know that
I really wanted to look like Lena Horne.
When I grew up,
of course, you know...
black stars were stigmatized.
Nobody wanted to look
like Lena Horne.
Everybody wanted
to look like Marilyn Monroe.
( "Got to be Real"
by Cheryl Lynn)
What you find..
(Pepper) When you're
a man and a woman, you can do anything.
You can... You can almost
have sex on the streets if you want to.
The most somebody's gonna say
is, "Hey, get a hump for me," you know.
But when you're gay,
you monitor everything you do.
You monitor how you look,
how you dress,
how you talk, how you act.
"Do they see me?
What do they think of me?"
What you know-ah
To be real
(Dorian) To be able to blend.
That's what realness is.
You know that your love
is my love
If you can pass the untrained
eye, or even the trained eye,
and not give away the fact
that you're gay,
that's when it's realness.
Banji, looking like the boy
that probably robbed you
a few minutes before
you came to Paris's Ball.
The idea of realness
is to look as much as possible
like your straight counterpart.
Shake the dice and steal the rice!
Right here. Come on, baby.
(cheering)
Yes, Daddy, I got my food stamps
and card waiting.
All right.
Dust coat, bay soap,
Rolaids, you got it.
(Dorian) The realer you look
means you look like a real woman.
Or you look like a real man.
A straight man.
Sweetheart with the cigarette,
you're giving me
a Banji girl effect.
This is Banji.
You know, the girls that be on the
corner talking about "young man."
One that can hang out
with the rough and the tough...
(Pepper) It's not a takeoff
or a satire.
No. It's actually being
able to be this.
Brenda Xtravaganza,
looking like a Banji girl.
Banji. Banji girl realness.
You know, one that could
take her little baby brother to school.
One that say, you know, like:
"Hey. I saw a bunch of those
things walking down the street..."
It's really a case of going
back into the closet.
Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten.
Are there any more?
OK, girls, now we've come
to a decision.
They give the society
that they live in
what they want to see,
and they won't be questioned.
Rather than having
to go through prejudices
about your life
and your lifestyle,
you can walk around
comfortably,
blending in with
everybody else.
You've erased all the mistakes,
all the flaws,
all the giveaways,
to make your illusion perfect.
(Pepper) My mother knew
I had trophies.
I was telling her
I won them for basketball.
I had won trophies
for running track.
I was walking up
145th Street with my girlfriends.
I had on white hot pants,
a chiffon blouse, a ponytail,
and my father was waiting
for the light in his car
and he saw me,
he recognized me.
And he went straight to my house
before I could get there
and told my mother:
"Your son is a woman."
She didn't press it then,
but, like,
maybe a few months later
when she noticed
that I had breasts,
everything started
coming together.
She really was devastated.
"How could you have breasts
bigger than mine?
"You're growing nails. You're becoming
a woman right before my very eyes!
I can't hold my head up.
I'm embarrassed!"
She still loved me,
but the nagging and the...
Oh, my God,
about this woman's clothes...
And when I had women's clothes
stashed in my closet and she found them
she would destroy them.
She burnt up a mink coat.
I was, oh, devastated.
She smelled the perfume in it
that I liked to wear,
which was Jungle Gardenia
at the time.
And she said, "This ain't no
girl's coat. This is your coat."
She took it downstairs in the backyard
of the buildings and burnt it.
And I stood there
and cried like a baby.
As long as I have a mustache
and all that, it's cute for me.
She don't want me to be
in no girl's clothes. She can't take it.
(Dorian) When they're undetectable,
when they can walk out of that ballroom,
into the sunlight
and onto the subway,
and get home and still have
all their clothes
and no blood running
off their bodies,
those are the Femme
Realness Queens.
And usually, it's a category
for young queens.
Some of them say that
we're sick, we're crazy.
And some of them think that
we are the most gorgeous,
special things on Earth.
I would like to be
a spoiled, rich white girl.
They get what they want,
whenever they want it.
And they don't have to
really struggle with finances
and nice things,
nice clothes...
And they don't have
to have that as a problem.
I don't feel that there's
anything mannish about me,
except maybe what I might have
between me, down there.
Which is my little
personal thing, so...
I guess that's why I want
my sex change -
to make myself complete.
I was about 13, 14 years old
and I used to do it
behind my family's back,
just dressing up, till finally
they caught on with it.
And I didn't want
to embarrass them,
so that's when I moved away.
I'm telling you, I cannot
continue doing it.
When someone has rejection
from their mother and father, their family,
they - when they get out
in the world - they search.
They search for someone
to fill that void.
I know this for experience
because I've had kids come to me
and latch hold of me
like I'm their mother
or like I'm their father,
'cause they can talk to me
and I'm gay and they're gay.
And that's where a lot
of that boldness
and the mother business
comes in.
Because their real parents
give them such a hard way to go,
they look up to me
to fill that void.
How old are you?
I'm 15.
What time is it?
Hey, homeboy,
look at the time over there. 2:26.
And how old are you?
Me, I'm 13.
13? And you're out here
at 2:26? Yeah.
Where do you live?
Me, I live in Harlem.
And why you down here?
Where's your mother?
Hanging out.
I don't have a mother.
Everybody has a mother
or we wouldn't be here.
Where's your mother at?
She's gone.
Where's your father?
He's gone, too.
So who you live with?
With a friend.
And you, too?
I live with my mother in the Bronx.
And you-all just hanging out
like this.
Just hanging out.
Right there inside.
(Pepper) But a lot of
these kids that I meet now,
they come from such
sad backgrounds, you know.
Broken homes or no home at all.
And then the few that do have families
and the family finds that they're gay,
they ex them completely.
(Dorian) A house?
A house. Let's see.
Let's see if we can
put it down sharply.
They're families.
You can say that.
They're families...
for a lot of children
who don't have families.
But this is a new meaning
of family.
The hippies had families
and no one thought nothing about it.
It wasn't a question
of a man and a woman and children,
which we grew up
knowing as a family.
It's a question of a group
of human beings
in a mutual bond.
You know what a house is.
I'll tell you what a house is.
A house is a gay street gang.
Now, where street gangs
get their rewards from street fights,
a gay house
street fights at a ball.
And you street fight at a ball
by walking in the categories.
The houses started
because you wanted a name.
The people that the houses
are named after
were ball-walkers
who became known for it, really.
(man) Work, Paris... Dupree.
Work, Paris...
(Dorian) After the first
few houses were started
and named after people
who had won trophies,
they also would create houses.
Like a new group of kids
would just create a house.
Then they'd work at building
its name up, which worked.
The House of Xtravaganza,
the House of Saint Laurent.
I'm Overness.
Pendavis.
Adonis.
LaMay.
Pendavis.
Saint Laurent, of course.
(laughs)
Dupree.
They saw me
and they all liked me,
all the rest
of the Xtravaganzas.
And they decided, "Well, if you
want to become an Xtravaganza,
"you have to walk a ball first.
And if you snatch a trophy,
then you can become the Xtravaganza."
That's how it's supposed
to work with any... everyone.
But like that,
it wasn't with me.
I just became an Xtravaganza.
Hector Xtravaganza,
he's the one who started the house.
He was the first gay man
I ever met.
The first time he took me
to the Village,
which was my birthday -
I had just turned 15 years old -
and he threw a party
for me out there.
He bought me a cake.
I met a lot of drag queens,
transvestites,
that I didn't believe were,
because they were so beautiful.
And that kind of sunk
into my head
and I guess that's why it kind of
made me want to even do it more.
They treat each other
like sisters and sisters.
Or brothers or mothers or...
You know, like, I say,
"Oh, that's my sister."
Because she's gay, too,
and I'm gay,
and she's a drag queen
or whatever.
(man) My mother
is Angie Xtravaganza
and my father is
David Xtravaganza.
The House of Xtravaganza
has done a lot.
It's made me feel
like I have a family.
We're always together.
If we're not together,
we always speak
on the phone.
My name is Angie Xtravaganza
and I am the mother
of the House of Xtravaganza.
When there's a ball, I'm always doing
something for everybody in my house.
I do that one's hair,
the other one's makeup.
You know, choose their shoes,
their accessories.
I always offer advice, you know.
I mean, as far as what I know
and what I've been through
in gay life, you know.
I ran away from my house
when I was 14
and I've learned all sorts
of things, good and bad,
and how to survive
in gay world, you know. It's kind of hard.
(all) Xtravaganza power.
I bought her her tits.
I paid for them.
He paid for my tits.
My tits. I paid for these implants.
Shake them tits, Mommy.
Shake those tits, Mama.
He paid for my tits.
All she wants for Christmas
is her two front tits
Her two front tits,
her two front tits
And we gave her them
for Christmas. And we gave 'em to her.
Our mother even nurses us!
She's a good woman.
She nourishes us!
My mommy is a drag queen, look!
I see!
From the House of Xtravaganza,
the Mother of the Year,
keeping her children intact,
can we have Angie Xtravaganza?
(applause)
Walk for us, girl!
Walk that runway!
This is
for Outr Christian girl.
(man) My birthday will come and I'll
always get a birthday gift from Angie.
Won't get one
from my real mother.
And when I got thrown
out of my house,
Angie let me stay with her
until I got myself together
and I got working.
She always fed me.
She can be a pain
in the ass sometimes,
but I wouldn't trade her in
for any other mother.
You know, you have to have
something to offer in order to lead.
The mother usually becomes
the mother
because she's usually
the best one out of the group.
I'm Willi Ninja, the mother
of the House of Ninja.
(man) Give him what he wants!
(Willi) I'm the mother
of the House of Ninja
because they say
I'm the best voguer out.
To be the mother of the house,
you have to have the most power.
Take a real family -
it's the mother that's the hardest worker,
and the mother
gets the most respect.
As far as my naming my house
the House of Ninja -
ninjas hit hard,
they hit fast, an invisible assassin.
And that's what we are.
We come out to assassinate.
The House of LaBeija
is the legendary house above all of them.
I have the most members.
I'm the most popular.
New York City is wrapped up
in being LaBeija.
So it speaks for itself.
And I am the fiercest mother
out of all of them.
LaBeija? I wouldn't be
caught dead in that house.
I'm sorry.
I don't see that house.
Only reason I see my house,
Pendavis,
is because of Kim and Avis.
'Cause both of them walked.
And at the last ball,
Avis showed her goddamn ass off!
They call them competitions,
but believe me, they're wars.
And they often do lead
to fights.
The emotions be very high.
They're very intense.
Very intense affairs.
But I guess that's what
makes them fun.
Like a good movie,
if there's no emotion... you don't enjoy it.
I don't talk too much
about the ball kids
because I want them
to talk about me.
Because I haven't walked yet.
And it's like,
well, William says:
"I want you to walk in my ball.
I want you to walk in my ball."
And I keep telling William,
I say: "I'll walk when I walk.
I'll walk when I want, not when
you want. I'll walk when I want."
And so far, I don't know
when I'm gonna walk.
I'm thinking somewhat
around the time of the Legends Ball,
but don't quote me on that.
I mean, it really causes hate,
actually, between two individuals.
It's like a war on the floor.
Like World War Three.
But the only thing about it, they're gay.
(man) Now...
I'll cut the music.
Now, I said...
I said, "Men's garment."
(Dorian) He look like
he had on a man's fox coat.
Tell this child
where are the men's garments!
I paid for it, motherfucker.
A man bought it!
It buttons
on the right side! The judges...
It buttons on the right side!
Someone came up
and told the MC... Are you a judge?
...that it was a woman's coat.
I thought it was kind
of silly to nitpick.
(shouting)
They're throwing shade at him!
I can't believe this!
Wait a minute,
wait a minute, wait a minute!
Wait a minute, now.
Let's not get loud.
Now, David, David, David!
(Dorian) That's the one thing
that I find faulty with the balls.
After they've laid down
these little categories,
then they try to become a stickler
for exact interpretation.
Merely a point
to discredit the contestant.
Like in the Olympics,
where the Russian judge brought to the fact
that the American coach
had stepped onto the floor
and that was a disqualification
for the contestant.
Just as picky as a ball.
So the little flaws like that,
that's because
that's a part of shade.
That's the idea.
Knock 'em out if you can.
Get 'em any way.
Hit 'em below the belt.
(shouting)
Where is it? Where is it?
Where is it? Where is it?
Shade comes from reading.
Reading came first.
Reading is the real art form
of insult.
Now, you want to talk
about reading?
Let's talk about reading.
What is wrong with you, Pedro?
You going through it?
You going through some kind of
psychological change in your life?
She went back to being a man.
Oh, you went back to being a man.
Touch this skin, darling.
Touch this skin, honey.
Touch all of this skin, OK?
You just can't take it.
You're just
an overgrown orangutan.
You get in a smart crack
and everyone laughs and "hee hees"
because you found a flaw
and exaggerated it,
then you've got
a good read going.
I am a person just like you.
You cut me, I bleed the same way
you do. I bleed the same color.
(Dorian) If it's happening between
the gay world and the straight world,
it's not really a read.
It's more of an insult,
a vicious slur fight.
See, see, see, there go
my sister right there.
She don't even want to admit
that she my sister. She a bulldagger.
(Dorian) But it's how they
develop a sense of how to read.
That's my husband right there.
And that's my girlfriend
right there.
(Dorian) They may call you
a faggot or a drag queen.
You find something
to call them.
But then, when you are
all of the same thing,
then you have to go
to the fine point.
In other words, if I'm a black queen
and you're a black queen,
we can't call each other black queens,
'cause we're both black queens.
That's not a read.
That's just a fact.
So then we talk about
your ridiculous shape,
your saggy face,
your tacky clothes.
Let me see what you are.
Let's see. No paint!
Yes, it's paint!
It's paint! No motherfucking paint, girl!
She wears more makeup
than my mother does.
Then reading became a developed
form where it became shade.
Shade is, "I don't tell you
you're ugly,
but I don't have to tell you
because you know you're ugly."
And that's shade.
(man) Pop, spin, dip.
Spin!
Pop... dip... spin.
Voguing is
the same thing as, like,
taking two knives
and cutting each other up,
but through a dance form.
Pop, dip, spin, vogue.
Dip...
(Willi) Voguing came from shade
because it was a dance
that two people did
because they didn't like each other.
Instead of fighting,
you would dance it out on the dance floor,
and whoever did
the better moves
was throwing the best shade,
basically.
(man) No touching!
Neither one of you!
If you touch, I'm chopping you.
I'm telling you right now.
(Willi) You can take
the pantomime form of the vogue.
What generally sometimes I do
is I make my hand into a form,
like a compact or a makeup kit,
and I'm, like,
beating my face with blush,
shadows or whatever,
to the music.
Then usually, I'll turn
the compact around to face that person,
meaning like almost, like, my hand
is a mirror for them to get a look.
Then I'll start doing
their face,
because what they have
on their face right now
needs a dramatic
makeup job.
So voguing is like a safe form
of throwing shade.
(man) Paris... Dupree, work.
Paris... Dupree, work. Ooh!
All right, Miss Bishop.
Go knock off, Miss Paris.
Come on, baby, take your time.
Bring it to the judges.
Judges, give it to the form
and the style.
Work. Let's hear it
for her, goddammit!
(Willi) The name is taken
from the magazine "Vogue,"
because some of
the movements of the dance
are also the same
as the poses inside the magazine.
The name is a statement
in itself.
I mean, you really wouldn't go to
a ball to do the "Mademoiselle."
No way!
(indistinct chatter)
Show them how to do that!
Ouch!
Like breakdancing,
the dance takes from
the hieroglyphics
of ancient Egypt.
It also takes from
some forms of gymnastics.
They both strive
for perfect lines in the body,
awkward positions.
But it goes one step further.
It's starting to make
a name for itself,
but I want it to be
known worldwide
and I want to be on top of it
when it hits.
I want to take voguing,
not to just Paris is Burning,
but I want to take it
to the real Paris
and make the real Paris burn.
That's what I want to do.
And not just there,
but to other countries as well.
My house name is Ninja,
and I would really like to take
my whole house and go to Japan
and really let loose and do it
and have them accept it there.
I want to be a big star...
uh, known, generally,
every corner of the world.
You know, maybe as
a choreographer,
a famous dancer,
a singer... or all of them.
What the balls has
to do with that,
as far as the dance field,
is maybe perfect my craft
a little better.
To learn new things,
new ideas
and bring 'em
to the real world.
It's been really unbelievable,
my life.
If I was to die today
or tomorrow,
I could not say I have
not had an exciting life.
I have had a fabulous...
And I'm not rich, mind you.
Just imagine
if I had the dollars!
Ooh, it would be too much
for the world.
If I had the riches
and I had the fame, trust me,
all of you-all in here
would be rich for points.
'Cause I'm very generous,
you know.
I can't... I wouldn't enjoy
having a whole lot of money,
like being a millionaire
and hoarding it, you know?
I'd share it with
all my loved ones, you know.
I'd want them to have it, too.
We'd all have to go.
I'd want to charter a plane
and we'd all fly to Paris.
O-p-u-l-e-n-c-e.
Opulence!
You own everything!
Everything is yours!
( "Marcia Trionfale" from
"Aida" by Giuseppe Verdi)
This is white America.
Any other nationality
that is not of the white set
knows this and accepts this
till the day they die.
That is everybody's dream
and ambition as a minority -
to live and look as well
as a white person
is pictured
as being in America.
Every media you have -
from TV to magazines
to movies to films.
I mean, the biggest thing
that minority watches is what?
"Dynasty" and the Colbys.
Or "All My Children."
The soap operas.
Everybody have
a million-dollar bracket.
When they showing you
a commercial from Honey Graham
to Crest or Lestoil
or Pine-Sol,
everybody's in their own home.
The little kids
for Fisher-Price Toys -
they're not
in no concrete playground.
They're riding around the lawn.
The pool is in the back.
This is white America.
And when it come to the
minorities, especially black,
we as a people,
for the past 400 years,
is the greatest example
of behavior modification
in the history of civilization.
We have had everything
taken away from us,
and yet we have all
learned how to survive.
That is why,
in the ballroom circuit,
it is so obvious
that if you have captured
the great white way of living -
or looking...
or dressing or speaking -
you is a marvel.
I think if I could just be
on TV or film or anything,
I'd do that
instead of the money.
Of course, I do want the money
because I want the luxury that goes with it.
But... I want to be wealthy.
If not wealthy - content,
comfortable, you know?
I want to be somebody.
I mean, I am somebody.
I just want to be
a rich somebody.
(man) We're gonna tell you,
you see her in a supermarket,
and you're gonna say,
"That's a fag."
(Octavia) Women don't go
out of their way because they are women.
I went out of my way
because I wasn't
and I felt that I wanted
to be the best I could be.
The Virginia Slims girl is here.
This was not a game
for me, or fun.
This is something
that I want to live.
She's here, in person.
Hopefully, God willing,
by 1988,
I fully hope to become
a full-fledged woman of the United States.
You look at all these models
on the wall.
Every one of them are gorgeous.
Every one of them are beautiful.
But every one of them
have their own look.
This is my idol, Paulina.
Someday, I hope to be
up there with her.
If that could be me,
I think I would be
the happiest person in the world.
Just knowing that I am...
that I can compare to Paulina,
to stand next to her
and to take pictures with her.
And I look at her here and I'd say
she's seductive and she's alluring.
I look at her there
and I say she's sexy and provocative.
I look at her here
and I think that she's childish
and little-girl type,
you know.
And I look at her here
and it's the same.
And I look at her here
and I think of wicked beauty, you know?
That's how I see her.
I admire her.
You know, the red-hot fire
of hair and... the whole bit.
If you're not really trying
hard enough, then I become hard.
Do not believe just because
I'm a guy, that I cannot do it.
In order to be a teacher to show girls
how to do it, I have to know how to do it.
I've taught for various shows,
like for F.I.T. I've taught models.
Girls that are from various
agencies that come to me by word of mouth.
New York City women
are a little bit harder than most women.
Basically, I'm trying to bring
their femininity back
and bring some grace and poise.
You know, whether they
become models or not, it's nice to know,
because it's more attractive
to men.
The walk that she's doing
is basically
to get more movement
in your hips naturally.
Don't exaggerate it.
( instrumental)
Most likely, she'll get
what she wants.
You know, especially
if she's in a man's world.
She can still have
her equal rights,
but be able to manipulate a man
by using her feminine wiles.
She can't use it
by using masculine.
(man) Are they soft?
Looking from head to toe,
would you know?
Is this realness or not?
Let it be motherfucking hot.
Miss Octavia?
You don't feel this realness?
Where are you at, sister?
Oh, you're right there,
not bothered.
What you find-ah
What you feel now...
The more I want
The more I get...
(man) LaBeija.
Candy LaBeija.
Realness in the daytime,
darling.
She goes to school
as a woman.
Get into it.
Get into both of them
and see which one is realer.
Feel the flesh, or whatever it
may be. Is it soft or not?
It's soft.
Come, come, come.
Score Miss Octavia first.
Step forward,
accept your scores.
Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten!
Score Tennille.
What you feel now
I feel I need you...
Nine, ten, ten.
(applause)
Grand Prize, Octavia.
First Place, Tennille.
(applause)
There's people
who sit home all day.
They have potential, OK?
I mean, they go to the balls
and they prove that they have potentials
on actually selling a garment,
OK. But, they, like:
"Being that I have this potential,
the ballroom tells me..."
OK. "The ballroom tells me
that I'm somebody."
But when the ballroom is over
and you come home,
you have to convince yourself
that you are somebody.
And that's where they get lost.
( "Sweet Dreams [Are Made
of This]" by Eurythmics)
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree...
She's also in a magazine.
What's the name of the magazine?
Elle.
Paris Kathy Dupree.
(Dorian) There was a time
when you could have spent
a great deal of time
making outfits
and preparing for something.
Now they come very quickly
and the mood's changed.
Very quickly.
I come from the old school
of big costumes
and feathers and beads.
And they don't have that
anymore.
Now it's all about designers.
And it's not about what you create-
it's about what you can acquire.
What do you think?
Isn't that beautiful?
$559. How's that
for a simple dress?
If you have on a label,
it means that you've got wealth.
When it doesn't, really,
'cause any shoplifter
can get a label.
You can't come down the runway
in something for $14.99
or $49.99 and say:
"Well, I'm lovely,"
and expect to win.
OK. To describe...
Explain mopping. Mopping.
You go into a store
and... just look... for...
Look for whatever you want
to see, look for whatever...
Mopping is stealing.
General stealing.
However it's done,
it's stealing.
If you're working every day,
you're struggling
to buy this outfit.
When you walk,
you're like, "This is me."
And your facial expressions
as well as your means of
projection of your outfit,
it shows if you actually
stole it or you purchased it.
(woman) You can
actually tell? You can actually tell.
Faggots are stunting themselves,
regardless.
Make no mistake.
First, it comes... OK.
When it comes to a stunt,
it goes in three...
It goes in order.
It goes faggots,
then girls, then boys.
Because boys are the stupidest.
They don't know
how to do a stunt right.
Now, faggots will do
a stunt and I mean,
you will never catch up
with it until years later.
And then, I mean,
you'll be like, "Oh, shit!
This faggot pulled
this stunt on me!"
We went down there,
we had fun,
and we acted stupid
and came back.
But I think the best thing
we did was Roy Rogers.
That was fun. You would have
had something to eat!
'Cause... How much did you pay
for that sandwich?
I don't remember.
Maybe five dollars or something.
Around five...
Five dollars?
Make no mistake,
we got your five dollars back.
I had two double cheeseburgers,
two fries, a Coke,
a Sprite and an orange.
Chicken and chips.
I was going back and forth.
I lived on that line!
We got over around, say,
around $200 in food.
See, they put cheese
on the meat.
(laughter)
I hope, after this,
Roy Rogers does not change
how it has its food,
because if it does,
by this interview,
I will be so upset!
I will be so upset.
I will be swollen!
I'll be hurt, I'm telling you.
I really will be.
'Cause I mean it.
Where else can you go in,
get it done your way
and go out without paying?
(man) Carla Xtravaganza said,
will you please return
her black patent-leather shoes,
size seven.
There is a reward.
She want her pumps.
She said it's not going to work,
taking her shoes. Give 'em back.
Daytime, if they go out,
they're only going out
to try to hustle up
a quarter or two...
to get their things
for the ball, or go to a little job.
A lot of them have little jobs now.
They work. Don't think they're lazy.
In New York City,
you work or you starve.
You work or...
Some kind of work. Legal or otherwise.
But you have to work
to sustain yourself.
(man) The legendary
Tennille Dupree
and the father of
the House of Ebony, Max,
presents a night of living hell
and punishment
at the Imperial Elks Lodge,
160 West 129th Street,
which is right here.
Doors open at 5 a.m.
Grand March is at 7 a.m.
(woman) The balls are usually
later because of the fact
that we're waiting
for the working girls to get there.
(woman) And what is it
those girls are doing?
Well, they're making money
for the balls
or they're making
their costumes, their outfits.
Or, you know, getting it
together like that.
(woman) What's their
profession?
Usually showgirls.
Usually, they're,
you know, showgirls.
(woman) Uh-huh.
Anything else?
Well, it depends.
It depends.
I don't know a lot
of their professions,
but usually they're
showgirls. Usually.
The thing that helped me
make my most money
through the escort service
is being that I'm so little
and so petite and tiny.
Um, the blonde hair
and the light skin
and the green eyes
and the little features.
And the client's hands
would be bigger than my hands,
while they would
hold my hand or something.
You know, they like feeling
that they're with something
perfect and little
and not someone
that's bigger than them.
Because I guess that kind of
disturbs them.
Most all the drag queens
that are involved in the balls, they...
90 percent of them
are hustlers.
I guess that's how they make
their money to go to the balls
and get whatever
they need and stuff.
I used to hustle in New York
to make my money.
I was with a guy and he was
playing with my titties
till he touched me down there.
He felt it and he seen it
and he, like, totally flipped out.
He said, "You fucking faggot!
You're a freak!
"You're a victim of AIDS
and you're trying to give me AIDS.
What, are you crazy?
You're a homo! I should kill you!"
You know, stuff like that.
And, like,
I was really terrified,
so I just jumped
out the window.
I grabbed my bag
and just jumped out the window.
But see, now I don't like
to hustle anymore. I don't.
And I'm afraid of what's
going on - the AIDS -
and I don't want to catch it.
Like, later on this evening,
I'm supposed to meet someone.
A friend of mine.
A very good, old friend of mine.
He's a young, very good,
attractive, handsome young man.
And he's taking me
out to dinner later on this evening,
or for cocktails
after midnight.
I know he'll give me some money.
Just for me to maybe
buy a pair of shoes and a nice dress,
so that the next time
he sees me,
he'll see me looking
more and more beautiful,
the way he wants to see me.
But I don't have to go to bed
with him or anything like that.
At times, they do expect
sexual favors,
but that is between
myself and them,
so I do not wish to further
speak about that, if they do.
But, at most times,
99 percent of the time, they don't.
95 percent of the time,
they don't.
But I feel, like...
If you're married...
A woman in the suburbs,
a regular woman,
is married to her husband
and she wants him to buy her
a washer and dryer set.
In order for him to buy that,
I'm sure she'd have to
go to bed with him anyway,
to give him what he wants,
for her to get what she wants.
So in the long run,
it all ends up the same way.
(Octavia) If money wasn't so
important in the world today
to survive,
I guess I wouldn't want
anything but what I have now.
But since money does,
I hope that the way I look
puts money in my pocket,
you know?
I'm really working hard.
I'm gonna work even harder.
(man) Yeah. There we are.
That is lovely. Still.
Great. Couldn't be better.
It's beautiful like that
for the light
when you kind of, you know,
do this to the light.
I want people to look at me as,
"There's the model, Octavia.
"There's the actress, Octavia.
There's Miss Supermodel
of the World, Octavia."
Is this endless,
this catalog of poses?
I could keep going here
longer than you could.
Yeah, just there.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I don't want to end up
an old drag queen
with nothing going for me
but trying to win
Grand Prize at a ball.
Yeah. No, back a little bit,
like you did.
Yes, that.
Twisting a little bit
more to the light. Just coming around there.
Yeah. Great.
Couldn't be better.
I don't think the world
has been fair to me.
Not yet, anyway.
Yeah, lovely. Lovely.
I've been a man and I've been
a man who emulated a woman.
I've never been a woman.
I never had that service
once a month.
I've never been pregnant. You know,
I could never say how a woman feels.
I can only say how a man
who acts like a woman
or dresses like a woman feels.
I never wanted to have
a sex change.
That's just taking it
a little too far, you know.
Because if you decide later on
in life to change your mind, you can't.
Once it's gone, it's gone.
A lot of kids that I know,
they got the sex change because they felt:
"Oh, I've been treated
so bad as a drag queen.
If I get a pussy..."
Excuse the expression.
"...I'll be treated fabulous."
But women get treated bad.
You know, they get beat,
they get robbed, they get dogged.
So, having the vagina,
that doesn't mean
that you're gonna
have a fabulous life.
It might, in fact,
be worse, you know.
So I've never recommended it and I,
myself, would have never, ever got it.
And I'm so thankful
that I was that smart.
Because right about now,
this next 40 or so years
that I'm gonna be here,
I'm gonna live.
And for those children that can't take
the fact that I still look youthful:
Ha! Suffer.
No bags, no lines. Lovely.
America's nice. You can do
what you want if you have the money.
You can be what you want,
certainly. Look at me.
In '84, I've had
a nose reconstructed job.
I've had my cheekbones risen,
I've had a chin implant
and breast implants.
Yes. Tell them like it is.
The most important factor
in my life
that has been
completed recently
is that I've had
a transsexualism operation.
That means I've had
a sex change.
I'm no longer a man.
I am a woman.
I feel great.
She has to rub it in.
I'm very happy.
And I feel like the part
of my life that was a secret is now closed.
I can close the closet door.
There are no more skeletons in there,
and I'm as free as the wind
that's blowing out
on this beach.
(laughs)
Except that voice
is still there.
"As free as this beach."
(both) I am what I am
I am my own special creation
(woman) Sample Poison
by Dior, ladies.
Sample the elegance today.
Poison by Dior.
Can I sample it?
Yes. Dior's Poison.
Very nice.
Delicious, yes?
Folks, please keep moving.
We're trying to keep the aisles clear.
(woman) Please keep moving.
(woman over PA)
The search for the Supermodel of the Year -
the seventh search
of this type.
Mrs. Ford is here
with two of her top models,
and we're interviewing
candidates
who hope to become
the Supermodel of the Year.
Clients like models
who are helpful,
who never say the clothes are
terrible, even if they are.
Because, after all,
not everything is perfect.
They have to make the least
perfect of clothes look like a Dior.
And so they can't just say,
"That's the worst thing
I've ever seen."
They have to make it look good.
They have to be very,
very cooperative.
And they have to be cheerful.
Nobody likes to go in and hear
your troubles, you know.
When people ask you how you feel,
don't tell them if you're sick,
'cause they don't really care.
(man) Three, two, one.
But while the faces of the '80s
stood on line,
the feet of the '80s
did some waiting.
Half an hour and 'round
the block, all the way to Third Avenue.
One of these young ladies
could become the Supermodel of the World.
Exciting?
Try again.
How does this type of thing
square with women's lib?
What about men?
Do they take you seriously?
Or, when they hear you're a model,
how does their reaction change to you?
What about,
like I asked before,
does this square with
the women's lib movement?
Can I have a few of you
over here?
OK. Can I have
a few more women?
Hi. How are you doing?
Good. How are you?
Fine. Nice to meet you, too.
I'm Shari.
Shari, my name's Janet.
Hi, Janet. So you want to be a model?
Yes.
Well, you need an application.
Actually, I was in this contest.
That's how I started. That's me.
I can't believe that.
Yeah, that's five years ago.
You still look great.
Thanks a lot. Thanks.
We look at 75,000 pictures.
Well, you know, that's the average
amount that we look at each contest.
What have girls become?
Are they the same? How are they different?
Girls are not different
from yesterday or the day before.
Everybody who's young
has a hope and a dream
and I don't think that
it's ever been any different
in the history of the world.
I believe that there's
a big future out there
with a lot of beautiful things,
a lot of handsome men,
a lot of luxury.
I want a car.
I want to be
with the man I love.
I want a nice home
away from New York -
up the Peekskills
or maybe in Florida.
Somewhere far,
where no one knows me.
I want my sex change.
I want to live a normal,
happy life.
Whether it's being married
and adopting children,
whether it's being famous
and rich.
I want to get married
in church, in white.
Sometimes I sit
and look at a magazine.
I try to imagine myself
in the front cover
or even inside.
I want to be a complete woman.
And I want to be
a professional model,
behind cameras
in a high-fashion world.
I want so much more.
I want...
I want my name
to be a household product.
I want everybody
to look at me and say,
"There goes Octavia."
I want this.
This is what I want.
And I'm gonna go for it.
(man) Opening with us,
Amy Xtravaganza.
Amy Xtravaganza.
Women.
Vogue.
(inaudible)
Vogue, vogue, vogue, vogue.
Amy...
Previously,
I introduced rap music,
along with the dancing,
to Japanese people.
And they really loved it.
(woman on TV) This, ladies
and gentlemen, is voguing,
a form of dance that has
its roots in Harlem.
A takeoff on runway modeling,
which they had plenty of
last night as well.
Voguing is an attitude,
a style. It's... it's...
A kind of institutionalized
showing-off.
But not without
its entertainment value.
Something very spectacular.
Very important... art form.
Very important.
It's just so theatrical.
And the energy...
Oh, it's just terrific.
In addition to perhaps
putting voguing in vogue,
this Love Ball, sponsored by
the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS,
raised more than $350,000
for research and housing
for the homeless who have AIDS.
And I had never seen
anything quite like it.
And I'm Connie Collins,
News Four, Manhattan.
Two years ago, I was working
in a health-food store,
still teaching and trying
to perform on my own.
Well, now, my foot is, like,
in every little doorstep
that you can think of.
Um...
I'm doing a lot of runway work.
I'm dancing.
Performing for Malcolm McLaren,
various other people.
Doing choreography,
helping people put their shows together.
So, it's going very good.
This earring that I have here
is... I bought this in Japan.
As you can see, it says "House Couture."
I can't read the rest of it.
It has a scissor and it has
"Junior Gaultier '89" on there.
Of course, that's
the Gaultier label emblem.
I bought it, mind you.
I have the receipt still.
Where? I don't know.
But I bought it.
The balls have kind of
gotten toned down
compared to
what it used to be.
Now, when I tell people
what it is
and they go and it's not
what they expect, you know,
it's like they feel like
a little bit of a letdown.
You know, they say,
"Well, it was long,
it was dragged out.
It was boring."
OK. The balls are always
long and dragged out,
but they were never boring.
I really do kind of miss
the street element, I mean...
But everything changes
and everything's been changing
drastically, you know.
New York's not even
the same anymore.
( rock on radio)
( radio)
(Angie) I always said to her,
"Venus, you take too many chances.
You're too wild with people in the streets.
Something is going to happen to you."
But that was Venus.
She always took a chance.
She always went
into a stranger's car.
She always did what she wanted
to get what she wanted.
I had a booking
for a Christmas show at Sally's
and the DTs came to me
with a picture of her murdered.
And they were about
to cremate her
'cause nobody had came
to verify the body.
And I was the one that had
to give all this information
down to her family.
Actually, they found her
dead after four days,
strangled under a bed
in a sleazy hotel in New York City.
I'm hungry.
We used to get dressed
together, call each other
and say what
we were gonna wear.
And, you know, she was like
my right hand, as far as I'm concerned.
I miss her.
Every time I go anywhere, I miss her.
That was my main...
the main daughter of my house,
in other words.
But that's part of life,
as far as being a transsexual
in New York City and surviving.
I always had hopes
of being a big star.
And then I looked...
As you get older,
you aim a little lower.
And I just say,
"Well, yeah, you still might make an impression."
Everybody wants to leave
something behind them -
some impression,
some mark upon the world.
Then you think,
you've left a mark on the world...
if you just get through it...
and a few people
remember your name.
Then you've left a mark.
You don't have to bend
the whole world.
I think it's better
to just enjoy it.
Pay your dues...
and enjoy it.
If you shoot an arrow
and it goes real high...
hooray for you.
( "I Got to Be Real")
What you think
What you feel now
What you know
To be real
What you think
I think I love you
What you feel now...
Bring the cameras closer,
Mr. De Mille.
I'm ready for my closeup.
And so...
To be real
Ooh
Your love's for real now
You know that your love
is my love
My love is your love
Our love is here to stay...
OK, Winter Sportswear.
Preferably fur,
but if not, you know,
in error, you can...
Natural fibers.
If you choose the polyester,
God help you.
You know how the children are.
To be real
Ooh
Your love's for real now
You know that your love
is my love
And my love is your love
Our love is here to stay...
OK, you add "ug"
at the end of your word, right?
But you have to take off
the first letter
or the first letters
until you get into a vowel.
(speaking pig Latin)
To be real
What you think
I think I love you
What you feel now
I feel I need you
What you know
To be real
It's got to be real
To be real
It's got to be real
To be real
I'm not looking for anything.
I think all men are dogs.
I honestly do.
You know, every man
starts barking sooner or later.
I'm a quiet person.
And if you believe that, you know,
I own that island right over there, too.
What you feel now
What you know
To be real
What you think
What you feel now
What you know
To be real
To be real
(applause)
They want to be
with their kind.
They want to be gay
and gay or...
'Cause probably, like,
just like, just,
all right, just like, again,
just like a community.
In a religious community,
they want to pray together
a lot, right?
Well, this gay community
might want to...
Or-or they, like,
want to be together.
Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up
where the clouds are far
Behind me
Where troubles melt
like lemon drops
Way upon the chimney tops
That's where
That's where you'll find me
(audience member)
All right, Miss Patti!
All right!
All right, Miss Patti!
Work, Patti, work!
(cheers/applause)
So, this is New York City,
and this is
what the gay life is about.
Right?