Paris Is Burning Page #4

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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, motherf***er.

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 f*ggot 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,

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