Paris Is Burning Page #7

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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 p*ssy..."

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

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