Essay about racism in high school setting

Jinwei Jia

Dr. Stern

GLC-144

March 24, 2019

Response Paper #5

The movie Paris is Burning is a documentary focused on drag queens along with their house culture and how they form a community to support the performers that can’t be accept by the real world and also the Blacks, Latinos and gay people who can’t find their own belonging in the society. The documentary used a personal story telling way to let many of the performers and members of the houses to tell their own story about their life and what they believe the “ball” should be like. The movie used varieties examples to show how hard to live as a minority and as a gay, the main type of questions are why the people like them live in a such a poor situation and does the “house” communities really help them to make their life better.

First the ball is a kind of show that everyone can attend and there are no limits to what kind of category can be accept or not. However, in Paris is Burning, the movie mentioned some of the ball show start to raise up bar and start to have standard and categorized the people who want to attend the show. The show is providing a stage that everyone can show their true self and to become what they want or believe who they truly are. In addition, the people mainly will show off their clothing and fashion and let the judge to decide what kind of scores they can get. In my opinions, people who attend the show and get a score from the judge mainly want to find their sense of identity of who they dream to be. The reason why I state that is because the people who attend the show with their clothing are most likely not match their own biological identity. For example, a woman will dress up like a man and the opposite a man will dress up like a woman. From what they believe in they felt like their opposite biological identities are who they truly are. Therefore, the judges will give them a score of how close their outfit and physical condition to a woman.

For many African Americans and Latinos, this kind of show formed a community that can not only support each other but also to find their belonging from the chaos outside world. Through out the movie, majority of the members are black, and this reflect how black people or colored minorities are desperately to find a group that they can fit in to. The houses not only give gay people a chance to find a home but also the blacks to find a group they can belong to. Even thought there are many houses that hosted by different person along with a very unique name like Xtravaganza, Ninja. But the main purpose of the houses is to show support to these sexual and colored minorities. I think the houses system are something these people’s needs and some of them look their house like a true home. The mothers of the houses are the most powerful and skillful person of the house. They will make sure everyone is comfortable and taking care of in the house. Many teenagers will see the house mother is their real mother because only she can understand them.

The house system and the community does play a major role of the people’s life. Many of them are ether abandoned from the society or their own family. The house provides a comfortable place to let them rest and always will have someone to support them. In my opinion, people who are sexual and colored minorities are more likely to form a community like this is because they want to have support of what they want to do and to have a safe environment to live in. In addition, they can find their belonging and joy in a community like this. That is why I felt the ball and house not only provide a space to show they are talented but also show they can be the true self of themselves.