Movie

Paris Is Burning

by Jennie Livingston, Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, Octavia St. Laurent and 8 others

A chronicle of New York City's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.

(17 total)

Characters

Jennie Livingston (17)Herself (14)Dorian Corey (6)Junior LaBeija (6)Anji Xtravaganza (4)Paris Dupree (4)

“And um, he's taking me out for dinner later this evening, or for cocktails after midnight. I know he'll give me some money just for me to maybe buy some 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 hav…”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Anji Xtravaganza, imdb.com

Tagged: Cocktails, Dinner, washer, Dryer

“Now you wanna talk about reading? Let's talk about reading. What is wrong with you, Pedro, are you going through it? You're going through some kind of psychological change in your life? You went back to being a man? Touch this skin, darling, touch this skin honey, touch all of this skin! Okay? You j…”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Anji Xtravaganza, imdb.com

Tagged: Reading, Overgrown Orangutan

“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.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: shade, ugly

“I always had hopes of being a big star. But as you get older, you aim a little lower. Everybody wants to make an impression, some mark upon the world. Then you think, you've made 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 h…”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: Pay Your Dues, Stardom

“You know, the girl you see on the street corner talking about, 'Yo man, I saw one of them thangs walking down the street.'”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Paris Dupree, imdb.com

Tagged: street corner, Drag

“One who can hang out with the roughest and the toughest.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Paris Dupree, imdb.com

Tagged: hang out, roughest, toughest

“Sweetheart, with the cigarette. You're giving me a banji effect. This is banji.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Paris Dupree, imdb.com

Tagged: cigarette, Banji

“One who can take her baby brother to school.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Paris Dupree, imdb.com

Tagged: Baby Brother

“I don't feel like there's anything mannish about me, except maybe what I might have between me down there, which is my little personal thing, so...”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Anji Xtravaganza, imdb.com

Tagged: mannish, penis, Drag

“When they're undetectable and 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 its a category for young queens.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: Drag Queens, Ballroom

“You get in a smart crack, and everyone laughs and kikis because you've found a flaw and exaggerated it, then you've got a good read going.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: Smart Crack, Kikis

“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. Black people have a hard time getting anywhere and those that do are usually straight. In a b…”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: Black People, Homophobia

“Shade comes from reading. Reading came first.”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Dorian Corey, imdb.com

Tagged: Reading, shade

“When I first started going to balls it was all about drag queens who were interested in looking like Las Vegas showgirls, back pieces, tail pieces, feathers, beads and all that. But As the seventies rolled around the things started changing, it started coming down to just wanting to look like a gorg…”

— Jennie Livingston, Herself, Anji Xtravaganza, imdb.com

Tagged: Las Vegas, Iman, Marilyn Manson, Elizabeth Taylor, Christie Brinkley

“O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E: Opulence! You own everything. Everything is yours.”

— Jennie Livingston, Junior LaBeija, Junior LaBeija, imdb.com

Tagged: Opulence

“Shake the dice and steal the rice!”

— Jennie Livingston, Junior LaBeija, Junior LaBeija, imdb.com

Tagged: wedding

“Come on now, it is a known fact that a woman do carry an evening bag at dinner time. 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…”

— Jennie Livingston, Junior LaBeija, Junior LaBeija, imdb.com

Tagged: Evening Bag, Jeopardy, All My Children, dallas