1
00:01:20,414 --> 00:01:21,915
He's ready to rush that instead...

2
00:01:35,137 --> 00:01:36,763
I remember my dad used to say,

3
00:01:36,847 --> 00:01:39,558
"You have three strikes against you
in this world.

4
00:01:39,641 --> 00:01:43,812
Every black man has two, that
they're just black and they're a male.

5
00:01:43,895 --> 00:01:46,064
But you're black and you're a male
and you're gay.

6
00:01:46,148 --> 00:01:48,400
You're gonna have a hard fuckin' time.

7
00:01:48,483 --> 00:01:52,446
If you're gonna do this, you're gonna have
to be stronger than you ever imagined."

8
00:02:03,915 --> 00:02:05,125
Hold it.

9
00:02:05,208 --> 00:02:08,170
They have to open the door.
Y'all have to open that door too.

10
00:02:38,158 --> 00:02:39,534
Get off the floor.

11
00:02:40,577 --> 00:02:42,371
Get off the floor!

12
00:02:43,413 --> 00:02:48,377
Learn it, and learn it well.

13
00:02:51,463 --> 00:02:52,964
All right!

14
00:02:56,843 --> 00:02:58,387
All right, Miss Pepper!

15
00:03:15,737 --> 00:03:18,281
Girl, give me those motherfuckin' heels!

16
00:03:29,292 --> 00:03:32,170
Do you want me to say who I am
and all of that?

17
00:03:32,254 --> 00:03:34,923
- "I'm Pepper LaBeija, and..."
- Oh.

18
00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:42,055
I'm Pepper LaBeija, the legendary mother
of the House of LaBeija.

19
00:03:42,931 --> 00:03:44,266
Not the founder.

20
00:03:44,349 --> 00:03:46,351
Crystal was the founder. I'm...

21
00:03:46,435 --> 00:03:47,853
I just rule it now,

22
00:03:48,353 --> 00:03:49,855
with a soft glove.

23
00:03:51,148 --> 00:03:52,941
And it's important to me to be the mother,

24
00:03:53,024 --> 00:03:55,652
'cause there's so many little kids
that I have to look out for.

25
00:03:55,736 --> 00:03:59,573
Although they don't listen to me
and they buck my authority.

26
00:03:59,656 --> 00:04:02,200
I still think I rule it pretty well.
They like me.

27
00:04:02,284 --> 00:04:04,369
I'm one of the more popular ones.

28
00:04:04,453 --> 00:04:06,455
And I've been around for two decades.

29
00:04:06,997 --> 00:04:08,373
Reigning, that is.

30
00:04:08,457 --> 00:04:11,293
You know, I've got more grand prizes
than all the rest.

31
00:04:16,173 --> 00:04:20,927
Gay people, men,
gather together under one roof,

32
00:04:21,428 --> 00:04:25,599
and decide to have
a competition amongst themselves.

33
00:04:26,767 --> 00:04:27,893
Balls.

34
00:04:30,103 --> 00:04:31,855
I went to a ball,

35
00:04:31,938 --> 00:04:35,484
I got a trophy,
and now everybody wants to know me.

36
00:04:37,402 --> 00:04:43,116
This movie is about the ball circuit
and the gay crew that's involved in it,

37
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:49,080
and how each person's life
brought them to this circuit.

38
00:04:49,873 --> 00:04:52,793
It's like crossing into the looking glass.
VVondefland.

39
00:04:52,876 --> 00:04:57,923
You go in there and you feel,
you feel 10006 right

40
00:04:58,048 --> 00:04:59,508
as of be — being gay.

41
00:04:59,591 --> 00:05:01,343
That's not what it's like in the world?

42
00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:03,053
That's not what it's like in the world.

43
00:05:03,136 --> 00:05:04,721
That's not what it's like in the world.

44
00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:06,640
You know,
it should be like that in the world.

45
00:05:06,723 --> 00:05:08,892
This society,
they flip going to a football game.

46
00:05:08,975 --> 00:05:10,727
Basketball. That's their entertainment.

47
00:05:10,811 --> 00:05:13,230
You know, a ball is ours.
We prepare for a ball.

48
00:05:13,313 --> 00:05:15,065
We may spend more time
preparing for a ball

49
00:05:15,148 --> 00:05:17,442
than anybody would spend
preparing for anything else.

50
00:05:17,526 --> 00:05:20,237
- Exactly.
- A ball is like our world, you know.

51
00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,157
The balls to us is as close to reality
as we're gonna get

52
00:05:24,241 --> 00:05:28,453
to all of that fame and fortune
and stardom and spotlights.

53
00:05:29,287 --> 00:05:31,706
I'd always see
the way that rich people lived,

54
00:05:31,790 --> 00:05:35,210
and I'd feel it more, you know,
it would slap me in the face.

55
00:05:35,293 --> 00:05:39,297
I'd say, "I'd have to have that," because
I never felt comfortable being poor.

56
00:05:39,381 --> 00:05:40,757
I just don't.

57
00:05:40,841 --> 00:05:43,510
Or even middle class doesn't suit me.

58
00:05:45,262 --> 00:05:46,888
Seeing the riches,

59
00:05:46,972 --> 00:05:52,435
seeing the way people on <i>Dynasty</i> lived...
these huge houses.

60
00:05:52,519 --> 00:05:55,146
And I would think, "These people
have 42 rooms in their house.

61
00:05:55,230 --> 00:05:57,691
Oh, my God. What kind of a house is that?"

62
00:05:57,774 --> 00:06:00,694
And we've got three. So why is it
that they can have it and I didn't?

63
00:06:00,777 --> 00:06:01,987
I always felt cheated.

64
00:06:02,445 --> 00:06:04,823
I always felt
cheated out of things like that.

65
00:06:05,407 --> 00:06:08,785
You have space
to do all that you intend to.

66
00:06:09,411 --> 00:06:12,664
Now, the categories are Butch Queen,

67
00:06:12,747 --> 00:06:14,708
one through 17.

68
00:06:14,791 --> 00:06:17,252
And for the girls, 18 through 30.

69
00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:20,255
As far as all of y'all not walking,

70
00:06:20,338 --> 00:06:24,217
please realize that we all,
at one time or another,

71
00:06:24,301 --> 00:06:26,928
have lusted to walk a ballroom floor.

72
00:06:27,804 --> 00:06:32,809
So, give the patrons and the contestants,
you know, a round of applause for nerve.

73
00:06:33,810 --> 00:06:37,522
'Cause with y'all vicious motherfuckers,
it do take nerve.

74
00:06:37,606 --> 00:06:41,151
Believe me.
We're not going to be shady, just fierce.

75
00:06:41,610 --> 00:06:45,447
Those balls are more or less
like our fantasy of being a superstar.

76
00:06:45,530 --> 00:06:49,868
You know, like the Oscars or whatever.
Or being on a runway as a model.

77
00:06:50,452 --> 00:06:51,995
You know, a lot of those kids
that are in the balls,

78
00:06:52,078 --> 00:06:54,414
they don't have two of nothing.

79
00:06:54,497 --> 00:06:56,333
Some of them don't even eat.

80
00:06:56,416 --> 00:06:58,501
They come to balls starving.

81
00:06:58,585 --> 00:07:04,007
And they sleep in the under 21,
or they sleep on the pier or wherever.

82
00:07:04,424 --> 00:07:05,842
They don't have a home to go to,

83
00:07:05,926 --> 00:07:07,928
but they'll go out
and they'll steal something

84
00:07:08,011 --> 00:07:11,097
and get dressed up and come to a ball
for that one night and live the fantasy.

85
00:07:13,767 --> 00:07:18,730
A ball is, the very word,
whatever you want to be, you be.

86
00:07:19,230 --> 00:07:22,275
So at a ball, you have a chance
to display your arrogance,

87
00:07:22,359 --> 00:07:25,695
your seductiveness, your beauty,
your wit, your charm, your knowledge.

88
00:07:26,780 --> 00:07:29,366
You can become anything and do anything

89
00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:32,661
right here, right now,
and it won't be questioned.

90
00:07:32,744 --> 00:07:34,329
I came,

91
00:07:34,412 --> 00:07:37,082
- I saw, I conquered.
- You know what she want.

92
00:07:37,707 --> 00:07:38,875
That's a ball.

93
00:07:39,209 --> 00:07:42,462
Give her what she want.
She bring it to you every ball.

94
00:07:42,545 --> 00:07:44,547
Why are y'all gagging so?

95
00:07:45,173 --> 00:07:47,258
I guess I like the excitement.

96
00:07:47,342 --> 00:07:50,428
You know, cheering and screaming
if you were good.

97
00:07:51,721 --> 00:07:54,307
And that's what got me.
I like the competition.

98
00:07:55,308 --> 00:07:56,810
Makes me stronger.

99
00:07:56,893 --> 00:07:58,144
Makes me think more.

100
00:07:58,937 --> 00:08:01,856
Makes me want to come back and get them.

101
00:08:03,233 --> 00:08:04,901
It's not just the winning.

102
00:08:04,985 --> 00:08:05,986
It's...

103
00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:11,157
It's the giving too, 'cause I feel that
I give a lot of enjoyment

104
00:08:11,825 --> 00:08:13,994
to a lot of people that go to balls.

105
00:08:14,077 --> 00:08:16,871
And they enjoy to see it,
and I enjoy to walk for them.

106
00:08:16,955 --> 00:08:18,331
So, that's my...

107
00:08:19,791 --> 00:08:21,793
philosophy, as I should say.

108
00:08:23,211 --> 00:08:25,588
To be legendary is, like, their goals.

109
00:08:25,672 --> 00:08:27,007
To be legendary. You know.

110
00:08:27,090 --> 00:08:29,426
Let you know I'm legendary, you're not.

111
00:08:29,509 --> 00:08:31,761
You know, it feels good to them.

112
00:08:31,845 --> 00:08:32,846
- Like it's —
-An Oscar.

113
00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:35,140
- A Oscar, right.
- It's the same thing.

114
00:08:35,223 --> 00:08:38,393
Become a legend, you have an Oscar.
It's the same thing.

115
00:08:40,020 --> 00:08:42,564
I don't really consider myself
a real legend.

116
00:08:42,647 --> 00:08:46,234
I've — I've been at the balls
with the legendary children,

117
00:08:46,317 --> 00:08:49,154
and I've stamped myself
with the legendary children.

118
00:08:49,237 --> 00:08:53,033
But I'm really, I'm one of top
upcoming children, legendary.

119
00:08:53,116 --> 00:08:56,077
We have legendary children
and upcoming legendary children.

120
00:08:56,286 --> 00:08:59,080
We're the upcoming ones. We've been out
longer than the ones that are here now.

121
00:08:59,164 --> 00:09:00,248
Mm-hmm.

122
00:09:00,331 --> 00:09:03,209
And we done, had our...
We have our status in the ballroom.

123
00:09:08,423 --> 00:09:11,176
How long did it take you
to do the tank top?

124
00:09:11,634 --> 00:09:12,761
A-An hour.

125
00:09:12,844 --> 00:09:13,845
An hour?

126
00:09:13,928 --> 00:09:16,431
- Yes.
- You don't do that.

127
00:09:17,515 --> 00:09:20,268
It usually doesn't take you an hour
to do a shirt,

128
00:09:20,351 --> 00:09:21,811
especially a tank top.

129
00:09:21,895 --> 00:09:24,522
Mm-mmm. That's not your speed.

130
00:09:24,606 --> 00:09:26,232
Kim Pendavis!

131
00:09:26,816 --> 00:09:29,235
Statement: "Future legend."

132
00:09:32,030 --> 00:09:34,949
Kim and me have — We've been together.

133
00:09:35,033 --> 00:09:38,536
And it's more or less me.
I'm the one that's Kim's protégé.

134
00:09:39,496 --> 00:09:43,374
Because I go with Kim to the balls,
help him out, help him iron.

135
00:09:43,458 --> 00:09:47,253
'Cause if I don't go to a ball with him
and iron, I mean, he'll be there wrinkled.

136
00:09:48,088 --> 00:09:50,882
Or he'd be there ironing, but,

137
00:09:50,965 --> 00:09:54,761
you know, it helps out when
somebody else is there in your corner,

138
00:09:54,844 --> 00:09:58,181
at your side to say, "Yeah, you can do it.
You're gonna be fine.

139
00:09:58,264 --> 00:09:59,891
Just go out and do what you usually do."

140
00:10:01,476 --> 00:10:03,311
What do I get out of it?

141
00:10:03,394 --> 00:10:06,397
Just simple, you know, joy, satisfaction.

142
00:10:06,981 --> 00:10:10,610
That's it. Not — You know,
I don't really ask much.

143
00:10:10,693 --> 00:10:13,822
And then from time to time,
later on I can wear the outfit.

144
00:10:13,905 --> 00:10:15,740
Yeah!

145
00:10:16,533 --> 00:10:19,160
- Work!
- Everyone waiting in the wings,

146
00:10:19,244 --> 00:10:22,747
you know you have to make room
for Pepper LaBeija.

147
00:10:22,831 --> 00:10:24,541
Pepper LaBeija.

148
00:10:25,041 --> 00:10:27,919
Pepper LaBeija.
Give her some walking room.

149
00:10:28,002 --> 00:10:29,504
Liz Taylor is famous.

150
00:10:30,213 --> 00:10:31,589
Pepper LaBeija.

151
00:10:31,673 --> 00:10:34,467
- So is Pepper LaBeija.
- Pepper LaBeija.

152
00:10:38,388 --> 00:10:40,181
In a sense, so am I.

153
00:10:40,807 --> 00:10:43,518
But a very much different quantity.

154
00:10:45,478 --> 00:10:49,065
No magazine's gonna run up to cover me
if I go to a premiere.

155
00:10:50,817 --> 00:10:52,360
But it's still a fame.

156
00:10:52,443 --> 00:10:56,072
It's a small fame.
But you absorb it, you take it.

157
00:10:56,990 --> 00:10:58,283
And you like it.

158
00:10:58,825 --> 00:11:01,119
You like the adulation, the applause,

159
00:11:01,953 --> 00:11:03,705
the people cheering you on,

160
00:11:04,372 --> 00:11:05,456
the winning.

161
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,668
It's like a physical high.

162
00:11:08,751 --> 00:11:10,837
And you know, it's a good high.

163
00:11:12,714 --> 00:11:15,258
It's an addictive high, like all highs

164
00:11:16,050 --> 00:11:17,886
in the long run turn out to be,

165
00:11:17,969 --> 00:11:20,555
but it's a high that won't hurt you.

166
00:11:21,973 --> 00:11:26,519
If everybody went to balls
and... did less drugs,

167
00:11:26,603 --> 00:11:28,646
it'd be a fun world, wouldn't it?

168
00:11:29,731 --> 00:11:32,025
I'm dressing, of course, to go do a show,

169
00:11:32,108 --> 00:11:34,736
because
I've always done this professionally.

170
00:11:34,819 --> 00:11:36,154
And I was a dancer.

171
00:11:36,571 --> 00:11:41,659
And I'm trying to remember
when the first time I went to... a ball.

172
00:11:42,076 --> 00:11:46,706
That was the early-type ball
when everybody just walked,

173
00:11:46,789 --> 00:11:52,128
and they gave away like four or five
prizes in a very limited category.

174
00:11:52,212 --> 00:11:53,880
And the children now,

175
00:11:54,505 --> 00:11:58,509
most of them,
75% of the children you see at the ball

176
00:11:58,927 --> 00:12:02,513
wouldn't know what a ball was
if it knocked them in the head.

177
00:12:03,431 --> 00:12:06,601
When I first started going to balls,
it was all about drag queens,

178
00:12:06,684 --> 00:12:09,687
and they were interested in looking like
Las Vegas Showgirls.

179
00:12:09,771 --> 00:12:12,690
Backpieces, tailpieces, feathers,
beads and all that.

180
00:12:12,774 --> 00:12:16,569
But as the '703 rolled around,
the thing started changing.

181
00:12:16,653 --> 00:12:19,447
It started coming down to just wanting
to look like a gorgeous movie star,

182
00:12:19,530 --> 00:12:21,407
like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor.

183
00:12:21,491 --> 00:12:24,077
And now they've went from that
to trying to look like models

184
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,039
like Iman and Christie Brinkley
and Maud Adams and all those children.

185
00:12:28,623 --> 00:12:30,750
Everyone couldn't be a Las Vegas Showgirl.

186
00:12:30,833 --> 00:12:33,962
Everyone couldn't put on
a stack of feathers and a big headpiece.

187
00:12:34,045 --> 00:12:36,339
So they made the categories for everybody.

188
00:12:37,173 --> 00:12:41,094
That's what really made the balls change,
so there was more involvement.

189
00:12:42,095 --> 00:12:46,140
Everyone that goes to one of
these affairs now damn near participates.

190
00:12:46,724 --> 00:12:49,018
Eventually,
over the course of a year's balls,

191
00:12:49,102 --> 00:12:53,439
they've all walked the runway
in some category or another.

192
00:12:54,148 --> 00:12:58,528
Either you've got a nice body,
or you are very fashionable,

193
00:12:59,070 --> 00:13:00,905
or you're very pretty,

194
00:13:01,406 --> 00:13:04,158
or you're very real looking.

195
00:13:04,242 --> 00:13:06,577
But there's always something there
for everyone.

196
00:13:06,661 --> 00:13:08,329
And that's what keeps them all coming.

197
00:13:09,372 --> 00:13:11,374
And it's like — it's like in nature.

198
00:13:11,874 --> 00:13:13,710
I'm such a nature fan.

199
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:18,423
Young ones are always bucking to move
the — the old bulls out of the way.

200
00:13:18,506 --> 00:13:19,799
That's why they change,

201
00:13:20,216 --> 00:13:24,554
go through all these mad categories
that I never can stay awake for.

202
00:13:25,430 --> 00:13:28,766
Upcoming Pretty Girl, 1986,

203
00:13:28,850 --> 00:13:30,393
take it to the floor.

204
00:13:31,144 --> 00:13:33,396
They're showing off for the press.

205
00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:36,190
Audience,
please back up and give them air!

206
00:13:38,609 --> 00:13:42,363
Next category,
High Fashion Winter Sportswear,

207
00:13:42,447 --> 00:13:44,741
the Poconos versus the Catskills.

208
00:13:47,535 --> 00:13:49,329
Is there anyone walking?

209
00:13:50,204 --> 00:13:53,291
Some children were asking me
what I meant by "Miss Cheesecake."

210
00:13:53,374 --> 00:13:57,337
That means you must not only have a body,
but you must be sexy.

211
00:13:57,587 --> 00:13:59,714
A lot of people have bodies,
but are not sexy.

212
00:14:00,173 --> 00:14:01,758
Big body!

213
00:14:02,425 --> 00:14:04,927
Body! Body! Body!

214
00:14:06,179 --> 00:14:07,972
And toned!

215
00:14:08,306 --> 00:14:13,770
A body that says,
"Come up and see me sometime, big boy."

216
00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:16,939
Going to school. School.

217
00:14:17,398 --> 00:14:18,649
Elementary.

218
00:14:19,067 --> 00:14:20,318
High school.

219
00:14:20,401 --> 00:14:21,819
College.

220
00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,032
Not here. School.

221
00:14:31,245 --> 00:14:33,247
Looking like a girl going to school.

222
00:14:33,956 --> 00:14:36,501
Do she look like a girl going to school?

223
00:14:41,798 --> 00:14:43,341
Town and Country.

224
00:14:43,424 --> 00:14:45,676
Exclusively done.

225
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:46,969
Dupree!

226
00:14:47,053 --> 00:14:48,471
Dupree! Dupree!

227
00:14:50,348 --> 00:14:54,727
Get into their suits, I said.
The well-dressed men of the '80s.

228
00:14:54,811 --> 00:14:57,397
Get into the suits and get into the pumps.

229
00:14:58,189 --> 00:15:01,984
In real life,
you can't get a job as an executive

230
00:15:02,068 --> 00:15:06,489
unless you have the educational background
and the opportunity.

231
00:15:06,572 --> 00:15:08,741
Now,
the fact that you are not an executive

232
00:15:08,825 --> 00:15:11,536
is merely because of
the social standing of life.

233
00:15:12,286 --> 00:15:13,746
That is just pure thing.

234
00:15:13,830 --> 00:15:15,957
Black people
have a hard time getting anywhere.

235
00:15:16,707 --> 00:15:20,044
And those that do are usually straight.

236
00:15:20,461 --> 00:15:23,923
In a ballroom,
you can be anything you want.

237
00:15:24,006 --> 00:15:27,051
You're not really an executive,
but you're looking like an executive.

238
00:15:27,468 --> 00:15:31,097
And therefore you're showing the straight
world that "I can be an executive.

239
00:15:31,180 --> 00:15:35,059
If I had the opportunity, I could be one
because I can look like one."

240
00:15:35,143 --> 00:15:37,353
And that is like a fulfillment.

241
00:15:37,437 --> 00:15:41,524
Your peers, your friends are telling you,
"Oh, you'd make a wonderful executive."

242
00:15:41,607 --> 00:15:44,193
Is this the businessman
of the '80s or what?

243
00:15:45,194 --> 00:15:47,280
High-fashion Parisian.

244
00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:49,031
Model Yvette.

245
00:15:49,115 --> 00:15:51,159
<i>Chanté, chanté.</i>

246
00:15:51,242 --> 00:15:53,703
<i>Chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté.</i>

247
00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:55,496
Model!

248
00:15:56,956 --> 00:15:58,332
Thin!

249
00:15:58,416 --> 00:15:59,792
Streamlined!

250
00:16:00,209 --> 00:16:01,377
Trim!

251
00:16:02,044 --> 00:16:03,087
Model!

252
00:16:03,421 --> 00:16:07,633
The category is
Butch Queen First Time in Drags at a Ball.

253
00:16:08,050 --> 00:16:09,635
You know what I mean.

254
00:16:09,719 --> 00:16:11,012
You know what Paris means.

255
00:16:11,095 --> 00:16:12,722
Exactly! Butch queen!

256
00:16:12,805 --> 00:16:14,557
- Butch queen.
- Butch queen!

257
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,517
- Butch queen.
- Butch!

258
00:16:18,936 --> 00:16:22,315
First time in drag at a ball.
That's what I wanted to hear.

259
00:16:28,654 --> 00:16:31,324
The military scene is a basic scene.

260
00:16:31,407 --> 00:16:32,450
It doesn't call for

261
00:16:32,867 --> 00:16:38,080
a bunch of flamboyant turkey boas
and bugle beads, rhinestone.

262
00:16:38,164 --> 00:16:40,666
It's a basic category.

263
00:16:41,417 --> 00:16:43,419
The more natural you are,

264
00:16:43,961 --> 00:16:46,047
the more credit your outfit is given.

265
00:16:47,298 --> 00:16:49,884
Come on, now. It is a known fact

266
00:16:49,967 --> 00:16:53,679
that a woman do carry a evening bag
at dinnertime.

267
00:16:54,472 --> 00:16:56,682
There's no getting around that.

268
00:16:56,766 --> 00:17:00,978
You see it on Channel 7
between All My Children and <i>Jeopardy!</i>

269
00:17:01,938 --> 00:17:04,565
<i>Another World, Dallas and the</i> whole bit.

270
00:17:04,649 --> 00:17:06,275
A evening bag is a must.

271
00:17:06,984 --> 00:17:10,446
You have to carry something.
No lady is sure at night.

272
00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:13,449
With the current children,
the children that are young,

273
00:17:14,033 --> 00:17:16,536
they've gone to television, you know?

274
00:17:16,953 --> 00:17:19,247
I've been to several balls...

275
00:17:20,248 --> 00:17:22,333
and they've actually had categories.

276
00:17:23,167 --> 00:17:24,377
<i>Dynasty.</i>

277
00:17:25,169 --> 00:17:28,673
You know,
want you to look like Alexis or Krystle.

278
00:17:33,010 --> 00:17:36,681
And I guess that's just, urn,
a statement of the times.

279
00:17:37,473 --> 00:17:40,351
When I grew up,
you wanted to look like Marlene Dietrich,

280
00:17:40,434 --> 00:17:41,602
Betty Grable.

281
00:17:43,854 --> 00:17:47,275
Fortunately, I didn't know that
I really wanted to look like Lena Horne.

282
00:17:48,109 --> 00:17:50,528
When I grew up, of course, you know...

283
00:17:52,196 --> 00:17:54,240
black stars were stigmatized.

284
00:17:56,284 --> 00:17:58,452
Nobody wanted to look like Lena Horne.

285
00:17:59,328 --> 00:18:02,331
Everybody wanted to look like
Marilyn Monroe.

286
00:18:17,597 --> 00:18:20,933
When you're a man and a woman,
you can do anything.

287
00:18:21,684 --> 00:18:24,687
You can almost have sex on the streets
if you want to.

288
00:18:25,229 --> 00:18:28,566
The most somebody will say is,
"Hey, get a hump for me," you know.

289
00:18:28,649 --> 00:18:31,861
But when you're gay,
you monitor everything you do.

290
00:18:31,944 --> 00:18:35,865
You monitor how you look, how you dress,
how you talk, how you act.

291
00:18:36,365 --> 00:18:39,201
"Did they see me?
What did they think of me?"

292
00:18:47,418 --> 00:18:49,587
To be able to blend.

293
00:18:50,963 --> 00:18:52,548
That's what realness is.

294
00:19:01,015 --> 00:19:04,685
If you can pass the untrained eye,
or even the trained eye,

295
00:19:04,769 --> 00:19:07,730
and not give away
the fact that you're gay,

296
00:19:07,813 --> 00:19:09,231
that's when it's realness.

297
00:19:09,315 --> 00:19:10,524
Ba njee.

298
00:19:10,608 --> 00:19:12,485
Looking like the boy
that probably robbed you

299
00:19:12,568 --> 00:19:14,904
a few minutes
before you came to Paris's ball.

300
00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:22,370
The idea of realness
is to look as much as possible

301
00:19:22,453 --> 00:19:24,538
like your straight counterpart.

302
00:19:24,622 --> 00:19:28,626
Shake the dice and steal the rice!
Right here. Come on, baby.

303
00:19:29,877 --> 00:19:32,630
Yes, daddy,
I got my food stamps and card waiting.

304
00:19:33,047 --> 00:19:34,256
All right.

305
00:19:34,340 --> 00:19:37,343
Dust, coke, base, soap, Rolaids,
he got it.

306
00:19:38,594 --> 00:19:41,889
The realer you look,
it means you look like a real woman.

307
00:19:43,265 --> 00:19:45,643
Or you look like a real man.

308
00:19:46,811 --> 00:19:48,062
A straight man.

309
00:19:52,441 --> 00:19:57,238
Sweetheart, with the cigarette
you're giving me a banjee girl effect.

310
00:19:57,321 --> 00:19:58,739
This is Banjee.

311
00:19:59,990 --> 00:20:03,119
You know, the girls that be on the corner
talking about your man,

312
00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:05,871
one that can hang out with the roughest.

313
00:20:05,955 --> 00:20:08,916
It's not a takeoff or a satire.

314
00:20:08,999 --> 00:20:10,584
Can we have her score, please?

315
00:20:10,668 --> 00:20:13,295
No,
it's actually being able to be this.

316
00:20:13,963 --> 00:20:18,050
Brenda Xtravaganza
looking like a banjee girl.

317
00:20:19,385 --> 00:20:20,386
Ba njee.

318
00:20:20,511 --> 00:20:21,887
Banjee girl realness.

319
00:20:21,971 --> 00:20:24,807
You know, one that can take
her little baby brother to school.

320
00:20:24,890 --> 00:20:29,603
One that say, "You know, hey — I saw
those things walking down the street."

321
00:20:29,687 --> 00:20:32,356
It's really a case of
going back into the closet.

322
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:33,441
Ten!

323
00:20:34,066 --> 00:20:35,901
Ten! Ten!

324
00:20:35,985 --> 00:20:37,778
Ten! Ten!

325
00:20:37,862 --> 00:20:39,280
Are there any more?

326
00:20:39,363 --> 00:20:41,866
Okay, girls, have we come to a decision?

327
00:20:42,616 --> 00:20:45,161
They give the society
what they want to see,

328
00:20:45,244 --> 00:20:46,454
so they won't be questioned.

329
00:20:46,537 --> 00:20:51,083
Rather than having to go through
prejudices about your life and lifestyle,

330
00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:54,712
you can walk around confidently,
blending in with everybody else.

331
00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:59,592
You've erased all the mistakes,
all the flaws, all the giveaways

332
00:21:00,009 --> 00:21:02,178
to make your illusion perfect.

333
00:21:02,928 --> 00:21:04,805
Bernie,

334
00:21:04,889 --> 00:21:06,599
Diane, Frank.

335
00:21:06,682 --> 00:21:08,142
My mother knew I had trophies,

336
00:21:08,225 --> 00:21:10,394
but I was telling her
I'd won 'em for basketball.

337
00:21:10,478 --> 00:21:12,772
I had won trophies for running track.

338
00:21:12,855 --> 00:21:15,483
I was walking up 145th Street
with my girlfriends.

339
00:21:15,566 --> 00:21:18,486
I had on white hot pants,
a chiffon blouse,

340
00:21:18,569 --> 00:21:20,070
a ponytail.

341
00:21:20,154 --> 00:21:22,281
My father was waiting for the light
in his car

342
00:21:22,364 --> 00:21:24,533
and he saw me, he recognized me.

343
00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:29,205
And he went straight to my house before
I could get there and told my mother,

344
00:21:29,288 --> 00:21:30,998
"Your son is a woman."

345
00:21:31,624 --> 00:21:33,751
She didn't press it then.

346
00:21:33,834 --> 00:21:37,963
But, like, maybe a few months later
when she noticed that I had breasts,

347
00:21:38,047 --> 00:21:40,216
everything started coming together.

348
00:21:40,925 --> 00:21:42,968
She really was devastated.

349
00:21:43,427 --> 00:21:46,680
"How could you have breasts bigger
than mine? You're growing nails.

350
00:21:46,764 --> 00:21:49,558
You're becoming a woman
right before my very eyes.

351
00:21:49,642 --> 00:21:52,394
I can't hold my head up. I'm embarrassed."

352
00:21:52,478 --> 00:21:53,687
She still loved me,

353
00:21:53,771 --> 00:21:58,901
but the nagging and the, oh, my God,
about this women's clothes.

354
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,862
And when I had women's clothes
stashed in my closet

355
00:22:01,946 --> 00:22:04,031
and she found them,
she would destroy them.

356
00:22:04,114 --> 00:22:05,658
She burnt up a mink coat.

357
00:22:05,741 --> 00:22:08,118
I was so devastated.

358
00:22:08,536 --> 00:22:12,289
She smelled the perfume I liked to wear,
which was Jungle Gardenia at the time.

359
00:22:12,706 --> 00:22:14,917
She said, "This ain't no girl's coat.
This is your coat."

360
00:22:15,376 --> 00:22:19,255
Took it downstairs in the backyard
of the building and burnt it.

361
00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:21,340
And I stood there and cried like a baby.

362
00:22:21,757 --> 00:22:25,803
As long I have the mustache and all that,
it's cute for me.

363
00:22:25,886 --> 00:22:28,597
She don't want me being in girls' clothes.
She can't take it.

364
00:22:31,392 --> 00:22:32,852
When they're undetectable,

365
00:22:32,935 --> 00:22:37,314
when they can walk out of that ballroom
into the sunlight and onto the subway

366
00:22:37,398 --> 00:22:40,276
and get home
and still have all their clothes

367
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,028
and no blood running off their bodies,

368
00:22:43,112 --> 00:22:46,198
those are the femme realness queens.

369
00:22:46,615 --> 00:22:50,536
And usually
it's a category for young queens.

370
00:22:50,619 --> 00:22:52,830
Some of them say that we're sick,

371
00:22:53,455 --> 00:22:54,999
we're crazy,

372
00:22:55,082 --> 00:22:59,461
and some of them think that we are the
most gorgeous, special things on earth.

373
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,552
I would like to be a spoiled,
rich white girl.

374
00:23:07,219 --> 00:23:10,139
They get what they want
whenever they want it,

375
00:23:10,222 --> 00:23:13,559
and they don't have to really struggle

376
00:23:13,642 --> 00:23:17,146
with finances and nice things,
nice clothes,

377
00:23:17,229 --> 00:23:20,608
and they don't have to...
have that as a problem.

378
00:23:21,442 --> 00:23:25,321
I don't feel that there's
anything mannish about me,

379
00:23:25,404 --> 00:23:29,450
except maybe
what I might have between me down there.

380
00:23:30,159 --> 00:23:32,369
Which is my little personal thing, so...

381
00:23:33,037 --> 00:23:36,874
I guess that's why I want my sex change,
to make myself complete.

382
00:23:38,125 --> 00:23:40,920
I was about 13, 14 years old,

383
00:23:41,003 --> 00:23:45,007
and I used to do it
behind my family's back, just dressing up,

384
00:23:45,090 --> 00:23:47,009
till finally they caught on with it.

385
00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:50,638
And I didn't want to embarrass them,
so that's when I moved away.

386
00:23:50,721 --> 00:23:52,431
She's off to the opera!

387
00:23:52,598 --> 00:23:55,100
I moved to New York
and I continue doing it.

388
00:23:58,228 --> 00:24:02,524
When someone has rejection from
their mother and father, their family,

389
00:24:02,608 --> 00:24:05,694
they — when they get out in the world,
they search.

390
00:24:05,778 --> 00:24:07,529
They search for someone to fill that void.

391
00:24:07,613 --> 00:24:12,284
I know this for experience, because for —
because I've had kids come to me...

392
00:24:12,952 --> 00:24:15,621
and latch hold of me

393
00:24:15,704 --> 00:24:18,499
like I'm their mother,
or like I'm their father.

394
00:24:18,582 --> 00:24:21,752
'Cause they can talk to me, and...
I'm gay, and they're gay.

395
00:24:21,835 --> 00:24:27,257
And that's where a lot of that "ballness"
and the mother business comes in.

396
00:24:27,341 --> 00:24:31,261
Because their real parents
give them such a hard way to go...

397
00:24:32,554 --> 00:24:35,933
they look up to me to fill that void.

398
00:24:38,936 --> 00:24:41,230
- How old are you?
- I'm 15.

399
00:24:41,313 --> 00:24:43,065
What time is it?

400
00:24:43,148 --> 00:24:45,651
Right here, homeboy.
Look at the time over there, 2:26.

401
00:24:45,734 --> 00:24:47,987
- And y'all — how old are you?
- Me, I'm 13.

402
00:24:48,070 --> 00:24:50,155
Thirteen and you're out here at 2:26?

403
00:24:50,239 --> 00:24:52,408
- Where you live?
- Me, I live in Harlem.

404
00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:53,993
And why you down here?
Where's your mother?

405
00:24:54,076 --> 00:24:56,078
Hanging out. I don't have a mother.

406
00:24:56,161 --> 00:24:58,038
Everybody has a mother,
or we wouldn't be here.

407
00:24:58,122 --> 00:24:59,873
- Where's your mother?
- She's gone.

408
00:24:59,957 --> 00:25:01,834
- Where's your father?
- He's gone too.

409
00:25:01,917 --> 00:25:03,877
- So who you live with?
- With a friend.

410
00:25:03,961 --> 00:25:06,714
- And you too?
- I live with my mother in the Bronx.

411
00:25:07,297 --> 00:25:10,009
- And y'all just hanging out like this.
- Hanging out, right there inside.

412
00:25:10,134 --> 00:25:13,762
A lot of these kids that I meet
now, they come from such sad backgrounds,

413
00:25:13,846 --> 00:25:16,598
you know, broken homes or no home at all.

414
00:25:16,682 --> 00:25:19,810
And then the few that do have family,
when the family finds that they're gay,

415
00:25:19,893 --> 00:25:21,353
they "X" them completely.

416
00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:26,275
A house? A house? Let's see.

417
00:25:26,358 --> 00:25:28,444
Let's see if we can put it down sharply.

418
00:25:28,527 --> 00:25:30,612
They're families. You can say that.

419
00:25:30,696 --> 00:25:32,031
They're families...

420
00:25:32,614 --> 00:25:34,992
for a lot of children
who don't have families.

421
00:25:38,078 --> 00:25:40,289
But this is a new meaning of family.

422
00:25:40,372 --> 00:25:44,251
The hippies had families,
and no one thought nothing about it.

423
00:25:44,334 --> 00:25:47,796
It wasn't a question of
a man and a woman and children,

424
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,882
which we grew up knowing as a family.

425
00:25:49,965 --> 00:25:54,511
It's a question of a group of human beings
in a mutual bond.

426
00:26:07,024 --> 00:26:10,819
You know what a house is.
I'll tell you what a house is.

427
00:26:10,903 --> 00:26:13,072
A house is a gay street gang.

428
00:26:13,947 --> 00:26:18,243
Now, where street gangs get their rewards
from street fights,

429
00:26:18,911 --> 00:26:22,164
a gay house street-fights at a ball.

430
00:26:22,790 --> 00:26:26,210
And you street-fight at a ball
by walking in the categories.

431
00:26:31,298 --> 00:26:35,844
The houses started
because you wanted a name.

432
00:26:36,386 --> 00:26:38,931
The people that the houses are named after

433
00:26:39,473 --> 00:26:44,311
were ball walkers
who became known for winning.

434
00:26:46,897 --> 00:26:49,983
Work, Paris Dupree.

435
00:26:50,067 --> 00:26:51,360
Work, Paris.

436
00:26:51,443 --> 00:26:53,654
After the first few houses were started

437
00:26:53,737 --> 00:26:56,156
and named after people
who had won trophies,

438
00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,911
they also would create houses, like
a new group of kids would create a house.

439
00:27:00,994 --> 00:27:03,539
Then they'd work at building its name up,
which worked.

440
00:27:03,622 --> 00:27:06,125
The House of Xtravaganza,
the House of Saint Laurent.

441
00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:08,043
Overness.

442
00:27:08,127 --> 00:27:09,253
Pendavis.

443
00:27:09,336 --> 00:27:10,712
Adonis.

444
00:27:10,796 --> 00:27:11,797
LeMay.

445
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,632
Pendavis.

446
00:27:13,715 --> 00:27:15,259
Saint Laurent, of course.

447
00:27:18,011 --> 00:27:19,012
Dupree.

448
00:27:19,888 --> 00:27:25,185
They saw me and they all liked me,
all the rest of the Xtravaganzas.

449
00:27:25,727 --> 00:27:28,856
And they decided, "Well,
if you want to become an Xtravaganza,

450
00:27:28,939 --> 00:27:31,191
you have to walk a ball for us.

451
00:27:31,275 --> 00:27:35,154
And if you snatch a trophy,
then you can become the Xtravaganza."

452
00:27:35,821 --> 00:27:38,323
That's how it's supposed to work
with any — everyone.

453
00:27:38,824 --> 00:27:39,825
But, uh...

454
00:27:40,701 --> 00:27:42,452
like that, it wasn't with me.

455
00:27:42,536 --> 00:27:44,454
I just became an Xtravaganza.

456
00:27:46,081 --> 00:27:49,543
Hector Xtravaganza.
He's the one who started the house.

457
00:27:49,626 --> 00:27:52,754
He was the first gay man I ever met.

458
00:27:52,838 --> 00:27:56,550
The first time he took me to the Village,
which was my birthday,

459
00:27:56,633 --> 00:27:59,469
I had just turned 15 years old.

460
00:27:59,553 --> 00:28:04,141
And he threw a party for me... out there.
He bought me a cake.

461
00:28:04,766 --> 00:28:08,103
I met a lot of drag queens, transvestites

462
00:28:08,187 --> 00:28:11,815
that I didn't believe were
because they were so beautiful.

463
00:28:11,899 --> 00:28:14,151
And that kind of sunk into my head.

464
00:28:14,234 --> 00:28:17,237
And I guess that's why it kind of made me
want to even do it more.

465
00:28:17,321 --> 00:28:20,365
They treat each other like sisters.

466
00:28:20,449 --> 00:28:22,910
Sisters or brothers,

467
00:28:23,493 --> 00:28:25,078
or mothers or...

468
00:28:27,414 --> 00:28:30,000
you know, like I say,
"Oh, that's my sister,"

469
00:28:30,083 --> 00:28:32,127
because she's gay too, and I'm gay,

470
00:28:32,211 --> 00:28:35,005
and she's a drag queen or whatever.

471
00:28:35,797 --> 00:28:40,344
My mother is Angie Xtravaganza
and my father is David Xtravaganza.

472
00:28:41,094 --> 00:28:43,764
The House of Xtravaganza has done a lot.

473
00:28:43,847 --> 00:28:46,350
It's made me feel like I have a family.

474
00:28:46,433 --> 00:28:47,893
We're always together. We're always —

475
00:28:47,976 --> 00:28:50,896
If we're not together,
we always speak on the phone.

476
00:28:51,313 --> 00:28:54,983
My name is Angie Xtravaganza, and I am
the mother of the House of Xtravaganza.

477
00:28:56,985 --> 00:28:59,613
When there's a ball, I'm always doing
something for everybody in my house.

478
00:28:59,696 --> 00:29:02,115
I do that one's hair,
the other one's makeup, you know,

479
00:29:02,199 --> 00:29:04,618
choose their shoes, their accessories.

480
00:29:04,701 --> 00:29:06,411
I always offer advice, you know,

481
00:29:06,495 --> 00:29:10,415
I mean, as far as what I know
and what I've been through in gay life.

482
00:29:10,499 --> 00:29:12,668
You know,
I ran away from my house when I was 14,

483
00:29:12,751 --> 00:29:15,462
and I've learned all sorts of things,
good and bad.

484
00:29:15,545 --> 00:29:18,799
And how to survive in gay world, you know,
it's kind of hard.

485
00:29:18,882 --> 00:29:22,511
Xtravaganza power!

486
00:29:23,345 --> 00:29:25,597
I bought her her tits. I paid for them.

487
00:29:25,681 --> 00:29:27,516
- He paid for my tits.
- I paid for these implants.

488
00:29:27,599 --> 00:29:29,226
- My tit.
- I gave my mother her implants.

489
00:29:29,309 --> 00:29:31,645
- Shake them tits, mommy.
- Shake those tits, mama.

490
00:29:31,728 --> 00:29:32,896
He paid for my tits.

491
00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:40,279
And we gave 'em to her.

492
00:29:44,074 --> 00:29:47,119
Our mother even nurses us!
She's a good woman.

493
00:29:47,202 --> 00:29:48,453
She nourishes us.

494
00:29:52,958 --> 00:29:57,379
From the House of Xtravaganza,
for Mother of the Year,

495
00:29:57,462 --> 00:29:59,548
keeping her children intact.

496
00:30:00,173 --> 00:30:03,510
Can we have Angie Xtravaganza?

497
00:30:06,763 --> 00:30:09,725
Work for us, girl. Walk that runway.

498
00:30:10,934 --> 00:30:13,312
This is from Andre Christian, girl.

499
00:30:13,729 --> 00:30:16,690
My birthday will come and I always
get a birthday gift from Angie.

500
00:30:17,482 --> 00:30:19,443
Won't get one from my real mother.

501
00:30:19,985 --> 00:30:22,112
Like when I got thrown out of my house,

502
00:30:22,195 --> 00:30:26,825
Angie let me stay with her till
I got myself together and I got working.

503
00:30:26,908 --> 00:30:28,702
She always fed me.

504
00:30:28,785 --> 00:30:30,537
She can be a pain in the ass sometimes,

505
00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:32,622
but I wouldn't trade her
for any other mother.

506
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:36,585
Ninja.

507
00:30:36,668 --> 00:30:40,505
You know, you have to have
something to offer in order to lead.

508
00:30:40,589 --> 00:30:42,007
The mother usually becomes the mother

509
00:30:42,090 --> 00:30:44,509
because she's usually
the best one out of the group.

510
00:30:44,926 --> 00:30:47,304
I'm Willi Ninja,
the mother of the House of Ninja.

511
00:30:47,721 --> 00:30:49,389
Give him what he wants!

512
00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:52,434
I'm the mother of the House of Ninja

513
00:30:52,517 --> 00:30:55,354
because they say I'm the best voguer out.

514
00:30:56,313 --> 00:30:59,524
To be the mother of the house,
you have to have the most power.

515
00:30:59,608 --> 00:31:03,320
Take a real family,
it's the mother that's the hardest worker,

516
00:31:03,403 --> 00:31:05,530
and the mother gets the most respect.

517
00:31:05,614 --> 00:31:09,409
As far as my naming my house
the House of Ninja,

518
00:31:09,493 --> 00:31:12,496
ninjas hit hard, they hit fast.

519
00:31:12,579 --> 00:31:14,081
An invisible assassin.

520
00:31:14,164 --> 00:31:17,167
And that's what we are.
We come out to assassinate.

521
00:31:18,126 --> 00:31:21,755
The House of LaBeija
is the legendary house above all of 'em.

522
00:31:21,838 --> 00:31:24,091
I have the most members,
I'm the most popular.

523
00:31:24,174 --> 00:31:26,760
New York City
is wrapped up in being LaBeija.

524
00:31:26,843 --> 00:31:31,681
So... it speaks for itself. And I am
the fiercest mother out of all of 'em.

525
00:31:32,140 --> 00:31:34,684
LaBeija?
I wouldn't be caught dead in that house.

526
00:31:34,768 --> 00:31:36,978
I'm sorry. I don't see that house.

527
00:31:37,062 --> 00:31:41,608
Only reason I see my house, Pendavis,
is because Kim and Avis.

528
00:31:41,691 --> 00:31:42,943
'Cause both of them walked.

529
00:31:43,026 --> 00:31:46,822
And at the last ball,
Avis showed her goddamn ass off!

530
00:31:47,239 --> 00:31:51,535
They call them competitions.
But believe me, they're wars.

531
00:31:51,952 --> 00:31:54,162
And they often do lead to fights.

532
00:31:55,414 --> 00:31:59,459
The emotions be very high. They're
very intense — very intense affairs.

533
00:32:00,377 --> 00:32:03,380
But I guess that's what makes them fun,
like a good movie.

534
00:32:03,463 --> 00:32:05,006
If there's no emotion...

535
00:32:06,633 --> 00:32:07,634
you don't enjoy it.

536
00:32:07,717 --> 00:32:12,722
I don't talk too much about the ball kids,
because I want them to talk about me.

537
00:32:12,806 --> 00:32:14,474
Because I haven't walked yet.

538
00:32:14,558 --> 00:32:16,518
And it's like, well, William says,

539
00:32:16,601 --> 00:32:19,563
"I want you to walk in my ball.
I want you to walk in my ball."

540
00:32:19,646 --> 00:32:22,232
And I keep telling William, I say,
"I'll walk when I walk.

541
00:32:22,315 --> 00:32:25,735
I'll walk when I want, not when you want.
I'll walk when I want."

542
00:32:25,819 --> 00:32:29,156
And so far,
I don't know when I'm gonna walk.

543
00:32:29,239 --> 00:32:33,326
I'm thinking somewhat
around the time of the Legends Ball.

544
00:32:33,743 --> 00:32:35,120
But don't quote me on that.

545
00:32:35,203 --> 00:32:40,000
I mean, it really causes hate, actually,
between two individuals.

546
00:32:40,083 --> 00:32:42,252
It's like a war on the floor.

547
00:32:42,335 --> 00:32:45,589
Like World War III.
But the only thing about it, they're gay.

548
00:32:53,221 --> 00:32:54,848
Now — I'll cut the music.

549
00:32:54,931 --> 00:32:56,725
Now, I said...

550
00:32:56,808 --> 00:33:00,187
I said, men's garments!

551
00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:01,271
What?

552
00:33:01,354 --> 00:33:03,482
He look like he had on a man's fox coat.

553
00:33:03,565 --> 00:33:05,901
Tell this child
where are the men's garments!

554
00:33:05,984 --> 00:33:08,487
I paid for it, motherfucker!
A man bought it!

555
00:33:08,570 --> 00:33:10,113
It buttons on the right side!

556
00:33:10,197 --> 00:33:11,615
The judges said...

557
00:33:11,698 --> 00:33:13,366
It buttons on the right side!

558
00:33:14,159 --> 00:33:16,620
Someone came up and told the emcee —

559
00:33:16,703 --> 00:33:17,704
Are you a judge?

560
00:33:17,787 --> 00:33:19,206
...that it was a woman's coat.

561
00:33:20,123 --> 00:33:23,084
I thought it was kind of silly to nitpick.

562
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,923
Ooh, that's shady! They throwing shade
at him. I can't believe it.

563
00:33:28,006 --> 00:33:29,883
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

564
00:33:29,966 --> 00:33:32,302
Wait a minute. Wait a minute now.

565
00:33:32,385 --> 00:33:34,471
- Let's not get loud.
- David, David.

566
00:33:35,096 --> 00:33:36,097
Now, David.

567
00:33:36,181 --> 00:33:37,265
David.

568
00:33:37,349 --> 00:33:38,391
David.

569
00:33:38,475 --> 00:33:41,311
That's the one thing
that I find faulty with the balls.

570
00:33:41,811 --> 00:33:43,730
After they've laid down
these little categories,

571
00:33:43,813 --> 00:33:47,901
then they try to become a stickler
for exact interpretation.

572
00:33:48,318 --> 00:33:52,113
Merely a point to...
discredit the contestant.

573
00:33:52,197 --> 00:33:54,574
Like in the Olympics
where the Russian judge

574
00:33:54,658 --> 00:33:59,996
brought the fact that the American coach
had stepped onto the floor,

575
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,708
and that was a disqualification for the,
uh, contestant.

576
00:34:04,334 --> 00:34:05,752
Just as picky as a ball.

577
00:34:07,462 --> 00:34:10,799
So those little flaws like that,
that's because that's a part of shade.

578
00:34:10,882 --> 00:34:15,262
That's the idea, knock 'em out if you can.
Get 'em any way, hit 'em below the belt.

579
00:34:15,345 --> 00:34:16,972
It was typed out!

580
00:34:17,055 --> 00:34:19,808
Where is it? Where is it?
Where is it? Where?

581
00:34:19,891 --> 00:34:21,810
Stop! This is no ball.

582
00:34:22,352 --> 00:34:24,145
Shade comes from reading.

583
00:34:24,688 --> 00:34:26,398
Reading came first.

584
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:28,441
Reading

585
00:34:29,234 --> 00:34:32,779
is the real art form of insult.

586
00:34:32,862 --> 00:34:36,992
Now you wanna talk about reading?
Let's talk about reading.

587
00:34:38,326 --> 00:34:40,620
What is wrong with you, Pedro?
Are you going through it?

588
00:34:40,704 --> 00:34:43,957
You're going through some kind of
psychological change in your life?

589
00:34:44,916 --> 00:34:48,003
- She went back to be a man.
- Oh, you went back to being a man.

590
00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:50,463
Touch this skin, darling.

591
00:34:50,547 --> 00:34:54,009
Touch this skin, honey.
Touch all of this skin.

592
00:34:54,092 --> 00:34:55,343
Okay?

593
00:34:55,427 --> 00:34:57,345
You just can't take it.

594
00:34:57,429 --> 00:35:00,473
You're just an overgrown orangutan.

595
00:35:00,557 --> 00:35:04,978
You get in a smart crack,
and everyone laughs and kee-kees

596
00:35:05,061 --> 00:35:07,772
because you found a flaw
and exaggerated it.

597
00:35:07,856 --> 00:35:09,608
Then you've got a good read going.

598
00:35:10,108 --> 00:35:11,526
I am a person just like you.

599
00:35:11,610 --> 00:35:15,071
You cut me, I bleed the same way you do.
I bleed the same color.

600
00:35:15,155 --> 00:35:18,074
If it's happening between
the gay world and the straight world,

601
00:35:18,158 --> 00:35:19,993
it's not really a read.

602
00:35:20,076 --> 00:35:23,330
It's more of an insult,
a vicious slur fight.

603
00:35:23,413 --> 00:35:25,707
See, see? There go my sister right there.

604
00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:29,586
She don't even want to even admit
that she my sister. She a bulldagger.

605
00:35:29,669 --> 00:35:33,089
But it's how they develop
a sense of how to read.

606
00:35:33,173 --> 00:35:34,883
That's my husband right there.

607
00:35:35,717 --> 00:35:37,469
And that's my girlfriend right there.

608
00:35:37,552 --> 00:35:39,763
They may call you
a faggot or a drag queen,

609
00:35:39,846 --> 00:35:41,514
you find something to call them.

610
00:35:41,598 --> 00:35:45,769
But then,
when you are all of the same thing,

611
00:35:45,852 --> 00:35:48,521
then you have to go to the fine point.

612
00:35:48,605 --> 00:35:51,358
In other words, if I'm a black queen
and you're a black queen,

613
00:35:51,441 --> 00:35:54,027
we can't call each other black queens
'cause we're both black queens.

614
00:35:54,110 --> 00:35:55,945
That's not a read. That's just a fact.

615
00:35:56,029 --> 00:35:58,573
So then we talk about
your ridiculous shape,

616
00:35:58,657 --> 00:36:01,660
your fa — saggy face, your tacky clothes.

617
00:36:01,743 --> 00:36:03,328
- Let me see what you are.
- Spreading lies!

618
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:04,704
- Let's see.
- No paint!

619
00:36:04,788 --> 00:36:07,374
- Yes, it's paint! It's paint!
- No motherfuckin' paint, girl!

620
00:36:07,499 --> 00:36:09,959
What?
She wears more makeup than my mother did!

621
00:36:10,043 --> 00:36:15,215
Then reading became a developed form
where it became shade.

622
00:36:15,298 --> 00:36:18,551
Shade is, "I don't tell you you're ugly,

623
00:36:18,635 --> 00:36:22,597
but I don't have to tell you
because you know you're ugly."

624
00:36:22,681 --> 00:36:24,015
And that's shade.

625
00:36:27,018 --> 00:36:28,937
Pump.

626
00:36:29,020 --> 00:36:30,021
Dip.

627
00:36:30,939 --> 00:36:33,024
Spin.

628
00:36:33,108 --> 00:36:34,109
Pump.

629
00:36:35,068 --> 00:36:37,362
Dip. Spin.

630
00:36:37,445 --> 00:36:39,030
Voguing is the same thing as like,

631
00:36:39,114 --> 00:36:41,533
taking two knives and
cutting each other up,

632
00:36:41,616 --> 00:36:43,743
but through a dance form.

633
00:36:44,369 --> 00:36:47,455
Pump. Dip. Spin.

634
00:36:47,539 --> 00:36:49,624
Vogue. Dip.

635
00:36:49,708 --> 00:36:53,336
Go turn it out.

636
00:36:53,420 --> 00:36:56,214
Voguing came from shade,
because it was a dance

637
00:36:56,631 --> 00:36:58,842
that two people did
because they didn't like each other.

638
00:36:58,925 --> 00:37:02,846
Instead of fighting,
you would dance it out on the dance floor.

639
00:37:02,929 --> 00:37:06,683
And whoever did the better moves
was throwing the best shade, basically.

640
00:37:07,308 --> 00:37:10,478
No touching. Neither one of you.

641
00:37:10,562 --> 00:37:13,273
If you touch, I'm chopping you.
I'm telling you right now.

642
00:37:13,356 --> 00:37:16,109
You could take
the pantomime form of the vogue.

643
00:37:16,192 --> 00:37:18,111
This is what generally sometimes I do is,

644
00:37:18,194 --> 00:37:21,740
I make my hand into a form
like a compact or a makeup kit.

645
00:37:21,823 --> 00:37:26,703
And I'm like beating my face with blush,
shadows, or whatever to the music.

646
00:37:26,786 --> 00:37:30,999
Then usually I'll turn the compact around
to face that person,

647
00:37:31,082 --> 00:37:35,044
meaning, like, almost like my hand
is a mirror for them to get a look.

648
00:37:35,128 --> 00:37:37,213
Then I'll start doing their face,

649
00:37:37,297 --> 00:37:41,468
because what they have on their face
right now needs a dramatic makeup job.

650
00:37:42,802 --> 00:37:45,597
So voguing's like
a safe form of throwing shade.

651
00:37:46,055 --> 00:37:48,016
Paris Dupree.

652
00:37:48,099 --> 00:37:49,100
Work.

653
00:37:49,184 --> 00:37:51,102
Paris Dupree.

654
00:37:51,186 --> 00:37:52,771
Work. Ooh!

655
00:37:52,854 --> 00:37:55,940
All right, Miss Fishy. Ooh.
Go knock off Miss Paris.

656
00:38:06,868 --> 00:38:09,078
Come on, baby. Take your time.

657
00:38:09,162 --> 00:38:10,789
Bring it to the judges.

658
00:38:11,206 --> 00:38:14,375
Judges, get into the form and the style.
Work.

659
00:38:14,876 --> 00:38:16,127
Let's hear it for her!

660
00:38:16,211 --> 00:38:18,671
The name was taken from
the magazine Vogue

661
00:38:18,755 --> 00:38:21,257
because some of the movements of the dance

662
00:38:21,341 --> 00:38:24,511
are also the same as
the poses inside the magazine.

663
00:38:25,887 --> 00:38:29,599
The name is a statement in itself.

664
00:38:31,059 --> 00:38:34,646
I mean, you really wouldn't go to a ball
to do the Mademoiselle.

665
00:38:35,063 --> 00:38:36,272
No way.

666
00:38:36,773 --> 00:38:40,109
Now I want all of you
to get up on the floor!

667
00:38:40,527 --> 00:38:42,570
New York and Jersey.

668
00:38:44,656 --> 00:38:46,908
Wake up! Come on!

669
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:52,580
All right. This is Saint Laurent.

670
00:38:54,707 --> 00:38:57,377
This is Overness.

671
00:39:02,257 --> 00:39:05,093
Whoo! Show 'em how to do that. Mm-mm-mm.

672
00:39:07,220 --> 00:39:08,263
Ouch!

673
00:39:08,346 --> 00:39:12,892
Work! Work! Work! Work! Work!

674
00:39:14,769 --> 00:39:16,187
Like break dancing,

675
00:39:16,271 --> 00:39:21,901
the dance takes from
the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt.

676
00:39:22,318 --> 00:39:25,864
It also takes from
some forms of gymnastics.

677
00:39:26,406 --> 00:39:28,408
They both strive for

678
00:39:28,825 --> 00:39:32,078
perfect lines in the body,
awkward positions,

679
00:39:32,161 --> 00:39:33,705
but it goes one step further.

680
00:39:35,331 --> 00:39:39,586
It's starting to make a name for itself,
but I want it to be known worldwide,

681
00:39:39,669 --> 00:39:42,130
and I want to be on top of it
when it hits.

682
00:39:42,547 --> 00:39:46,801
I want to take voguing
not to just Paris is Burning,

683
00:39:47,594 --> 00:39:49,971
but I want to take it to the real Paris...

684
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,099
and make the real Paris burn.

685
00:39:53,516 --> 00:39:55,894
That's what I wanna do,
and not just there,

686
00:39:56,227 --> 00:39:57,937
but to other countries as well.

687
00:39:58,271 --> 00:40:00,148
My house name is Ninja...

688
00:40:01,566 --> 00:40:04,861
and I would really like
to take my whole house and go to Japan...

689
00:40:05,904 --> 00:40:08,990
and really let loose and do it
and have them accept it there.

690
00:40:09,073 --> 00:40:10,867
I want to be a big star.

691
00:40:12,493 --> 00:40:17,582
Uh... known, generally,
every corner of the world.

692
00:40:20,418 --> 00:40:23,755
You know, maybe as a choreographer,

693
00:40:24,505 --> 00:40:25,840
a famous dancer,

694
00:40:26,758 --> 00:40:27,926
a singer.

695
00:40:28,426 --> 00:40:29,427
All of them.

696
00:40:29,844 --> 00:40:33,681
What the balls has to do with that,
as far as the dance field,

697
00:40:33,765 --> 00:40:35,808
is maybe perfect my craft a little better,

698
00:40:36,684 --> 00:40:39,145
to learn new things...

699
00:40:39,562 --> 00:40:43,066
new ideas,
and bring 'em to the real world.

700
00:40:46,361 --> 00:40:49,906
It's been really unbelievable, my life.

701
00:40:50,823 --> 00:40:52,450
If was to die today or tomorrow,

702
00:40:52,867 --> 00:40:55,119
I could not say
I've not had an exciting life.

703
00:40:55,203 --> 00:40:58,539
I have had a fabu —
And I'm not rich, mind you.

704
00:40:58,957 --> 00:41:01,042
Just imagine if I had the dollars.

705
00:41:01,459 --> 00:41:03,294
Ooh, it'd be too much for the world.

706
00:41:03,711 --> 00:41:06,130
If I had the riches and I had the fame,
trust me,

707
00:41:06,214 --> 00:41:08,800
all of y'all in here
would be rich for points,

708
00:41:09,217 --> 00:41:10,343
'cause I'm very generous.

709
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,472
You know, I can't, I wouldn't enjoy
having a whole lot of money,

710
00:41:14,555 --> 00:41:17,767
like being a millionaire, and hoarding it,
you know?

711
00:41:18,184 --> 00:41:21,729
I'd share it with all my loved ones.
You know, I'd want them to have it too.

712
00:41:21,813 --> 00:41:23,106
We'd all have to go.

713
00:41:23,189 --> 00:41:25,733
I'd want to charter a plane,
and we all fly to Paris.

714
00:41:31,364 --> 00:41:36,160
O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E.

715
00:41:36,244 --> 00:41:37,495
Opulence.

716
00:41:42,166 --> 00:41:44,210
You own everything.

717
00:41:48,631 --> 00:41:50,341
Everything is yours.

718
00:42:08,234 --> 00:42:14,073
This is... white... America.

719
00:42:15,533 --> 00:42:17,660
Any other nationality...

720
00:42:18,703 --> 00:42:21,539
that is not of the white set,

721
00:42:22,206 --> 00:42:25,710
knows this and accept this,
till the day they die.

722
00:42:26,377 --> 00:42:30,673
For that is everybody's dream
and ambition as a minority,

723
00:42:30,757 --> 00:42:35,219
to live and look
as well as a white person,

724
00:42:35,928 --> 00:42:39,265
is pictured as being in America.

725
00:42:39,348 --> 00:42:44,896
Every media you have,
from TV to magazines to movies to films.

726
00:42:44,979 --> 00:42:47,815
I mean, the biggest thing
that minority watches is what?

727
00:42:48,066 --> 00:42:52,445
<i>Dynasty and The Colbys, All My Children,
the</i> soap operas.

728
00:42:53,321 --> 00:42:55,615
Everybody have a million-dollar bracket.

729
00:42:56,407 --> 00:42:58,910
When they showing you
a commercial from Honey Grahams

730
00:42:58,993 --> 00:43:01,954
to Crest or Lestoil or Pine-Sol,

731
00:43:02,038 --> 00:43:03,706
everybody's in their own home.

732
00:43:05,166 --> 00:43:09,420
The little kids for Fisher-Price toys,
they're not in no concrete playground.

733
00:43:10,254 --> 00:43:14,092
They're — They're riding around the lawn.
The pool is in the back.

734
00:43:16,094 --> 00:43:17,887
This is white America.

735
00:43:18,471 --> 00:43:21,557
And when it comes to the minorities,
especially black...

736
00:43:23,142 --> 00:43:26,270
we, as a people for the past 400 years,

737
00:43:26,354 --> 00:43:29,690
is the greatest example
of behavior modification

738
00:43:29,774 --> 00:43:32,485
in the history of civilization.

739
00:43:32,860 --> 00:43:36,114
We have had everything taken away from us,

740
00:43:36,531 --> 00:43:39,408
and yet
we have all learned how to survive.

741
00:43:41,577 --> 00:43:47,208
That is why in the ballroom circuit,
it is so obvious

742
00:43:47,291 --> 00:43:50,878
that if you have captured
the great white way of living...

743
00:43:52,421 --> 00:43:53,464
or looking...

744
00:43:56,092 --> 00:43:58,094
or dressing or speaking...

745
00:43:59,554 --> 00:44:01,222
you is a marvel.

746
00:44:04,767 --> 00:44:08,187
I think if I could just be on TV
or film or anything...

747
00:44:09,272 --> 00:44:11,274
I'd do that instead of the money.

748
00:44:11,691 --> 00:44:14,986
Of course, I do want the money because
I want the luxury that goes with it.

749
00:44:16,028 --> 00:44:17,029
But...

750
00:44:18,364 --> 00:44:20,116
I want to be wealthy.

751
00:44:20,658 --> 00:44:23,452
If not wealthy, content, comfortable,

752
00:44:24,203 --> 00:44:25,204
you know?

753
00:44:26,330 --> 00:44:28,249
I want to be somebody.

754
00:44:28,332 --> 00:44:30,126
I mean, I am somebody.

755
00:44:30,209 --> 00:44:32,753
I just want to be a rich somebody.

756
00:44:34,505 --> 00:44:36,799
You ain't gonna tell me
you see her in the supermarket,

757
00:44:36,883 --> 00:44:38,509
and you gonna say, "That's a hag."

758
00:44:39,969 --> 00:44:43,139
Women don't go out of their way
because they are women.

759
00:44:43,556 --> 00:44:45,600
I went out my way because I wasn't,

760
00:44:45,683 --> 00:44:48,436
and I felt that
I wanted to be the best I can be.

761
00:44:49,061 --> 00:44:51,314
The Virginia Slims girl is here.

762
00:44:51,397 --> 00:44:53,149
This was not a game for me or fun.

763
00:44:53,232 --> 00:44:54,984
This is something that I wanna live.

764
00:44:55,067 --> 00:44:56,402
She's here in person.

765
00:44:57,737 --> 00:44:59,405
Hopefully, God willing,

766
00:44:59,780 --> 00:45:05,077
by 1988, I fully hope to become
a full-fledged woman of the United States.

767
00:45:08,998 --> 00:45:11,083
You look at all these models on the wall.

768
00:45:11,667 --> 00:45:13,878
Every one of them are gorgeous.

769
00:45:14,295 --> 00:45:16,339
Every one of them are beautiful.

770
00:45:16,964 --> 00:45:19,508
But every one of them have their own look.

771
00:45:19,926 --> 00:45:21,969
This is my idol, Paulina.

772
00:45:22,428 --> 00:45:24,597
Someday I hope to be up there with her.

773
00:45:25,014 --> 00:45:26,349
If that could be me,

774
00:45:26,432 --> 00:45:29,810
I think I would be the happiest person
in the world just knowing that I am,

775
00:45:30,228 --> 00:45:32,730
that I can compare to Paulina,

776
00:45:32,813 --> 00:45:35,274
to stand next to her and to
take pictures with her.

777
00:45:35,358 --> 00:45:37,944
And I look at her here,
and I'd say she's seductive

778
00:45:38,027 --> 00:45:40,529
and she's... alluring.

779
00:45:40,947 --> 00:45:44,659
I look at her there,
and I say she's sexy and provocative.

780
00:45:45,076 --> 00:45:49,872
I look at her here, and I think that
she's childish and little-girl type.

781
00:45:50,289 --> 00:45:52,625
You know?
And I look at her here and it's the same,

782
00:45:52,708 --> 00:45:56,128
and I look at her here,
and I think of wicked beauty.

783
00:45:56,545 --> 00:45:59,507
You know? That's how I see her.
I admire her.

784
00:45:59,924 --> 00:46:02,551
You know, the red-hot fire of hair and...

785
00:46:04,345 --> 00:46:05,388
the whole bit.

786
00:46:07,098 --> 00:46:10,351
You're not really trying
hard enough, then I become hard.

787
00:46:11,519 --> 00:46:14,063
Do not believe just because I'm a guy
that I cannot do it.

788
00:46:14,146 --> 00:46:16,148
In order to be a teacher
to show girls how to do it,

789
00:46:16,232 --> 00:46:17,483
I have to know how to do it.

790
00:46:17,566 --> 00:46:21,279
I've taught for various shows,
like for FIT, I've taught models.

791
00:46:21,779 --> 00:46:25,157
Girls that are from various agencies
that come to me by word of mouth.

792
00:46:35,418 --> 00:46:38,212
New York City women
are a little bit harder than most women.

793
00:46:38,296 --> 00:46:41,132
Basically,
I'm trying to bring their femininity back

794
00:46:41,215 --> 00:46:42,633
and bring some grace and poise.

795
00:46:42,717 --> 00:46:44,927
You know,
whether they become models or not,

796
00:46:45,011 --> 00:46:47,722
it's nice to know
because it's more attractive to men.

797
00:46:47,805 --> 00:46:49,432
But the walk that she's doing

798
00:46:49,515 --> 00:46:53,060
is basically to get more movement
in your hips naturally.

799
00:46:53,144 --> 00:46:54,228
Don't exaggerate it.

800
00:47:04,196 --> 00:47:05,990
Most likely,
she'll get what she wants.

801
00:47:06,073 --> 00:47:07,992
You know,
especially if she's in a man's world,

802
00:47:08,075 --> 00:47:09,952
she can still have her equal rights,

803
00:47:10,036 --> 00:47:12,747
but be able to manipulate a man
by using her feminine wiles.

804
00:47:12,830 --> 00:47:14,457
She can't use it by using masculine.

805
00:47:15,958 --> 00:47:19,462
Are they soft?
Looking from head to toe, would you know?

806
00:47:20,629 --> 00:47:23,591
Is this realness or not?
Let it be motherfuckin' hot.

807
00:47:29,472 --> 00:47:31,932
Miss Octavia,
you don't feel this realness?

808
00:47:32,016 --> 00:47:33,642
Where are you at, sister?

809
00:47:33,726 --> 00:47:36,103
Oops, you're right there, not bothered.

810
00:47:48,699 --> 00:47:49,700
LaBeija.

811
00:47:52,870 --> 00:47:54,747
Realness in the daytime, darling.

812
00:47:55,164 --> 00:47:57,124
She goes to school as a woman.

813
00:47:57,458 --> 00:47:58,459
Get into it.

814
00:47:58,918 --> 00:48:02,129
Get into both of them,
and see which one is realer.

815
00:48:03,506 --> 00:48:05,466
Feel the flesh or whatever it may be.

816
00:48:06,050 --> 00:48:07,510
Is it soft or not?

817
00:48:10,304 --> 00:48:11,639
It's soft.

818
00:48:11,722 --> 00:48:13,057
Come, come, come.

819
00:48:13,557 --> 00:48:15,601
Score Miss Octavia first.

820
00:48:16,143 --> 00:48:18,062
Step forward. Accept your scores.

821
00:48:18,396 --> 00:48:20,481
Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten.

822
00:48:21,899 --> 00:48:23,067
Score Tennille.

823
00:48:28,864 --> 00:48:31,283
Nine, ten, ten.

824
00:48:34,954 --> 00:48:37,915
Grand prize, Octavia.
First place, Tennille.

825
00:48:42,962 --> 00:48:48,050
There's people who sit home all day.
They have potential. Okay?

826
00:48:48,467 --> 00:48:50,970
I mean, they go to the balls
and they prove that they have potentials

827
00:48:51,053 --> 00:48:53,055
on actually selling a garment, okay?

828
00:48:53,139 --> 00:48:54,974
But they, like,

829
00:48:55,057 --> 00:48:58,352
"Being that I have this potential,
the ballroom tells me,"

830
00:48:58,436 --> 00:49:02,356
okay,
"the ballroom tells me that I'm somebody."

831
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:04,275
But when the ballroom is over,
when you come home,

832
00:49:04,358 --> 00:49:07,278
you have to convince yourself
that you are somebody,

833
00:49:07,361 --> 00:49:08,946
and that's where they get lost.

834
00:49:19,832 --> 00:49:22,209
It's also in a magazine.

835
00:49:22,460 --> 00:49:24,295
What's the name of the magazine?

836
00:49:31,594 --> 00:49:33,345
Paris Dupree.

837
00:49:33,429 --> 00:49:36,974
It was a time when you could
spend a — a great deal of time,

838
00:49:37,057 --> 00:49:39,351
making outfits,
and preparing for something.

839
00:49:39,852 --> 00:49:43,981
Now they come very quickly,
and the moods change very quickly.

840
00:49:44,482 --> 00:49:47,735
I come from
the old school of big costumes,

841
00:49:47,818 --> 00:49:49,361
feathers and beads.

842
00:49:50,112 --> 00:49:53,616
And they don't have that anymore.
Now it's all about designers.

843
00:49:54,450 --> 00:49:57,328
And it's not about what you create,
it's about what you can acquire.

844
00:50:00,331 --> 00:50:02,249
What do you think?

845
00:50:03,584 --> 00:50:04,877
Isn't that beautiful?

846
00:50:08,047 --> 00:50:11,675
$559. How's that for a simple dress?

847
00:50:12,176 --> 00:50:16,180
If you have on a label, it means
that you've, uh — you've got wealth.

848
00:50:16,263 --> 00:50:19,808
When it doesn't really,
'cause any shoplifter can get a label.

849
00:50:20,309 --> 00:50:25,105
You can't come down the runway
in something for 14.99 or 49.99,

850
00:50:25,189 --> 00:50:29,193
and say, "Well, I'm lovely,"
and expect to win.

851
00:50:31,529 --> 00:50:33,906
Okay, to describe, explain mopping.

852
00:50:33,989 --> 00:50:39,370
Mopping, you — go into a store, and...

853
00:50:40,704 --> 00:50:43,916
just look for —
look for whatever you wanna see.

854
00:50:43,999 --> 00:50:46,585
Look for whatever. Mopping is stealing.

855
00:50:47,711 --> 00:50:49,213
General stealing.

856
00:50:50,005 --> 00:50:51,882
However it's done, it's stealing.

857
00:50:52,383 --> 00:50:56,345
If you're working every day,
you're struggling to buy this outfit.

858
00:50:56,595 --> 00:50:59,223
When you walk, you're like, "This is me."

859
00:51:00,099 --> 00:51:02,810
And your facial expressions
as well as your means

860
00:51:02,893 --> 00:51:04,520
of projection of your outfit,

861
00:51:04,937 --> 00:51:07,731
it shows if you actually stole it,
or you purchased it.

862
00:51:08,148 --> 00:51:10,442
- You can actually tell?
- You can actually tell.

863
00:51:11,277 --> 00:51:14,655
Faggots are a stunt in themselves,
regardless.

864
00:51:14,738 --> 00:51:15,906
Make no mistake.

865
00:51:15,990 --> 00:51:18,284
First, it comes...
Okay, when it comes to a stunt,

866
00:51:18,367 --> 00:51:21,287
it goes in three — it goes, in order.

867
00:51:21,370 --> 00:51:24,582
It goes faggots, then girls, then boys.

868
00:51:24,665 --> 00:51:28,085
Because boys are the stupidest.
They don't know how to do a stunt right.

869
00:51:28,752 --> 00:51:31,171
Now, faggots will do a stunt,

870
00:51:31,255 --> 00:51:34,592
and I mean, you will never
catch up with it until years later.

871
00:51:34,675 --> 00:51:35,926
And then, I mean, you'll be like,

872
00:51:36,010 --> 00:51:38,804
"Oh, shit!
This faggot pulled this stunt on me."

873
00:51:39,763 --> 00:51:43,309
We went down there, and we had fun,
we act stupid and came back.

874
00:51:43,726 --> 00:51:46,562
But I think the best thing we did
was Roy Rogers.

875
00:51:46,895 --> 00:51:47,896
That was fun.

876
00:51:48,314 --> 00:51:49,565
You would've had something to eat,

877
00:51:49,648 --> 00:51:52,234
'cause how much did you pay for that —
for that sandwich?

878
00:51:52,318 --> 00:51:54,028
I don't remember. Maybe $5 or so.

879
00:51:54,111 --> 00:51:55,863
Around five — $5?

880
00:51:57,615 --> 00:52:00,284
Make no mistake, we got your $5 back.

881
00:52:00,367 --> 00:52:03,162
I had two double cheeseburgers,

882
00:52:03,579 --> 00:52:04,788
two fries,

883
00:52:05,205 --> 00:52:08,834
a Coke, a Sprite and an orange,
chicken and chips.

884
00:52:08,917 --> 00:52:10,961
Just going back and forth.
I lived on that line.

885
00:52:12,129 --> 00:52:15,591
We got over around —
around say around $200 in food.

886
00:52:16,884 --> 00:52:19,803
See, they put cheese on the meat.

887
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:27,603
I hope after this, Roy Rogers
does not change how it has its food.

888
00:52:27,686 --> 00:52:31,690
Because if it does by this interview,
I will be so upset.

889
00:52:31,774 --> 00:52:36,070
I will be so upset. I'll be squallin'.

890
00:52:36,153 --> 00:52:40,949
I'll be hurt, I'm telling you.
I really will be — 'cause I mean it.

891
00:52:41,033 --> 00:52:44,453
Where else can you go in,
get it done your way,

892
00:52:44,536 --> 00:52:45,954
and go out without paying?

893
00:52:46,038 --> 00:52:47,665
Carla Xtravaganza said,

894
00:52:47,748 --> 00:52:52,711
will you please return her black
patent leather shoes, size seven?

895
00:52:55,047 --> 00:52:56,840
There is a reward.

896
00:52:57,841 --> 00:52:59,927
She want her pumps.

897
00:53:00,010 --> 00:53:03,847
She said it's not going to work,
taking her shoes. Give 'em back.

898
00:53:04,348 --> 00:53:07,059
Daytime, if they go out,
they're only going out...

899
00:53:07,851 --> 00:53:10,396
to try to hustle up a quarter or two...

900
00:53:12,731 --> 00:53:16,568
to get their things for the ball...
or go to a little job.

901
00:53:16,652 --> 00:53:19,905
Lot of them have little jobs now.
They work. Don't think they're lazy.

902
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,158
In New York City, you —
you work or you starve.

903
00:53:24,034 --> 00:53:25,828
You work, or — some kind of work...

904
00:53:26,662 --> 00:53:31,083
legal or otherwise,
but you have to work to sustain yourself.

905
00:53:32,876 --> 00:53:35,671
The legendary Tennille Dupree,

906
00:53:35,754 --> 00:53:39,591
and the father of the House of Ebony,
Max Debuciak,

907
00:53:40,092 --> 00:53:44,304
presents a night
of living hell and punishment...

908
00:53:45,305 --> 00:53:47,433
at the Imperial Elks Lodge,

909
00:53:47,516 --> 00:53:52,104
160 West 129th Street,
which is right here.

910
00:53:52,479 --> 00:53:55,107
Doors open at 5:00 am.

911
00:53:55,524 --> 00:53:58,402
Grand march is at 7:00 am.

912
00:54:02,990 --> 00:54:06,201
The boys are usually later
because of the fact that

913
00:54:06,285 --> 00:54:09,329
we're waiting
for the working girls to get there.

914
00:54:10,372 --> 00:54:12,750
And what is it those girls are doing?

915
00:54:13,167 --> 00:54:16,503
Well, they're making money for the balls,
or they're making their costumes,

916
00:54:16,587 --> 00:54:20,674
their outfits, or, you know,
getting it together like that.

917
00:54:20,758 --> 00:54:22,676
What's their profession?

918
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:24,887
Usually Showgirls.

919
00:54:24,970 --> 00:54:27,181
- Usually, they're, you know, Showgirls.
- Uh-huh.

920
00:54:27,264 --> 00:54:29,141
- You know.
- Anything else?

921
00:54:29,558 --> 00:54:32,519
Well, it depends. It depends.

922
00:54:32,603 --> 00:54:36,690
I don't know a lot of their professions,
but usually they're showgirls, usually.

923
00:54:37,775 --> 00:54:41,737
The thing that helped me make
my most money through the escort service

924
00:54:42,154 --> 00:54:44,072
is being that I'm so little.

925
00:54:44,156 --> 00:54:46,950
I'm so petite and tiny.

926
00:54:47,451 --> 00:54:48,452
Urn...

927
00:54:48,535 --> 00:54:50,788
The blonde hair and the light skin,

928
00:54:51,580 --> 00:54:54,291
the green eyes and the little features.

929
00:54:54,374 --> 00:54:57,753
And the client's hands
will be bigger than my hands

930
00:54:57,836 --> 00:55:00,422
while they would hold my hand
or something.

931
00:55:00,506 --> 00:55:04,885
You know, they'd like feeling that they're
with something perfect and little,

932
00:55:05,719 --> 00:55:08,639
and not someone that's bigger than them,

933
00:55:08,722 --> 00:55:10,849
because I guess
that kind of disturbs them.

934
00:55:13,727 --> 00:55:16,939
Most all the drag queens
that are involved in the balls,

935
00:55:17,022 --> 00:55:20,359
say, 90% of them, are hustlers.

936
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:22,986
I guess that's how they make their money

937
00:55:23,070 --> 00:55:26,281
to go to the balls
and get whatever they need and stuff.

938
00:55:26,365 --> 00:55:29,034
I used to hustle in New York
to make my money.

939
00:55:29,117 --> 00:55:32,621
I was with a guy,
and he was playing with my titties,

940
00:55:32,704 --> 00:55:34,581
until he touched me down there.

941
00:55:34,665 --> 00:55:37,751
He felt it and he seen it, and he, like,
totally flipped out.

942
00:55:38,502 --> 00:55:42,005
He said, "You fucking faggot.
You're a freak.

943
00:55:42,089 --> 00:55:44,758
You're a victim of AIDS,
and you're trying to give me AIDS.

944
00:55:44,842 --> 00:55:47,803
What, are you crazy?
You're a homo. I should kill you."

945
00:55:47,886 --> 00:55:50,055
You know, stuff like that.

946
00:55:50,138 --> 00:55:53,475
And, like, I was really... terrified.

947
00:55:53,559 --> 00:55:55,519
So I just jumped out the window.

948
00:55:55,936 --> 00:55:58,522
I grabbed my bag
and just jumped out the window.

949
00:55:58,605 --> 00:56:01,316
But see, now I don't like
to hustle anymore. I don't.

950
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:06,655
And I'm afraid of what's going on,
the AIDS, and I don't want to catch it.

951
00:56:06,738 --> 00:56:10,284
Like later on this evening,
I'm supposed to meet someone,

952
00:56:10,367 --> 00:56:12,828
a friend of mine,
a very good old friend of mine.

953
00:56:12,911 --> 00:56:16,999
He's a young, very good, attractive,
handsome young man...

954
00:56:18,333 --> 00:56:22,880
and, urn — he's taking me out to dinner
later on this evening

955
00:56:22,963 --> 00:56:26,133
or for cocktails after midnight.

956
00:56:26,550 --> 00:56:28,343
I know he'll give me some money...

957
00:56:29,344 --> 00:56:33,974
just for me to maybe
buy a pair of shoes and a nice dress.

958
00:56:34,057 --> 00:56:36,184
So that the next time he sees me...

959
00:56:38,020 --> 00:56:40,772
he'll see me looking
more and more beautiful...

960
00:56:41,565 --> 00:56:43,275
the way he wants to see me.

961
00:56:44,276 --> 00:56:48,238
But I don't have to go to bed with him
or anything like that.

962
00:56:48,614 --> 00:56:50,824
At times they do expect sexual favors,

963
00:56:50,908 --> 00:56:53,201
but that is between myself and them,

964
00:56:53,285 --> 00:56:58,373
so I do not wish
to further speak about that — if they do.

965
00:56:58,457 --> 00:57:01,585
But at most times, 99% of the time,
they don't.

966
00:57:02,920 --> 00:57:05,213
95% of the time, they don't.

967
00:57:06,715 --> 00:57:08,008
But I feel like...

968
00:57:10,427 --> 00:57:12,262
If you're married,

969
00:57:12,346 --> 00:57:14,681
a woman in the suburbs —

970
00:57:15,349 --> 00:57:19,186
a regular woman
that's married to her husband —

971
00:57:19,853 --> 00:57:24,691
and she wants him to buy her
a washer and dryer set.

972
00:57:25,776 --> 00:57:28,528
In order for him to buy that,

973
00:57:28,612 --> 00:57:31,031
I'm sure
she'd have to go to bed with him anyway

974
00:57:31,114 --> 00:57:34,701
to give him what he wants
for her to get what she wants.

975
00:57:35,661 --> 00:57:39,414
So, in the long run,
it all ends up the same way.

976
00:57:45,170 --> 00:57:48,757
If money wasn't so important
in the world today...

977
00:57:49,466 --> 00:57:50,968
to survive,

978
00:57:51,385 --> 00:57:54,096
I guess I wouldn't want anything
but what I have now.

979
00:57:55,806 --> 00:57:57,307
But since money does...

980
00:57:58,433 --> 00:58:02,396
I hope that the way I look
puts money in my pocket.

981
00:58:02,479 --> 00:58:03,939
You know?

982
00:58:04,356 --> 00:58:08,193
I'm really working hard.
I'm gonna work even harder.

983
00:58:09,611 --> 00:58:12,280
Yeah. There we are.

984
00:58:13,365 --> 00:58:15,659
That is lovely. Still.

985
00:58:16,076 --> 00:58:18,787
Great. Couldn't be better. There.

986
00:58:18,870 --> 00:58:20,622
It's beautiful like that for the light,
when you kind of, you know,

987
00:58:20,706 --> 00:58:21,957
do this to the light.

988
00:58:22,040 --> 00:58:25,168
I want people to look at me as
there's the model Octavia.

989
00:58:25,252 --> 00:58:27,045
There's the actress Octavia.

990
00:58:27,129 --> 00:58:30,132
There's
Miss Supermodel of the World Octavia.

991
00:58:30,215 --> 00:58:32,759
Is this endless, this catalog of poses?

992
00:58:32,843 --> 00:58:34,845
I could keep going longer than you could.

993
00:58:35,887 --> 00:58:38,473
Yeah, just there. Mm-hmm.

994
00:58:38,557 --> 00:58:43,145
I don't want to end up an old drag queen

995
00:58:43,228 --> 00:58:46,732
with nothing going for me
but trying to win grand prize at a ball.

996
00:58:47,149 --> 00:58:49,317
Yeah, no.
Back a little bit like you did.

997
00:58:49,401 --> 00:58:50,777
Yes, that.

998
00:58:50,861 --> 00:58:54,322
Twisting a little bit more to the light,
just coming around. Yeah, right.

999
00:58:54,740 --> 00:58:56,033
Couldn't be better.

1000
00:58:56,742 --> 00:58:59,036
I don't think
the world has been fair to me.

1001
00:58:59,828 --> 00:59:02,581
- Not yet, anyway.
- Lovely. Lovely.

1002
00:59:04,499 --> 00:59:07,461
I've been a man,
and I've been a man who emulated a woman.

1003
00:59:07,544 --> 00:59:09,212
I've never been a woman.

1004
00:59:09,296 --> 00:59:13,050
I never... had that service once a month.

1005
00:59:13,633 --> 00:59:15,177
I've never been pregnant.

1006
00:59:15,260 --> 00:59:17,304
You know,
I can never say how a woman feels.

1007
00:59:17,387 --> 00:59:21,725
I can only say how a man who acts like
a woman or dresses like a woman feels.

1008
00:59:21,808 --> 00:59:23,602
I never wanted to have a sex change.

1009
00:59:23,685 --> 00:59:26,813
That's just taking it a little too far,
you know?

1010
00:59:27,230 --> 00:59:30,400
Because if you decide later on in life
to change your mind, you can't.

1011
00:59:30,484 --> 00:59:31,777
Once it's gone, it's gone.

1012
00:59:32,277 --> 00:59:35,489
A lot of kids that I know,
they got the sex change because they felt,

1013
00:59:35,572 --> 00:59:38,658
"Oh, I've been treated so bad
as a drag queen.

1014
00:59:39,076 --> 00:59:43,246
If I get a pussy," excuse the expression,
"I'll be treated fabulous."

1015
00:59:43,663 --> 00:59:45,290
But women get treated bad.

1016
00:59:45,707 --> 00:59:49,002
You know, they get beat, they get robbed,
they get dogged.

1017
00:59:49,086 --> 00:59:51,421
So having the vagina,

1018
00:59:51,505 --> 00:59:54,091
that doesn't mean
that you're gonna have a fabulous life.

1019
00:59:54,174 --> 00:59:56,718
It might, in fact, be worse. You know?

1020
00:59:56,802 --> 00:59:59,930
So I've never recommended it, and I myself
would have never, ever got it,

1021
01:00:00,013 --> 01:00:02,474
and I'm so thankful that I was that smart.

1022
01:00:02,557 --> 01:00:04,518
Because right about now,

1023
01:00:04,935 --> 01:00:09,231
this next 40 or so years
that I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna live.

1024
01:00:09,314 --> 01:00:12,734
And for those children that can't take
the fact that I still look youthful, ha!

1025
01:00:12,818 --> 01:00:13,819
Suffer.

1026
01:00:13,902 --> 01:00:17,405
No bags, no lines. Lovely.

1027
01:00:18,281 --> 01:00:19,449
Don't fall.

1028
01:00:22,494 --> 01:00:25,539
America's nice. You can do
what you want if you have the money.

1029
01:00:25,622 --> 01:00:28,583
You can be what you want,
certainly, Look at me.

1030
01:00:30,252 --> 01:00:36,424
In '84...
I've had a nose reconstructed job.

1031
01:00:36,842 --> 01:00:38,426
I've had my cheekbones risen.

1032
01:00:38,510 --> 01:00:41,930
I've had a chin implant
and breast implants.

1033
01:00:42,013 --> 01:00:43,598
Yes. Tell them like it is.

1034
01:00:43,682 --> 01:00:49,604
The most important factor in my life
that has been completed recently

1035
01:00:49,688 --> 01:00:52,607
is that
I've had a transsexualism operation.

1036
01:00:52,691 --> 01:00:56,069
That means I've had a sex change.
I'm no longer a man.

1037
01:00:56,695 --> 01:00:59,406
I am a woman. I feel great.

1038
01:01:00,907 --> 01:01:02,993
- I'm very happy.
- She has to rub it in.

1039
01:01:03,827 --> 01:01:08,456
And I feel like the part of my life
that was a secret is now closed.

1040
01:01:08,540 --> 01:01:09,916
- For now.
- I can close the closet door.

1041
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:11,918
There are no more skeletons in there.

1042
01:01:12,335 --> 01:01:16,631
And I'm as free as the wind
that's blowing out on this beach.

1043
01:01:21,678 --> 01:01:24,639
Except that voice is still there.

1044
01:01:26,016 --> 01:01:28,476
- Ah!
- As free as this beach.

1045
01:01:38,361 --> 01:01:41,198
A free gift today at the Dior counter.

1046
01:01:41,281 --> 01:01:43,408
Sample Poison by Dior, ladies.

1047
01:01:43,909 --> 01:01:47,245
Sample the elegance today. Poison by Dior.

1048
01:01:47,621 --> 01:01:50,165
- Can I sample it?
- Yes.

1049
01:01:50,248 --> 01:01:51,917
Dior's Poison.

1050
01:01:53,668 --> 01:01:55,295
- Very nice.
- Delicious, yes?

1051
01:01:59,382 --> 01:02:01,801
Folks, please keep moving.
We're trying to keep the aisles clear.

1052
01:02:01,885 --> 01:02:03,386
Please keep moving.

1053
01:02:04,721 --> 01:02:07,265
<i>The Ford search
for the Supermodel of the Year,</i>

1054
01:02:07,349 --> 01:02:09,434
<i>the seventh search of this type.</i>

1055
01:02:09,517 --> 01:02:12,312
<i>Mrs. Ford is here
with two of her top models,</i>

1056
01:02:12,395 --> 01:02:14,564
<i>and we're interviewing candidates</i>

1057
01:02:14,648 --> 01:02:17,567
<i>who hope to become
the Supermodel of the Year.</i>

1058
01:02:17,651 --> 01:02:20,320
Clients like models who will be helpful,

1059
01:02:20,779 --> 01:02:23,490
who never say the clothes are terrible
even if they are.

1060
01:02:23,573 --> 01:02:25,909
Because after all,
not everything is perfect.

1061
01:02:26,660 --> 01:02:30,914
They have to make the least
perfect of clothes look like a Dior.

1062
01:02:31,998 --> 01:02:36,127
And so that they can't just say,
"That's the worst thing I've ever seen."

1063
01:02:37,212 --> 01:02:41,633
They have to make it look good.
They have to be very, very cooperative.

1064
01:02:41,716 --> 01:02:45,428
And they have to be cheerful. Nobody likes
to go in and hear your troubles, you know.

1065
01:02:45,512 --> 01:02:46,888
When people ask how you feel,

1066
01:02:46,972 --> 01:02:49,391
don't tell them if you're sick,
'cause they don't really care.

1067
01:02:49,474 --> 01:02:52,644
- And then you drop it off...
- Three, two, one.

1068
01:02:52,727 --> 01:02:55,397
But while the faces of the '803
stood on line,

1069
01:02:55,480 --> 01:02:57,440
the feet of the '803 did some waiting.

1070
01:02:57,524 --> 01:03:01,027
Half an hour and round the block,
all the way to Third Avenue.

1071
01:03:01,111 --> 01:03:05,240
One of these young ladies could become
the Supermodel of the World.

1072
01:03:05,323 --> 01:03:06,324
Exciting?

1073
01:03:08,451 --> 01:03:09,452
Try again.

1074
01:03:11,830 --> 01:03:16,584
How does this type of thing square
with women's lib?

1075
01:03:17,961 --> 01:03:19,421
What about men?
Do they take you seriously?

1076
01:03:19,504 --> 01:03:22,882
Or when they hear you're a model,
how does their reaction change to you?

1077
01:03:22,966 --> 01:03:27,095
What about, like I asked before, does this
square with the women's lib movement?

1078
01:03:27,637 --> 01:03:31,433
Can I have a few of you over here?
Okay. Can I have a few more women?

1079
01:03:31,516 --> 01:03:32,976
- How you doin'?
- Good. How are you?

1080
01:03:33,059 --> 01:03:35,186
Fine. Nice to meet you too. I'm Shari.

1081
01:03:35,270 --> 01:03:38,315
- Shari, my name's Janet.
- Hi, Janet. So you want to be a model?

1082
01:03:38,398 --> 01:03:40,525
- Yes.
- 80 you need an application.

1083
01:03:40,608 --> 01:03:44,571
Actually, I was in this contest.
That's how I started. That's me.

1084
01:03:44,654 --> 01:03:45,780
- I can't believe that.
- Yeah.

1085
01:03:45,864 --> 01:03:47,657
- That's five years ago.
- You still look great.

1086
01:03:47,741 --> 01:03:48,742
Thanks a lot.

1087
01:03:48,825 --> 01:03:52,495
We look at 75,000 pictures.
I mean, well, you know,

1088
01:03:52,579 --> 01:03:55,623
that's the average amount that
we look at each contest.

1089
01:03:56,082 --> 01:04:00,170
What have girls become? Are they the same?
How are they different?

1090
01:04:00,253 --> 01:04:04,674
Girls are not different...
from yesterday or the day before.

1091
01:04:04,758 --> 01:04:07,594
Everybody who's young
has a hope and a dream...

1092
01:04:08,595 --> 01:04:12,390
and I don't think that it's ever been
any different in the history of the world.

1093
01:04:15,643 --> 01:04:18,355
I believe that
there's a big future out there...

1094
01:04:19,397 --> 01:04:21,733
with a lot of beautiful things.

1095
01:04:22,901 --> 01:04:24,402
Lot of handsome men.

1096
01:04:25,737 --> 01:04:26,905
Lot of luxury.

1097
01:04:28,656 --> 01:04:30,075
I want a car.

1098
01:04:30,909 --> 01:04:32,827
I want be with the man I love.

1099
01:04:33,453 --> 01:04:40,168
I want a nice home away from New York,
up the Peekskills, or maybe in Florida.

1100
01:04:40,251 --> 01:04:42,170
Somewhere far, where no one knows me.

1101
01:04:42,879 --> 01:04:44,672
I want my sex change.

1102
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:48,218
I wanna live a normal, happy life,

1103
01:04:48,301 --> 01:04:52,097
whether it's...
being married and adopting children,

1104
01:04:52,180 --> 01:04:55,475
whether it's being famous and rich.

1105
01:04:57,310 --> 01:05:00,146
I want to get married in church in white.

1106
01:05:01,856 --> 01:05:05,568
Sometimes I sit and I look at a magazine.
I try to imagine myself

1107
01:05:05,652 --> 01:05:09,030
in the front cover, or even inside.

1108
01:05:10,615 --> 01:05:12,951
I want to be a complete woman,

1109
01:05:13,034 --> 01:05:16,996
and I want to be a professional model
behind cameras

1110
01:05:17,789 --> 01:05:19,707
in the high fashion world.

1111
01:05:20,917 --> 01:05:23,169
I want so much more. I want...

1112
01:05:24,295 --> 01:05:29,008
I want my name to be a household product.

1113
01:05:29,509 --> 01:05:33,763
I want everybody to look at me and say,
"There goes Octavia."

1114
01:05:34,681 --> 01:05:37,225
I want this. This is what I want.

1115
01:05:38,184 --> 01:05:40,103
And I'm gonna go for it.

1116
01:05:50,363 --> 01:05:55,827
Amy... Xtrava... ganza!

1117
01:05:58,455 --> 01:06:01,791
Amy Xtravaganza!

1118
01:06:02,709 --> 01:06:03,751
Swinging...

1119
01:06:04,669 --> 01:06:05,795
vogue.

1120
01:06:09,090 --> 01:06:13,094
Vogue. Vogue. Vogue. Vogue.

1121
01:06:13,178 --> 01:06:16,306
Amy Xtrav...

1122
01:06:16,931 --> 01:06:20,894
Previously, I introduced, uh, rap music,

1123
01:06:21,519 --> 01:06:23,438
along with the dancing

1124
01:06:23,521 --> 01:06:25,773
to Japanese people,

1125
01:06:25,857 --> 01:06:28,151
and they really loved it.

1126
01:06:28,234 --> 01:06:30,612
<i>This, ladies and gentlemen, is voguing,</i>

1127
01:06:30,695 --> 01:06:33,198
<i>a form of dance
that has its roots in Harlem,</i>

1128
01:06:33,615 --> 01:06:37,702
<i>a takeoff on runway modeling, which
they had plenty of last night as well.</i>

1129
01:06:38,745 --> 01:06:42,707
<i>Voguing is an attitude, a style.</i>

1130
01:06:42,790 --> 01:06:44,334
<i>It's — It's...</i>

1131
01:06:44,417 --> 01:06:48,588
<i>Kind of an institutionalized showing off.
But not without its entertainment value.</i>

1132
01:06:48,671 --> 01:06:53,635
<i>It's something very spectacular.
Very important art form. Very important.</i>

1133
01:06:53,718 --> 01:06:58,598
<i>It's just so theatrical.
And the energy. Oh, it's just terrific.</i>

1134
01:06:58,681 --> 01:07:01,184
<i>In addition to perhaps
putting voguing in vogue,</i>

1135
01:07:01,267 --> 01:07:05,063
<i>this love ball, sponsored by
the Design industries Foundation for AIDS,</i>

1136
01:07:05,146 --> 01:07:07,565
<i>raised more than $350,000</i>

1137
01:07:07,649 --> 01:07:10,693
<i>for research and housing
for the homeless who have AIDS.</i>

1138
01:07:11,027 --> 01:07:13,905
<i>And I had never seen
anything quite like it.</i>

1139
01:07:13,988 --> 01:07:16,616
<i>And I'm Connie Collins, News 4, Manhattan.</i>

1140
01:07:17,450 --> 01:07:21,579
Two years ago,
I was working in a health food store,

1141
01:07:21,996 --> 01:07:25,375
still teaching,
and trying to perform on my own.

1142
01:07:25,458 --> 01:07:26,876
Well, now —

1143
01:07:26,960 --> 01:07:30,588
my foot is, like, in every little doorstep
that you can think of.

1144
01:07:31,339 --> 01:07:35,802
Urn... I'm doing a lot of runway work.

1145
01:07:35,885 --> 01:07:40,306
I'm dancing, performing for
Malcolm McLaren, various other people,

1146
01:07:40,390 --> 01:07:43,768
doing choreography,
helping people put their shows together.

1147
01:07:44,561 --> 01:07:45,645
So it's going very good.

1148
01:07:48,856 --> 01:07:52,235
This earring that I have here is...
I bought this in Japan.

1149
01:07:52,318 --> 01:07:54,904
As you can see, it says "House Couture."

1150
01:07:54,988 --> 01:07:57,115
I can't read the rest of it.
It has a scissor,

1151
01:07:57,198 --> 01:08:00,118
and it has "Junior Gaultier '89" on there,
of course.

1152
01:08:00,201 --> 01:08:03,621
That's the Gaultier label emblem.
I bought it, mind you.

1153
01:08:03,705 --> 01:08:07,250
I have the receipt still.
Where? I don't know, but I bought it.

1154
01:08:13,631 --> 01:08:18,511
The balls have kind of gotten
toned down compared to what it used to be.

1155
01:08:19,012 --> 01:08:23,349
Now when I tell people what it is,
and they go and it's not what they expect,

1156
01:08:23,433 --> 01:08:26,477
you know, it's like they feel a little bit
of a letdown, you know?

1157
01:08:26,561 --> 01:08:29,439
And they say, "Oh, it was long,
it was dragged out, it was boring."

1158
01:08:29,522 --> 01:08:31,524
Okay, the balls are always long
and dragged out,

1159
01:08:31,608 --> 01:08:32,942
but they were never boring.

1160
01:08:33,568 --> 01:08:36,070
I really do kind of miss
the street element.

1161
01:08:36,154 --> 01:08:38,197
I mean, but everything changes,

1162
01:08:38,281 --> 01:08:41,993
and — and everything's been changing
drastically, you know.

1163
01:08:42,076 --> 01:08:46,706
Urn... New York's not even the same —
anymore.

1164
01:09:14,525 --> 01:09:16,861
I always said to her,
"Venus, you take too many chances.

1165
01:09:16,944 --> 01:09:18,738
You're too wild with
people in the streets.

1166
01:09:18,821 --> 01:09:21,741
Something is gonna happen to you."
But that was Venus.

1167
01:09:21,824 --> 01:09:24,619
She always took a chance.
She always went into strangers' cars.

1168
01:09:24,702 --> 01:09:28,456
She always did what she wanted
to get what she wanted.

1169
01:09:30,541 --> 01:09:33,753
I had a booking
for a Christmas show at Sally's,

1170
01:09:33,836 --> 01:09:37,715
and the DT's came to me
with a picture of her, murdered,

1171
01:09:37,799 --> 01:09:41,886
and they were about to cremate her
'cause nobody had came to verify the body,

1172
01:09:41,969 --> 01:09:46,140
and I was the one that had to give
all this information down to her family.

1173
01:09:46,641 --> 01:09:48,851
Actually,
they found her dead after four days,

1174
01:09:48,976 --> 01:09:52,438
strangled under a bed in a sleazy hotel
in New York City.

1175
01:09:52,522 --> 01:09:53,856
I'm hungry.

1176
01:09:54,273 --> 01:09:56,401
We use to get dressed together,
call each other,

1177
01:09:56,484 --> 01:09:59,737
and say what we were gonna wear,
and, you know, she was like my right hand,

1178
01:09:59,821 --> 01:10:00,822
as far as I'm concerned.

1179
01:10:00,905 --> 01:10:03,366
I miss her.
Every time I go anywhere, I miss her.

1180
01:10:03,825 --> 01:10:04,992
That was my main...

1181
01:10:05,743 --> 01:10:07,745
the main daughter of my house,
in other words.

1182
01:10:08,246 --> 01:10:09,956
But that's part of life,

1183
01:10:10,039 --> 01:10:13,668
as far as being a transsexual
in New York City and surviving.

1184
01:10:19,924 --> 01:10:22,343
I always had hopes of being a big star.

1185
01:10:26,264 --> 01:10:29,726
And then I looked.
As you get older, you aim a little lower.

1186
01:10:30,768 --> 01:10:33,980
And I just say, "Well, yeah,
you still might make an impression."

1187
01:10:34,063 --> 01:10:36,441
Everybody wants to leave
something behind them,

1188
01:10:36,524 --> 01:10:38,943
some impression, some mark upon the world.

1189
01:10:40,111 --> 01:10:41,195
And then you think...

1190
01:10:42,447 --> 01:10:44,282
you've left a mark on the world...

1191
01:10:47,744 --> 01:10:49,203
if you just get through it...

1192
01:10:52,582 --> 01:10:54,667
and a few people remember your name.

1193
01:10:56,294 --> 01:10:57,587
Then you left a mark.

1194
01:11:00,923 --> 01:11:02,884
You don't have to bend the whole world.

1195
01:11:05,803 --> 01:11:07,930
I think it's better to just enjoy it.

1196
01:11:12,059 --> 01:11:13,227
Pay your dues...

1197
01:11:15,396 --> 01:11:16,689
and enjoy it.

1198
01:11:18,858 --> 01:11:21,569
If you shoot a arrow
and it goes real high...

1199
01:11:22,612 --> 01:11:23,946
hooray for you.

1200
01:12:06,113 --> 01:12:10,952
Bring the cameras closer, Mr. DeMille.
I'm ready for my close-up. And so...

1201
01:12:30,930 --> 01:12:33,266
Okay, Winter Sportswear.

1202
01:12:33,724 --> 01:12:39,647
Preferably fur, but if not, you know,
in error, you can... natural fibers. If —

1203
01:12:39,730 --> 01:12:43,693
If you choose the polyester, God help you.
You know how the children are.

1204
01:13:04,714 --> 01:13:07,592
Okay, you add "U-G"
at the end of your word, right?

1205
01:13:08,009 --> 01:13:09,969
But you have to take off the first letter,

1206
01:13:10,052 --> 01:13:12,597
or the first letters,
until you get into a vowel.

1207
01:13:56,891 --> 01:14:00,186
I'm not looking for anything.
I think all men are dogs.

1208
01:14:00,603 --> 01:14:01,604
I honestly do.

1209
01:14:02,396 --> 01:14:04,941
You know,
every man starts barking sooner or later.

1210
01:14:10,196 --> 01:14:11,614
I'm a quiet person.

1211
01:14:12,740 --> 01:14:16,035
And if you believe that, you know,
I own that island right over there too.

1212
01:15:01,998 --> 01:15:03,916
They want to be with their kind.

1213
01:15:04,333 --> 01:15:06,168
- Right.
- They want to be gay-gay.

1214
01:15:06,252 --> 01:15:08,754
It's probably, like, just like,
just all right.

1215
01:15:08,838 --> 01:15:10,715
Just like, again, just like a community.

1216
01:15:11,298 --> 01:15:15,011
In a religious community,
they want to pray together a lot, right?

1217
01:15:15,094 --> 01:15:18,764
- I suppose.
- Well, this gay community might wanna...

1218
01:15:19,348 --> 01:15:22,476
Or-Or they, like, wanna be together.

1219
01:15:57,762 --> 01:16:00,681
All right! All right!

1220
01:16:04,143 --> 01:16:06,437
All right!

1221
01:16:10,775 --> 01:16:12,026
Go ahead!

1222
01:16:26,624 --> 01:16:28,542
Work at it! Work!

1223
01:16:33,714 --> 01:16:36,717
All right!

1224
01:17:01,075 --> 01:17:05,329
So this is New York City,
and this is what the gay life is about.

1225
01:17:06,372 --> 01:17:07,957
- Right.
- Right?