1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:10,447 --> 00:01:13,408 [disco on boom box] 4 00:01:15,702 --> 00:01:17,704 [disco continues] 5 00:01:20,415 --> 00:01:21,916 He's ready to rush that instead... 6 00:01:25,086 --> 00:01:27,839 [no audible dialogue] 7 00:01:27,922 --> 00:01:30,842 [disco continues] 8 00:01:35,138 --> 00:01:36,765 [man] I remember my dad used to say, 9 00:01:36,848 --> 00:01:39,559 "You have three strikes against you in this world. 10 00:01:39,642 --> 00:01:43,813 Every black man has two, that they're just black and they're a male. 11 00:01:43,897 --> 00:01:46,065 But you're black and you're a male and you're gay. 12 00:01:46,149 --> 00:01:48,401 You're gonna have a hard fuckin' time. 13 00:01:48,485 --> 00:01:52,447 If you're gonna do this, you're gonna have to be stronger than you ever imagined." 14 00:01:57,702 --> 00:01:59,871 - [neon crackling] - [man shouting] 15 00:02:00,371 --> 00:02:01,372 [horn honks] 16 00:02:03,917 --> 00:02:05,126 Hold it. 17 00:02:05,210 --> 00:02:08,171 They have to open the door. Y'all have to open that door too. 18 00:02:15,804 --> 00:02:18,598 [cheering] 19 00:02:18,681 --> 00:02:21,643 - [man shouting] - [disco music] 20 00:02:38,159 --> 00:02:39,536 [man on PA] Get off the floor. 21 00:02:40,578 --> 00:02:42,372 Get off the floor! 22 00:02:43,414 --> 00:02:48,378 Learn it, and learn it well. 23 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:50,922 [cheering] 24 00:02:51,464 --> 00:02:52,966 [person] All right! 25 00:02:56,845 --> 00:02:58,388 All right, Miss Pepper! 26 00:02:59,973 --> 00:03:01,349 [cheering] 27 00:03:15,738 --> 00:03:18,283 Girl, give me those motherfuckin' heels! 28 00:03:29,294 --> 00:03:32,171 Do you want me to say who I am and all of that? 29 00:03:32,255 --> 00:03:34,924 - [woman] "I'm Pepper LaBeija, and..." - Oh. 30 00:03:35,758 --> 00:03:37,093 [Pepper laughing] 31 00:03:37,468 --> 00:03:42,056 I'm Pepper LaBeija, the legendary mother of the House of LaBeija. 32 00:03:42,932 --> 00:03:44,267 Not the founder. 33 00:03:44,350 --> 00:03:46,352 Crystal was the founder. I'm... 34 00:03:46,436 --> 00:03:47,854 I just rule it now, 35 00:03:48,354 --> 00:03:49,856 with a soft glove. 36 00:03:51,149 --> 00:03:52,942 And it's important to me to be the mother, 37 00:03:53,026 --> 00:03:55,653 'cause there's so many little kids that I have to look out for. 38 00:03:55,737 --> 00:03:59,574 Although they don't listen to me and they buck my authority. 39 00:03:59,657 --> 00:04:02,201 I still think I rule it pretty well. They like me. 40 00:04:02,285 --> 00:04:04,370 I'm one of the more popular ones. 41 00:04:04,454 --> 00:04:06,456 And I've been around for two decades. 42 00:04:06,998 --> 00:04:08,374 Reigning, that is. 43 00:04:08,458 --> 00:04:11,294 You know, I've got more grand prizes than all the rest. 44 00:04:11,836 --> 00:04:16,090 [disco music] 45 00:04:16,174 --> 00:04:20,929 [man] Gay people, men, gather together under one roof, 46 00:04:21,429 --> 00:04:25,600 and decide to have a competition amongst themselves. 47 00:04:26,768 --> 00:04:27,894 - Balls. - [cheering] 48 00:04:30,104 --> 00:04:31,856 [man 2] I went to a ball, 49 00:04:31,940 --> 00:04:35,485 I got a trophy, and now everybody wants to know me. 50 00:04:37,403 --> 00:04:43,117 This movie is about the ball circuit and the gay crew that's involved in it, 51 00:04:43,201 --> 00:04:49,082 and how each person's life brought them to this circuit. 52 00:04:49,874 --> 00:04:52,794 It's like crossing into the looking glass. Wonderland. 53 00:04:52,877 --> 00:04:57,924 You go in there and you feel, you feel 100% right 54 00:04:58,049 --> 00:04:59,509 as of be — being gay. 55 00:04:59,592 --> 00:05:01,344 [woman] That's not what it's like in the world? 56 00:05:01,427 --> 00:05:03,054 That's not what it's like in the world. 57 00:05:03,137 --> 00:05:04,722 That's not what it's like in the world. 58 00:05:04,806 --> 00:05:06,641 You know, it should be like that in the world. 59 00:05:06,724 --> 00:05:08,893 This society, they flip going to a football game. 60 00:05:08,977 --> 00:05:10,728 Basketball. That's their entertainment. 61 00:05:10,812 --> 00:05:13,231 You know, a ball is ours. We prepare for a ball. 62 00:05:13,314 --> 00:05:15,066 We may spend more time preparing for a ball 63 00:05:15,149 --> 00:05:17,443 than anybody would spend preparing for anything else. 64 00:05:17,527 --> 00:05:20,238 - Exactly. - A ball is like our world, you know. 65 00:05:20,321 --> 00:05:24,158 The balls to us is as close to reality as we're gonna get 66 00:05:24,242 --> 00:05:28,454 to all of that fame and fortune and stardom and spotlights. 67 00:05:29,288 --> 00:05:31,708 [Pepper] I'd always see the way that rich people lived, 68 00:05:31,791 --> 00:05:35,211 and I'd feel it more, you know, it would slap me in the face. 69 00:05:35,294 --> 00:05:39,298 I'd say, "I'd have to have that," because I never felt comfortable being poor. 70 00:05:39,382 --> 00:05:40,758 I just don't. 71 00:05:40,842 --> 00:05:43,511 Or even middle class doesn't suit me. 72 00:05:45,263 --> 00:05:46,889 Seeing the riches, 73 00:05:46,973 --> 00:05:52,437 seeing the way people on Dynasty lived... these huge houses. 74 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,148 And I would think, "These people have 42 rooms in their house. 75 00:05:55,231 --> 00:05:57,692 Oh, my God. What kind of a house is that?" 76 00:05:57,775 --> 00:06:00,695 And we've got three. So why is it that they can have it and I didn't? 77 00:06:00,778 --> 00:06:01,988 I always felt cheated. 78 00:06:02,447 --> 00:06:04,824 I always felt cheated out of things like that. 79 00:06:05,408 --> 00:06:08,786 [emcee] You have space to do all that you intend to. 80 00:06:09,412 --> 00:06:12,665 Now, the categories are Butch Queen, 81 00:06:12,749 --> 00:06:14,709 one through 17. 82 00:06:14,792 --> 00:06:17,253 And for the girls, 18 through 30. 83 00:06:18,421 --> 00:06:20,256 As far as all of y'all not walking, 84 00:06:20,339 --> 00:06:24,218 please realize that we all, at one time or another, 85 00:06:24,302 --> 00:06:26,929 have lusted to walk a ballroom floor. 86 00:06:27,805 --> 00:06:32,810 So, give the patrons and the contestants, you know, a round of applause for nerve. 87 00:06:33,811 --> 00:06:37,523 'Cause with y'all vicious motherfuckers, it do take nerve. 88 00:06:37,607 --> 00:06:41,152 Believe me. We're not going to be shady, just fierce. 89 00:06:41,611 --> 00:06:45,448 Those balls are more or less like our fantasy of being a superstar. 90 00:06:45,531 --> 00:06:49,869 You know, like the Oscars or whatever. Or being on a runway as a model. 91 00:06:50,453 --> 00:06:51,996 You know, a lot of those kids that are in the balls, 92 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,415 they don't have two of nothing. 93 00:06:54,499 --> 00:06:56,334 Some of them don't even eat. 94 00:06:56,417 --> 00:06:58,503 They come to balls starving. 95 00:06:58,586 --> 00:07:04,008 And they sleep in the under 21, or they sleep on the pier or wherever. 96 00:07:04,425 --> 00:07:05,843 They don't have a home to go to, 97 00:07:05,927 --> 00:07:07,929 but they'll go out and they'll steal something 98 00:07:08,012 --> 00:07:11,099 and get dressed up and come to a ball for that one night and live the fantasy. 99 00:07:11,182 --> 00:07:13,684 [disco music] 100 00:07:13,768 --> 00:07:18,731 [man] A ball is, the very word, whatever you want to be, you be. 101 00:07:19,232 --> 00:07:22,276 So at a ball, you have a chance to display your arrogance, 102 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,696 your seductiveness, your beauty, your wit, your charm, your knowledge. 103 00:07:26,781 --> 00:07:29,367 You can become anything and do anything 104 00:07:29,450 --> 00:07:32,662 right here, right now, and it won't be questioned. 105 00:07:32,745 --> 00:07:34,330 I came, 106 00:07:34,413 --> 00:07:37,083 - I saw, I conquered. - [emcee 2] You know what she want. 107 00:07:37,708 --> 00:07:38,876 That's a ball. 108 00:07:39,210 --> 00:07:42,463 [emcee 2] Give her what she want. She bring it to you every ball. 109 00:07:42,547 --> 00:07:44,549 Why are y'all gagging so? 110 00:07:45,174 --> 00:07:47,260 I guess I like the excitement. 111 00:07:47,343 --> 00:07:50,429 You know, cheering and screaming if you were good. 112 00:07:51,722 --> 00:07:54,308 And that's what got me. I like the competition. 113 00:07:55,309 --> 00:07:56,811 Makes me stronger. 114 00:07:56,894 --> 00:07:58,146 Makes me think more. 115 00:07:58,938 --> 00:08:01,858 Makes me want to come back and get them. 116 00:08:03,234 --> 00:08:04,902 It's not just the winning. 117 00:08:04,986 --> 00:08:05,987 It's... 118 00:08:07,155 --> 00:08:11,159 It's the giving too, 'cause I feel that I give a lot of enjoyment 119 00:08:11,826 --> 00:08:13,995 to a lot of people that go to balls. 120 00:08:14,078 --> 00:08:16,873 And they enjoy to see it, and I enjoy to walk for them. 121 00:08:16,956 --> 00:08:18,332 So, that's my... 122 00:08:19,792 --> 00:08:21,794 philosophy, as I should say. 123 00:08:23,212 --> 00:08:25,590 To be legendary is, like, their goals. 124 00:08:25,673 --> 00:08:27,008 To be legendary. You know. 125 00:08:27,091 --> 00:08:29,427 Let you know I'm legendary, you're not. 126 00:08:29,510 --> 00:08:31,762 You know, it feels good to them. 127 00:08:31,846 --> 00:08:32,847 - [interviewer] Like it's — - An Oscar. 128 00:08:32,930 --> 00:08:35,141 - A Oscar, right. - It's the same thing. 129 00:08:35,224 --> 00:08:38,394 Become a legend, you have an Oscar. It's the same thing. 130 00:08:40,021 --> 00:08:42,565 I don't really consider myself a real legend. 131 00:08:42,648 --> 00:08:46,235 I've — I've been at the balls with the legendary children, 132 00:08:46,319 --> 00:08:49,155 and I've stamped myself with the legendary children. 133 00:08:49,238 --> 00:08:53,034 But I'm really, I'm one of top upcoming children, legendary. 134 00:08:53,117 --> 00:08:56,078 We have legendary children and upcoming legendary children. 135 00:08:56,287 --> 00:08:59,081 We're the upcoming ones. We've been out longer than the ones that are here now. 136 00:08:59,165 --> 00:09:00,249 Mm-hmm. 137 00:09:00,333 --> 00:09:03,211 And we done, had our... We have our status in the ballroom. 138 00:09:08,424 --> 00:09:11,177 How long did it take you to do the tank top? 139 00:09:11,636 --> 00:09:12,762 [Kim] A-An hour. 140 00:09:12,845 --> 00:09:13,846 An hour? 141 00:09:13,930 --> 00:09:16,432 - Yes. - You don't do that. 142 00:09:17,516 --> 00:09:20,269 It usually doesn't take you an hour to do a shirt, 143 00:09:20,353 --> 00:09:21,812 especially a tank top. 144 00:09:21,896 --> 00:09:24,523 Mm-mmm.That's not your speed. 145 00:09:24,607 --> 00:09:26,234 [emcee 2] Kim Pendavis! 146 00:09:26,817 --> 00:09:29,237 Statement: "Future legend." 147 00:09:32,031 --> 00:09:34,951 Kim and me have — We've been together. 148 00:09:35,034 --> 00:09:38,537 And it's more or less me. I'm the one that's Kim's protégé. 149 00:09:39,497 --> 00:09:43,376 Because I go with Kim to the balls, help him out, help him iron. 150 00:09:43,459 --> 00:09:47,255 'Cause if I don't go to a ball with him and iron, I mean, he'll be there wrinkled. 151 00:09:48,089 --> 00:09:50,883 Or he'd be there ironing, but, 152 00:09:50,967 --> 00:09:54,762 you know, it helps out when somebody else is there in your corner, 153 00:09:54,845 --> 00:09:58,182 at your side to say, "Yeah, you can do it. You're gonna be fine. 154 00:09:58,266 --> 00:09:59,892 Just go out and do what you usually do." 155 00:10:01,477 --> 00:10:03,312 What do I get out of it? 156 00:10:03,396 --> 00:10:06,399 Just simple, you know, joy, satisfaction. 157 00:10:06,983 --> 00:10:10,611 That's it. Not — You know, I don't really ask much. 158 00:10:10,695 --> 00:10:13,823 And then from time to time, later on I can wear the outfit. 159 00:10:13,906 --> 00:10:15,741 Yeah! 160 00:10:16,534 --> 00:10:19,161 - Work! - [emcee 2] Everyone waiting in the wings, 161 00:10:19,245 --> 00:10:22,748 you know you have to make room for Pepper LaBeija. 162 00:10:22,832 --> 00:10:24,542 Pepper LaBeija. 163 00:10:25,042 --> 00:10:27,920 Pepper LaBeija. Give her some walking room. 164 00:10:28,004 --> 00:10:29,505 [man] Liz Taylor is famous. 165 00:10:30,214 --> 00:10:31,590 [emcee 2] Pepper LaBeija. 166 00:10:31,674 --> 00:10:34,468 - [man] So is Pepper LaBeija. - [emcee 2] Pepper LaBeija. 167 00:10:38,389 --> 00:10:40,182 [man] In a sense, so am I. 168 00:10:40,808 --> 00:10:43,519 But a very much different quantity. 169 00:10:45,479 --> 00:10:49,066 No magazine's gonna run up to cover me if I go to a premiere. 170 00:10:50,818 --> 00:10:52,361 But it's still a fame. 171 00:10:52,445 --> 00:10:56,073 It's a small fame. But you absorb it, you take it. 172 00:10:56,991 --> 00:10:58,284 And you like it. 173 00:10:58,826 --> 00:11:01,120 You like the adulation, the applause, 174 00:11:01,954 --> 00:11:03,706 the people cheering you on, 175 00:11:04,373 --> 00:11:05,458 the winning. 176 00:11:06,042 --> 00:11:08,669 It's like a physical high. 177 00:11:08,753 --> 00:11:10,838 And you know, it's a good high. 178 00:11:12,715 --> 00:11:15,259 It's an addictive high, like all highs 179 00:11:16,052 --> 00:11:17,887 in the long run turn out to be, 180 00:11:17,970 --> 00:11:20,556 but it's a high that won't hurt you. 181 00:11:21,974 --> 00:11:26,520 If everybody went to balls and... did less drugs, 182 00:11:26,604 --> 00:11:28,647 it'd be a fun world, wouldn't it? 183 00:11:29,732 --> 00:11:32,026 I'm dressing, of course, to go do a show, 184 00:11:32,109 --> 00:11:34,737 because I've always done this professionally. 185 00:11:34,820 --> 00:11:36,155 And I was a dancer. 186 00:11:36,572 --> 00:11:41,660 And I'm trying to remember when the first time I went to... a ball. 187 00:11:42,078 --> 00:11:46,707 That was the early-type ball when everybody just walked, 188 00:11:46,791 --> 00:11:52,129 and they gave away like four or five prizes in a very limited category. 189 00:11:52,213 --> 00:11:53,881 And the children now, 190 00:11:54,507 --> 00:11:58,511 most of them, 75% of the children you see at the ball 191 00:11:58,928 --> 00:12:02,515 wouldn't know what a ball was if it knocked them in the head. 192 00:12:03,432 --> 00:12:06,602 When I first started going to balls, it was all about drag queens, 193 00:12:06,685 --> 00:12:09,688 and they were interested in looking like Las Vegas showgirls. 194 00:12:09,772 --> 00:12:12,691 Backpieces, tailpieces, feathers, beads and all that. 195 00:12:12,775 --> 00:12:16,570 But as the '70s rolled around, the thing started changing. 196 00:12:16,654 --> 00:12:19,448 It started coming down to just wanting to look like a gorgeous movie star, 197 00:12:19,532 --> 00:12:21,409 like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor. 198 00:12:21,492 --> 00:12:24,078 And now they've went from that to trying to look like models 199 00:12:24,161 --> 00:12:28,040 like Iman and Christie Brinkley and Maud Adams and all those children. 200 00:12:28,624 --> 00:12:30,751 [Dorian] Everyone couldn't be a Las Vegas showgirl. 201 00:12:30,835 --> 00:12:33,963 Everyone couldn't put on a stack of feathers and a big headpiece. 202 00:12:34,046 --> 00:12:36,340 So they made the categories for everybody. 203 00:12:37,174 --> 00:12:41,095 That's what really made the balls change, so there was more involvement. 204 00:12:42,096 --> 00:12:46,142 Everyone that goes to one of these affairs now damn near participates. 205 00:12:46,725 --> 00:12:49,019 Eventually, over the course of a year's balls, 206 00:12:49,103 --> 00:12:53,441 they've all walked the runway in some category or another. 207 00:12:54,150 --> 00:12:58,529 Either you've got a nice body, or you are very fashionable, 208 00:12:59,071 --> 00:13:00,906 or you're very pretty, 209 00:13:01,407 --> 00:13:04,160 or you're very real looking. 210 00:13:04,243 --> 00:13:06,579 But there's always something there for everyone. 211 00:13:06,662 --> 00:13:08,330 And that's what keeps them all coming. 212 00:13:09,373 --> 00:13:11,375 And it's like — it's like in nature. 213 00:13:11,876 --> 00:13:13,711 I'm such a nature fan. 214 00:13:13,794 --> 00:13:18,424 Young ones are always bucking to move the — the old bulls out of the way. 215 00:13:18,507 --> 00:13:19,800 That's why they change, 216 00:13:20,217 --> 00:13:24,555 go through all these mad categories that I never can stay awake for. 217 00:13:25,431 --> 00:13:28,767 [emcee 2] Upcoming Pretty Girl, 1986, 218 00:13:28,851 --> 00:13:30,394 - take it to the floor. - [disco music] 219 00:13:31,145 --> 00:13:33,397 - They're showing off for the press. - [cheering] 220 00:13:33,481 --> 00:13:36,192 Audience, please back up and give them air! 221 00:13:36,442 --> 00:13:38,527 [shouts] 222 00:13:38,611 --> 00:13:42,364 Next category, High Fashion Winter Sportswear, 223 00:13:42,448 --> 00:13:44,742 the Poconos versus the Catskills. 224 00:13:46,368 --> 00:13:47,453 [man] ♪ Shake your body... ♪ 225 00:13:47,536 --> 00:13:49,330 [emcee 2] Is there anyone walking? 226 00:13:50,206 --> 00:13:53,292 Some children were asking me what I meant by "Miss Cheesecake." 227 00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:57,338 That means you must not only have a body, but you must be sexy. 228 00:13:57,588 --> 00:13:59,715 A lot of people have bodies, but are not sexy. 229 00:14:00,174 --> 00:14:01,759 Big body! 230 00:14:02,426 --> 00:14:04,929 - Body! Body! Body! - [cheers] 231 00:14:06,180 --> 00:14:07,973 And toned! 232 00:14:08,307 --> 00:14:13,771 A body that says, "Come up and see me sometime, big boy." 233 00:14:13,854 --> 00:14:16,941 Going to school. School. 234 00:14:17,399 --> 00:14:18,651 Elementary. 235 00:14:19,068 --> 00:14:20,319 High school. 236 00:14:20,402 --> 00:14:21,820 College. 237 00:14:22,321 --> 00:14:26,033 Not here. School. 238 00:14:26,575 --> 00:14:28,369 [cheering] 239 00:14:31,247 --> 00:14:33,249 Looking like a girl going to school. 240 00:14:33,958 --> 00:14:36,502 Do she look like a girl going to school? 241 00:14:41,799 --> 00:14:43,342 Town and Country. 242 00:14:43,425 --> 00:14:45,678 Exclusively done. 243 00:14:45,761 --> 00:14:46,971 Dupree! 244 00:14:47,054 --> 00:14:48,472 Dupree! Dupree! 245 00:14:50,349 --> 00:14:54,728 [man] Get into their suits, I said. The well-dressed men of the '80s. 246 00:14:54,812 --> 00:14:57,398 Get into the suits and get into the pumps. 247 00:14:58,190 --> 00:15:01,986 [Dorian] In real life, you can't get a job as an executive 248 00:15:02,069 --> 00:15:06,490 unless you have the educational background and the opportunity. 249 00:15:06,574 --> 00:15:08,742 Now, the fact that you are not an executive 250 00:15:08,826 --> 00:15:11,537 is merely because of the social standing of life. 251 00:15:12,288 --> 00:15:13,747 That is just pure thing. 252 00:15:13,831 --> 00:15:15,958 Black people have a hard time getting anywhere. 253 00:15:16,709 --> 00:15:20,045 And those that do are usually straight. 254 00:15:20,462 --> 00:15:23,924 In a ballroom, you can be anything you want. 255 00:15:24,008 --> 00:15:27,052 You're not really an executive, but you're looking like an executive. 256 00:15:27,469 --> 00:15:31,098 And therefore you're showing the straight world that "I can be an executive. 257 00:15:31,181 --> 00:15:35,060 If I had the opportunity, I could be one because I can look like one." 258 00:15:35,144 --> 00:15:37,354 And that is like a fulfillment. 259 00:15:37,438 --> 00:15:41,525 Your peers, your friends are telling you, "Oh, you'd make a wonderful executive." 260 00:15:41,609 --> 00:15:44,194 [emcee 3] Is this the businessman of the '80s or what? 261 00:15:45,195 --> 00:15:47,281 [emcee 2] High-fashion Parisian. 262 00:15:47,364 --> 00:15:49,033 Model Yvette. 263 00:15:49,116 --> 00:15:51,160 Chanté, chanté. 264 00:15:51,243 --> 00:15:53,704 Chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté, chanté. 265 00:15:54,371 --> 00:15:55,497 Model! 266 00:15:56,957 --> 00:15:58,334 Thin! 267 00:15:58,417 --> 00:15:59,793 Streamlined! 268 00:16:00,210 --> 00:16:01,378 Trim! 269 00:16:02,046 --> 00:16:03,088 Model! 270 00:16:03,422 --> 00:16:07,635 [emcee 1] The category is Butch Queen First Time in Drags at a Ball. 271 00:16:08,052 --> 00:16:09,637 You know what I mean. 272 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,013 You know what Paris means. 273 00:16:11,096 --> 00:16:12,723 Exactly! Butch queen! 274 00:16:12,806 --> 00:16:14,558 - Butch queen. - Butch queen! 275 00:16:14,642 --> 00:16:16,518 - Butch queen. - Butch! 276 00:16:16,602 --> 00:16:18,854 [cheers and applause] 277 00:16:18,937 --> 00:16:22,316 [Paris] First time in drag at a ball. That's what I wanted to hear. 278 00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:26,779 [slow "Star-Spangled Banner"] 279 00:16:28,656 --> 00:16:31,325 [man] The military scene is a basic scene. 280 00:16:31,408 --> 00:16:32,451 It doesn't call for 281 00:16:32,868 --> 00:16:38,082 a bunch of flamboyant turkey boas and bugle beads, rhinestone. 282 00:16:38,165 --> 00:16:40,668 - [military music] - It's a basic category. 283 00:16:41,418 --> 00:16:43,420 The more natural you are, 284 00:16:43,962 --> 00:16:46,048 the more credit your outfit is given. 285 00:16:47,299 --> 00:16:49,885 [emcee 1] Come on, now. It is a known fact 286 00:16:49,968 --> 00:16:53,681 that a woman do carry a evening bag at dinnertime. 287 00:16:54,473 --> 00:16:56,684 There's no getting around that. 288 00:16:56,767 --> 00:17:00,979 You see it on Channel 7 between All My Children and Jeopardy! 289 00:17:01,939 --> 00:17:04,566 Another World, Dallas and the whole bit. 290 00:17:04,650 --> 00:17:06,276 A evening bag is a must. 291 00:17:06,985 --> 00:17:10,447 You have to carry something. No lady is sure at night. 292 00:17:10,864 --> 00:17:13,450 With the current children, the children that are young, 293 00:17:14,034 --> 00:17:16,537 they've gone to television, you know? 294 00:17:16,954 --> 00:17:19,248 I've been to several balls... 295 00:17:20,249 --> 00:17:22,334 and they've actually had categories. 296 00:17:23,168 --> 00:17:24,378 Dynasty. 297 00:17:25,170 --> 00:17:28,674 You know, want you to look like Alexis or Krystle. 298 00:17:33,011 --> 00:17:36,682 And I guess that's just, um, a statement of the times. 299 00:17:37,474 --> 00:17:40,352 When I grew up, you wanted to look like Marlene Dietrich, 300 00:17:40,436 --> 00:17:41,603 Betty Grable. 301 00:17:43,856 --> 00:17:47,276 Fortunately, I didn't know that I really wanted to look like Lena Horne. 302 00:17:48,110 --> 00:17:50,529 When I grew up, of course, you know... 303 00:17:52,197 --> 00:17:54,241 black stars were stigmatized. 304 00:17:56,285 --> 00:17:58,454 Nobody wanted to look like Lena Horne. 305 00:17:59,329 --> 00:18:02,332 Everybody wanted to look like Marilyn Monroe. 306 00:18:03,834 --> 00:18:06,962 ["Got to Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn] 307 00:18:15,596 --> 00:18:17,514 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ What you think... ♪ 308 00:18:17,598 --> 00:18:20,934 [man] When you're a man and a woman, you can do anything. 309 00:18:21,685 --> 00:18:24,688 You can almost have sex on the streets if you want to. 310 00:18:25,230 --> 00:18:28,567 The most somebody will say is, "Hey, get a hump for me," you know. 311 00:18:28,650 --> 00:18:31,862 But when you're gay, you monitor everything you do. 312 00:18:31,945 --> 00:18:35,866 You monitor how you look, how you dress, how you talk, how you act. 313 00:18:36,366 --> 00:18:39,203 "Did they see me? What did they think of me?" 314 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:40,829 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ I think I need you ♪ 315 00:18:40,913 --> 00:18:43,457 ♪ What you know-ah ♪ 316 00:18:43,540 --> 00:18:44,833 [vocalizing] 317 00:18:44,917 --> 00:18:47,336 ♪ To be real ♪ 318 00:18:47,419 --> 00:18:49,588 [Dorian] To be able to blend. 319 00:18:50,964 --> 00:18:52,549 That's what realness is. 320 00:18:53,801 --> 00:18:56,887 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ So real now... ♪ 321 00:18:56,970 --> 00:19:00,933 ♪ You know that your love is my love My love... ♪ 322 00:19:01,016 --> 00:19:04,686 If you can pass the untrained eye, or even the trained eye, 323 00:19:04,770 --> 00:19:07,731 and not give away the fact that you're gay, 324 00:19:07,815 --> 00:19:09,233 that's when it's realness. 325 00:19:09,316 --> 00:19:10,526 Banjee. 326 00:19:10,609 --> 00:19:12,486 Looking like the boy that probably robbed you 327 00:19:12,569 --> 00:19:14,905 a few minutes before you came to Paris's ball. 328 00:19:17,741 --> 00:19:22,371 [Dorian] The idea of realness is to look as much as possible 329 00:19:22,454 --> 00:19:24,540 like your straight counterpart. 330 00:19:24,623 --> 00:19:28,627 Shake the dice and steal the rice! Right here. Come on, baby. 331 00:19:29,878 --> 00:19:32,631 Yes, daddy, I got my food stamps and card waiting. 332 00:19:33,048 --> 00:19:34,258 All right. 333 00:19:34,341 --> 00:19:37,344 Dust, coke, base, soap, Rolaids, he got it. 334 00:19:38,595 --> 00:19:41,890 [Dorian] The realer you look, it means you look like a real woman. 335 00:19:43,267 --> 00:19:45,644 Or you look like a real man. 336 00:19:45,727 --> 00:19:46,728 [man on PA, indistinct] 337 00:19:46,812 --> 00:19:48,063 [Dorian] A straight man. 338 00:19:52,442 --> 00:19:57,239 [emcee 2] Sweetheart, with the cigarette you're giving me a banjee girl effect. 339 00:19:57,322 --> 00:19:58,740 This is Banjee. 340 00:19:59,992 --> 00:20:03,120 You know, the girls that be on the corner talking about your man, 341 00:20:03,203 --> 00:20:05,873 one that can hang out with the roughest. 342 00:20:05,956 --> 00:20:08,917 [Dorian] It's not a takeoff or a satire. 343 00:20:09,001 --> 00:20:10,586 Can we have her score, please? 344 00:20:10,669 --> 00:20:13,297 [Dorian] No, it's actually being able to be this. 345 00:20:13,964 --> 00:20:18,051 [emcee 2] Brenda Xtravaganza looking like a banjee girl. 346 00:20:19,386 --> 00:20:20,387 Banjee. 347 00:20:20,512 --> 00:20:21,889 Banjee girl realness. 348 00:20:21,972 --> 00:20:24,808 You know, one that can take her little baby brother to school. 349 00:20:24,892 --> 00:20:29,605 One that say, "You know, hey — I saw those things walking down the street." 350 00:20:29,688 --> 00:20:32,357 [Dorian] It's really a case of going back into the closet. 351 00:20:32,441 --> 00:20:33,442 Ten! 352 00:20:34,067 --> 00:20:35,903 Ten! Ten! 353 00:20:35,986 --> 00:20:37,779 Ten! Ten! 354 00:20:37,863 --> 00:20:39,281 Are there any more? 355 00:20:39,364 --> 00:20:41,867 Okay, girls, have we come to a decision? 356 00:20:42,618 --> 00:20:45,162 [man] They give the society what they want to see, 357 00:20:45,245 --> 00:20:46,455 so they won't be questioned. 358 00:20:46,538 --> 00:20:51,084 Rather than having to go through prejudices about your life and lifestyle, 359 00:20:51,168 --> 00:20:54,713 you can walk around confidently, blending in with everybody else. 360 00:20:55,255 --> 00:20:59,593 You've erased all the mistakes, all the flaws, all the giveaways 361 00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:02,179 to make your illusion perfect. 362 00:21:02,930 --> 00:21:04,806 - [disco] - [emcee] Bernie, 363 00:21:04,890 --> 00:21:06,600 Diane, Frank. 364 00:21:06,683 --> 00:21:08,143 [Pepper] My mother knew I had trophies, 365 00:21:08,226 --> 00:21:10,395 but I was telling her I'd won 'em for basketball. 366 00:21:10,479 --> 00:21:12,773 I had won trophies for running track. 367 00:21:12,856 --> 00:21:15,484 I was walking up 145th Street with my girlfriends. 368 00:21:15,567 --> 00:21:18,487 I had on white hot pants, a chiffon blouse, 369 00:21:18,570 --> 00:21:20,072 a ponytail. 370 00:21:20,155 --> 00:21:22,282 My father was waiting for the light in his car 371 00:21:22,366 --> 00:21:24,534 and he saw me, he recognized me. 372 00:21:24,618 --> 00:21:29,206 And he went straight to my house before I could get there and told my mother, 373 00:21:29,289 --> 00:21:30,999 "Your son is a woman." 374 00:21:31,625 --> 00:21:33,752 She didn't press it then. 375 00:21:33,835 --> 00:21:37,965 But, like, maybe a few months later when she noticed that I had breasts, 376 00:21:38,048 --> 00:21:40,217 everything started coming together. 377 00:21:40,926 --> 00:21:42,970 She really was devastated. 378 00:21:43,428 --> 00:21:46,682 "How could you have breasts bigger than mine? You're growing nails. 379 00:21:46,765 --> 00:21:49,559 You're becoming a woman right before my very eyes. 380 00:21:49,643 --> 00:21:52,396 I can't hold my head up. I'm embarrassed." 381 00:21:52,479 --> 00:21:53,689 She still loved me, 382 00:21:53,772 --> 00:21:58,902 but the nagging and the, oh, my God, about this women's clothes. 383 00:21:59,361 --> 00:22:01,863 And when I had women's clothes stashed in my closet 384 00:22:01,947 --> 00:22:04,032 and she found them, she would destroy them. 385 00:22:04,116 --> 00:22:05,659 She burnt up a mink coat. 386 00:22:05,742 --> 00:22:08,120 I was so devastated. 387 00:22:08,537 --> 00:22:12,290 She smelled the perfume I liked to wear, which was Jungle Gardenia at the time. 388 00:22:12,708 --> 00:22:14,918 She said, "This ain't no girl's coat. This is your coat." 389 00:22:15,377 --> 00:22:19,256 Took it downstairs in the backyard of the building and burnt it. 390 00:22:19,339 --> 00:22:21,341 And I stood there and cried like a baby. 391 00:22:21,758 --> 00:22:25,804 As long I have the mustache and all that, it's cute for me. 392 00:22:25,887 --> 00:22:28,598 She don't want me being in girls' clothes. She can't take it. 393 00:22:31,393 --> 00:22:32,853 [Dorian] When they're undetectable, 394 00:22:32,936 --> 00:22:37,315 when they can walk out of that ballroom into the sunlight and onto the subway 395 00:22:37,399 --> 00:22:40,277 and get home and still have all their clothes 396 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,030 and no blood running off their bodies, 397 00:22:43,113 --> 00:22:46,199 those are the femme realness queens. 398 00:22:46,616 --> 00:22:50,537 And usually it's a category for young queens. 399 00:22:50,620 --> 00:22:52,831 Some of them say that we're sick, 400 00:22:53,457 --> 00:22:55,000 we're crazy, 401 00:22:55,083 --> 00:22:59,463 and some of them think that we are the most gorgeous, special things on earth. 402 00:23:02,841 --> 00:23:06,553 [Venus] I would like to be a spoiled, rich white girl. [laughs] 403 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:10,140 They get what they want whenever they want it, 404 00:23:10,223 --> 00:23:13,560 and they don't have to really struggle 405 00:23:13,643 --> 00:23:17,147 with finances and nice things, nice clothes, 406 00:23:17,230 --> 00:23:20,609 and they don't have to... have that as a problem. 407 00:23:21,443 --> 00:23:25,322 I don't feel that there's anything mannish about me, 408 00:23:25,405 --> 00:23:29,451 except maybe what I might have between me down there. 409 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,370 Which is my little personal thing, so... 410 00:23:33,038 --> 00:23:36,875 I guess that's why I want my sex change, to make myself complete. 411 00:23:38,126 --> 00:23:40,921 I was about 13, 14 years old, 412 00:23:41,004 --> 00:23:45,008 and I used to do it behind my family's back, just dressing up, 413 00:23:45,092 --> 00:23:47,010 till finally they caught on with it. 414 00:23:47,094 --> 00:23:50,639 And I didn't want to embarrass them, so that's when I moved away. 415 00:23:50,722 --> 00:23:52,432 [emcee 2] She's off to the opera! 416 00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:55,102 [Venus] I moved to New York and I continue doing it. 417 00:23:56,311 --> 00:23:57,562 [no audible dialogue] 418 00:23:58,230 --> 00:24:02,526 When someone has rejection from their mother and father, their family, 419 00:24:02,609 --> 00:24:05,695 they — when they get out in the world, they search. 420 00:24:05,779 --> 00:24:07,531 They search for someone to fill that void. 421 00:24:07,614 --> 00:24:12,285 I know this for experience, because for — because I've had kids come to me... 422 00:24:12,953 --> 00:24:15,622 and latch hold of me 423 00:24:15,705 --> 00:24:18,500 like I'm their mother, or like I'm their father. 424 00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:21,753 'Cause they can talk to me, and... I'm gay, and they're gay. 425 00:24:21,837 --> 00:24:27,259 And that's where a lot of that "ballness" and the mother business comes in. 426 00:24:27,342 --> 00:24:31,263 Because their real parents give them such a hard way to go... 427 00:24:32,556 --> 00:24:35,934 they look up to me to fill that void. 428 00:24:38,937 --> 00:24:41,231 - [man] How old are you? - I'm 15. 429 00:24:41,314 --> 00:24:43,066 - What time is it? - [laughs] 430 00:24:43,150 --> 00:24:45,652 Right here, homeboy. Look at the time over there, 2:26. 431 00:24:45,735 --> 00:24:47,988 - And y'all — how old are you? - Me, I'm 13. 432 00:24:48,071 --> 00:24:50,157 Thirteen and you're out here at 2:26? 433 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,409 - Where you live? - Me, I live in Harlem. 434 00:24:52,492 --> 00:24:53,994 And why you down here? Where's your mother? 435 00:24:54,077 --> 00:24:56,079 Hanging out. I don't have a mother. 436 00:24:56,163 --> 00:24:58,039 Everybody has a mother, or we wouldn't be here. 437 00:24:58,123 --> 00:24:59,875 - Where's your mother? - She's gone. 438 00:24:59,958 --> 00:25:01,835 - Where's your father? - He's gone too. 439 00:25:01,918 --> 00:25:03,879 - So who you live with? - With a friend. 440 00:25:03,962 --> 00:25:06,715 - And you too? - I live with my mother in the Bronx. 441 00:25:07,299 --> 00:25:10,010 - And y'all just hanging out like this. - Hanging out, right there inside. 442 00:25:10,135 --> 00:25:13,763 [Pepper] A lot of these kids that I meet now, they come from such sad backgrounds, 443 00:25:13,847 --> 00:25:16,600 you know, broken homes or no home at all. 444 00:25:16,683 --> 00:25:19,811 And then the few that do have family, when the family finds that they're gay, 445 00:25:19,895 --> 00:25:21,354 they "X" them completely. 446 00:25:21,438 --> 00:25:23,440 [chattering] 447 00:25:23,523 --> 00:25:26,276 [Dorian] A house? A house? Let's see. 448 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,445 Let's see if we can put it down sharply. 449 00:25:28,528 --> 00:25:30,614 They're families. You can say that. 450 00:25:30,697 --> 00:25:32,032 They're families... 451 00:25:32,616 --> 00:25:34,993 for a lot of children who don't have families. 452 00:25:38,079 --> 00:25:40,290 But this is a new meaning of family. 453 00:25:40,373 --> 00:25:44,252 The hippies had families, and no one thought nothing about it. 454 00:25:44,336 --> 00:25:47,797 It wasn't a question of a man and a woman and children, 455 00:25:47,881 --> 00:25:49,883 which we grew up knowing as a family. 456 00:25:49,966 --> 00:25:54,512 It's a question of a group of human beings in a mutual bond. 457 00:25:54,596 --> 00:25:59,059 ["Love Is the Message" by MFSB] 458 00:26:07,025 --> 00:26:10,820 [Dorian] You know what a house is. I'll tell you what a house is. 459 00:26:10,904 --> 00:26:13,073 A house is a gay street gang. 460 00:26:13,949 --> 00:26:18,245 Now, where street gangs get their rewards from street fights, 461 00:26:18,912 --> 00:26:22,165 a gay house street-fights at a ball. 462 00:26:22,791 --> 00:26:26,211 And you street-fight at a ball by walking in the categories. 463 00:26:26,294 --> 00:26:30,757 ["Love Is the Message" continues] 464 00:26:31,299 --> 00:26:35,845 [Dorian] The houses started because you wanted a name. 465 00:26:36,388 --> 00:26:38,932 The people that the houses are named after 466 00:26:39,474 --> 00:26:44,312 were ball walkers who became known for winning. 467 00:26:46,898 --> 00:26:49,985 [emcee 3] Work, Paris Dupree. 468 00:26:50,068 --> 00:26:51,361 Work, Paris. 469 00:26:51,444 --> 00:26:53,655 [Dorian] After the first few houses were started 470 00:26:53,738 --> 00:26:56,157 and named after people who had won trophies, 471 00:26:56,241 --> 00:27:00,912 they also would create houses, like a new group of kids would create a house. 472 00:27:00,996 --> 00:27:03,540 Then they'd work at building its name up, which worked. 473 00:27:03,623 --> 00:27:06,126 The House of Xtravaganza, the House of Saint Laurent. 474 00:27:06,584 --> 00:27:08,044 Overness. 475 00:27:08,128 --> 00:27:09,254 Pendavis. 476 00:27:09,337 --> 00:27:10,714 Adonis. 477 00:27:10,797 --> 00:27:11,798 LeMay. 478 00:27:11,881 --> 00:27:13,633 Pendavis. 479 00:27:13,717 --> 00:27:15,260 Saint Laurent, of course. 480 00:27:18,013 --> 00:27:19,014 Dupree. 481 00:27:19,889 --> 00:27:25,186 They saw me and they all liked me, all the rest of the Xtravaganzas. 482 00:27:25,729 --> 00:27:28,857 And they decided, "Well, if you want to become an Xtravaganza, 483 00:27:28,940 --> 00:27:31,192 you have to walk a ball for us. 484 00:27:31,276 --> 00:27:35,155 And if you snatch a trophy, then you can become the Xtravaganza." 485 00:27:35,822 --> 00:27:38,325 That's how it's supposed to work with any — everyone. 486 00:27:38,825 --> 00:27:39,826 But, uh... 487 00:27:40,702 --> 00:27:42,454 like that, it wasn't with me. 488 00:27:42,537 --> 00:27:44,456 I just became an Xtravaganza. 489 00:27:46,082 --> 00:27:49,544 Hector Xtravaganza. He's the one who started the house. 490 00:27:49,627 --> 00:27:52,756 He was the first gay man I ever met. 491 00:27:52,839 --> 00:27:56,551 The first time he took me to the Village, which was my birthday, 492 00:27:56,634 --> 00:27:59,471 I had just turned 15 years old. 493 00:27:59,554 --> 00:28:04,142 And he threw a party for me... out there. He bought me a cake. 494 00:28:04,768 --> 00:28:08,104 I met a lot of drag queens, transvestites 495 00:28:08,188 --> 00:28:11,816 that I didn't believe were because they were so beautiful. 496 00:28:11,900 --> 00:28:14,152 And that kind of sunk into my head. 497 00:28:14,235 --> 00:28:17,238 And I guess that's why it kind of made me want to even do it more. 498 00:28:17,322 --> 00:28:20,367 They treat each other like sisters. 499 00:28:20,450 --> 00:28:22,911 Sisters or brothers, 500 00:28:23,495 --> 00:28:25,080 or mothers or... 501 00:28:27,415 --> 00:28:30,001 you know, like I say, "Oh, that's my sister," 502 00:28:30,085 --> 00:28:32,128 because she's gay too, and I'm gay, 503 00:28:32,212 --> 00:28:35,006 and she's a drag queen or whatever. 504 00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:40,345 [man] My mother is Angie Xtravaganza and my father is David Xtravaganza. 505 00:28:41,096 --> 00:28:43,765 The House of Xtravaganza has done a lot. 506 00:28:43,848 --> 00:28:46,351 It's made me feel like I have a family. 507 00:28:46,434 --> 00:28:47,894 We're always together. We're always — 508 00:28:47,977 --> 00:28:50,897 If we're not together, we always speak on the phone. 509 00:28:51,314 --> 00:28:54,984 My name is Angie Xtravaganza, and I am the mother of the House of Xtravaganza. 510 00:28:56,986 --> 00:28:59,614 When there's a ball, I'm always doing something for everybody in my house. 511 00:28:59,697 --> 00:29:02,117 I do that one's hair, the other one's makeup, you know, 512 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,619 choose their shoes, their accessories. 513 00:29:04,702 --> 00:29:06,413 I always offer advice, you know, 514 00:29:06,496 --> 00:29:10,417 I mean, as far as what I know and what I've been through in gay life. 515 00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:12,669 You know, I ran away from my house when I was 14, 516 00:29:12,752 --> 00:29:15,463 and I've learned all sorts of things, good and bad. 517 00:29:15,547 --> 00:29:18,800 And how to survive in gay world, you know, it's kind of hard. 518 00:29:18,883 --> 00:29:22,512 Xtravaganza power! 519 00:29:23,346 --> 00:29:25,598 I bought her her tits. I paid for them. 520 00:29:25,682 --> 00:29:27,517 - He paid for my tits. - I paid for these implants. 521 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,227 - My tit. - I gave my mother her implants. 522 00:29:29,310 --> 00:29:31,646 - [man 1] Shake them tits, mommy. - [man 2] Shake those tits, mama. 523 00:29:31,729 --> 00:29:32,897 [Angie] He paid for my tits. 524 00:29:32,981 --> 00:29:35,191 ♪ All she want for Christmas Is her two front tits ♪ 525 00:29:35,275 --> 00:29:37,360 ♪Her two front tits, her two front tits ♪ 526 00:29:37,444 --> 00:29:38,778 ♪ We gave her them for Christmas ♪ 527 00:29:38,862 --> 00:29:40,280 [man] And we gave 'em to her. 528 00:29:40,655 --> 00:29:42,949 [chattering] 529 00:29:44,075 --> 00:29:47,120 Our mother even nurses us! She's a good woman. 530 00:29:47,203 --> 00:29:48,455 She nourishes us. 531 00:29:48,538 --> 00:29:51,916 [man] ♪ My mommy is a drag queen Look, I say ♪ 532 00:29:52,959 --> 00:29:57,380 [emcee 2] From the House of Xtravaganza, for Mother of the Year, 533 00:29:57,464 --> 00:29:59,549 keeping her children intact. 534 00:30:00,175 --> 00:30:03,511 Can we have Angie Xtravaganza? 535 00:30:06,764 --> 00:30:09,726 Work for us, girl. Walk that runway. 536 00:30:10,935 --> 00:30:13,313 This is from Andre Christian, girl. 537 00:30:13,730 --> 00:30:16,691 [man] My birthday will come and I always get a birthday gift from Angie. 538 00:30:17,484 --> 00:30:19,444 Won't get one from my real mother. 539 00:30:19,986 --> 00:30:22,113 Like when I got thrown out of my house, 540 00:30:22,197 --> 00:30:26,826 Angie let me stay with her till I got myself together and I got working. 541 00:30:26,910 --> 00:30:28,703 She always fed me. 542 00:30:28,786 --> 00:30:30,538 She can be a pain in the ass sometimes, 543 00:30:30,955 --> 00:30:32,624 but I wouldn't trade her for any other mother. 544 00:30:35,502 --> 00:30:36,586 [emcee 2] Ninja. 545 00:30:36,669 --> 00:30:40,507 [man] You know, you have to have something to offer in order to lead. 546 00:30:40,590 --> 00:30:42,008 The mother usually becomes the mother 547 00:30:42,091 --> 00:30:44,511 because she's usually the best one out of the group. 548 00:30:44,928 --> 00:30:47,305 I'm Willi Ninja, the mother of the House of Ninja. 549 00:30:47,722 --> 00:30:49,390 [emcee 2] Give him what he wants! 550 00:30:50,391 --> 00:30:52,435 [Willi] I'm the mother of the House of Ninja 551 00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:55,355 because they say I'm the best voguer out. 552 00:30:56,314 --> 00:30:59,526 To be the mother of the house, you have to have the most power. 553 00:30:59,609 --> 00:31:03,321 Take a real family, it's the mother that's the hardest worker, 554 00:31:03,404 --> 00:31:05,532 and the mother gets the most respect. 555 00:31:05,615 --> 00:31:09,410 As far as my naming my house the House of Ninja, 556 00:31:09,494 --> 00:31:12,497 ninjas hit hard, they hit fast. 557 00:31:12,580 --> 00:31:14,082 An invisible assassin. 558 00:31:14,165 --> 00:31:17,168 And that's what we are. We come out to assassinate. 559 00:31:18,127 --> 00:31:21,756 The House of LaBeija is the legendary house above all of 'em. 560 00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:24,092 I have the most members, I'm the most popular. 561 00:31:24,175 --> 00:31:26,761 New York City is wrapped up in being LaBeija. 562 00:31:26,844 --> 00:31:31,683 So... it speaks for itself. And I am the fiercest mother out of all of 'em. 563 00:31:32,141 --> 00:31:34,686 LaBeija? I wouldn't be caught dead in that house. 564 00:31:34,769 --> 00:31:36,980 I'm sorry. I don't see that house. 565 00:31:37,063 --> 00:31:41,609 Only reason I see my house, Pendavis, is because Kim and Avis. 566 00:31:41,693 --> 00:31:42,944 'Cause both of them walked. 567 00:31:43,027 --> 00:31:46,823 And at the last ball, Avis showed her goddamn ass off! 568 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:51,536 They call them competitions. But believe me, they're wars. 569 00:31:51,953 --> 00:31:54,163 And they often do lead to fights. 570 00:31:55,415 --> 00:31:59,460 The emotions be very high. They're very intense — very intense affairs. 571 00:32:00,378 --> 00:32:03,381 But I guess that's what makes them fun, like a good movie. 572 00:32:03,464 --> 00:32:05,008 If there's no emotion... 573 00:32:06,634 --> 00:32:07,635 you don't enjoy it. 574 00:32:07,719 --> 00:32:12,724 I don't talk too much about the ball kids, because I want them to talk about me. 575 00:32:12,807 --> 00:32:14,475 Because I haven't walked yet. 576 00:32:14,559 --> 00:32:16,519 And it's like, well, William says, 577 00:32:16,603 --> 00:32:19,564 "I want you to walk in my ball. I want you to walk in my ball." 578 00:32:19,647 --> 00:32:22,233 And I keep telling William, I say, "I'll walk when I walk. 579 00:32:22,317 --> 00:32:25,737 I'll walk when I want, not when you want. I'll walk when I want." 580 00:32:25,820 --> 00:32:29,157 And so far, I don't know when I'm gonna walk. 581 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,328 I'm thinking somewhat around the time of the Legends Ball. 582 00:32:33,745 --> 00:32:35,121 But don't quote me on that. 583 00:32:35,204 --> 00:32:40,001 I mean, it really causes hate, actually, between two individuals. 584 00:32:40,084 --> 00:32:42,253 It's like a war on the floor. 585 00:32:42,337 --> 00:32:45,590 Like World War III. But the only thing about it, they're gay. 586 00:32:53,222 --> 00:32:54,849 [emcee 1] Now — I'll cut the music. 587 00:32:54,932 --> 00:32:56,726 Now, I said... 588 00:32:56,809 --> 00:33:00,188 I said, men's garments! 589 00:33:00,271 --> 00:33:01,272 What? 590 00:33:01,356 --> 00:33:03,483 [Dorian] He look like he had on a man's fox coat. 591 00:33:03,566 --> 00:33:05,902 Tell this child where are the men's garments! 592 00:33:05,985 --> 00:33:08,488 [man] I paid for it, motherfucker! A man bought it! 593 00:33:08,571 --> 00:33:10,114 It buttons on the right side! 594 00:33:10,198 --> 00:33:11,616 The judges said... 595 00:33:11,699 --> 00:33:13,368 It buttons on the right side! 596 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,621 [Dorian] Someone came up and told the emcee — 597 00:33:16,704 --> 00:33:17,705 Are you a judge? 598 00:33:17,789 --> 00:33:19,207 [Dorian]...that it was a woman's coat. 599 00:33:20,124 --> 00:33:23,086 I thought it was kind of silly to nitpick. 600 00:33:23,961 --> 00:33:27,924 Ooh, that's shady! They throwing shade at him. I can't believe it. 601 00:33:28,007 --> 00:33:29,884 Wait a minute. Wait a minute. 602 00:33:29,967 --> 00:33:32,303 Wait a minute. Wait a minute now. 603 00:33:32,387 --> 00:33:34,472 - Let's not get loud. - [person] David, David. 604 00:33:35,098 --> 00:33:36,099 [Dorian] Now, David. 605 00:33:36,182 --> 00:33:37,266 David. 606 00:33:37,350 --> 00:33:38,393 - David. - [hollering] 607 00:33:38,476 --> 00:33:41,312 [Dorian] That's the one thing that I find faulty with the balls. 608 00:33:41,813 --> 00:33:43,731 After they've laid down these little categories, 609 00:33:43,815 --> 00:33:47,902 then they try to become a stickler for exact interpretation. 610 00:33:48,319 --> 00:33:52,115 Merely a point to... discredit the contestant. 611 00:33:52,198 --> 00:33:54,575 Like in the Olympics where the Russian judge 612 00:33:54,659 --> 00:33:59,997 brought the fact that the American coach had stepped onto the floor, 613 00:34:00,081 --> 00:34:03,710 and that was a disqualification for the, uh, contestant. 614 00:34:04,335 --> 00:34:05,753 Just as picky as a ball. 615 00:34:07,463 --> 00:34:10,800 So those little flaws like that, that's because that's a part of shade. 616 00:34:10,883 --> 00:34:15,263 That's the idea, knock 'em out if you can. Get 'em any way, hit 'em below the belt. 617 00:34:15,346 --> 00:34:16,973 - It was typed out! - [clamoring] 618 00:34:17,056 --> 00:34:19,809 Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Where? 619 00:34:19,892 --> 00:34:21,811 Stop! This is no ball. 620 00:34:22,353 --> 00:34:24,147 Shade comes from reading. 621 00:34:24,689 --> 00:34:26,399 Reading came first. 622 00:34:27,442 --> 00:34:28,443 Reading 623 00:34:29,235 --> 00:34:32,780 is the real art form of insult. 624 00:34:32,864 --> 00:34:36,993 Now you wanna talk about reading? Let's talk about reading. 625 00:34:38,327 --> 00:34:40,621 What is wrong with you, Pedro? Are you going through it? 626 00:34:40,705 --> 00:34:43,958 You're going through some kind of psychological change in your life? 627 00:34:44,917 --> 00:34:48,004 - She went back to be a man. - Oh, you went back to being a man. 628 00:34:48,421 --> 00:34:50,465 Touch this skin, darling. 629 00:34:50,548 --> 00:34:54,010 Touch this skin, honey. Touch all of this skin. 630 00:34:54,093 --> 00:34:55,344 Okay? 631 00:34:55,428 --> 00:34:57,346 You just can't take it. 632 00:34:57,430 --> 00:35:00,475 You're just an overgrown orangutan. 633 00:35:00,558 --> 00:35:04,979 You get in a smart crack, and everyone laughs and kee-kees 634 00:35:05,062 --> 00:35:07,774 because you found a flaw and exaggerated it. 635 00:35:07,857 --> 00:35:09,609 Then you've got a good read going. 636 00:35:10,109 --> 00:35:11,527 I am a person just like you. 637 00:35:11,611 --> 00:35:15,072 You cut me, I bleed the same way you do. I bleed the same color. 638 00:35:15,156 --> 00:35:18,075 [Dorian] If it's happening between the gay world and the straight world, 639 00:35:18,159 --> 00:35:19,994 - it's not really a read. - [laughing] 640 00:35:20,077 --> 00:35:23,331 [Dorian] It's more of an insult, a vicious slur fight. 641 00:35:23,414 --> 00:35:25,708 See, see? There go my sister right there. 642 00:35:25,792 --> 00:35:29,587 She don't even want to even admit that she my sister. She a bulldagger. 643 00:35:29,670 --> 00:35:33,090 [Dorian] But it's how they develop a sense of how to read. 644 00:35:33,174 --> 00:35:34,884 That's my husband right there. 645 00:35:35,718 --> 00:35:37,470 And that's my girlfriend right there. 646 00:35:37,553 --> 00:35:39,764 [Dorian] They may call you a faggot or a drag queen, 647 00:35:39,847 --> 00:35:41,516 you find something to call them. 648 00:35:41,599 --> 00:35:45,770 But then, when you are all of the same thing, 649 00:35:45,853 --> 00:35:48,523 then you have to go to the fine point. 650 00:35:48,606 --> 00:35:51,359 In other words, if I'm a black queen and you're a black queen, 651 00:35:51,442 --> 00:35:54,028 we can't call each other black queens 'cause we're both black queens. 652 00:35:54,111 --> 00:35:55,947 That's not a read. That's just a fact. 653 00:35:56,030 --> 00:35:58,574 So then we talk about your ridiculous shape, 654 00:35:58,658 --> 00:36:01,661 your fa — saggy face, your tacky clothes. 655 00:36:01,744 --> 00:36:03,329 - Let me see what you are. - Spreading lies! 656 00:36:03,412 --> 00:36:04,705 - Let's see. - No paint! 657 00:36:04,789 --> 00:36:07,375 - Yes, it's paint! It's paint! - No motherfuckin' paint, girl! 658 00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:09,961 What? She wears more makeup than my mother did! 659 00:36:10,044 --> 00:36:15,216 Then reading became a developed form where it became shade. 660 00:36:15,299 --> 00:36:18,553 Shade is, "I don't tell you you're ugly, 661 00:36:18,636 --> 00:36:22,598 but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly." 662 00:36:22,682 --> 00:36:24,016 And that's shade. 663 00:36:24,100 --> 00:36:26,102 - [disco music] - [cheers] 664 00:36:27,019 --> 00:36:28,938 - [emcee 2] Pump. - [whistle blowing] 665 00:36:29,021 --> 00:36:30,022 Dip. 666 00:36:30,940 --> 00:36:33,025 - Spin. - [whistle continues] 667 00:36:33,109 --> 00:36:34,110 Pump. 668 00:36:35,069 --> 00:36:37,363 Dip. Spin. 669 00:36:37,446 --> 00:36:39,031 [Willi] Voguing is the same thing as like, 670 00:36:39,115 --> 00:36:41,534 taking two knives and cutting each other up, 671 00:36:41,617 --> 00:36:43,744 but through a dance form. 672 00:36:44,370 --> 00:36:47,456 [emcee 2] Pump. Dip. Spin. 673 00:36:47,540 --> 00:36:49,625 Vogue. Dip. 674 00:36:49,709 --> 00:36:53,337 Go turn it out. 675 00:36:53,421 --> 00:36:56,215 [Willi] Voguing came from shade, because it was a dance 676 00:36:56,632 --> 00:36:58,843 that two people did because they didn't like each other. 677 00:36:58,926 --> 00:37:02,847 Instead of fighting, you would dance it out on the dance floor. 678 00:37:02,930 --> 00:37:06,684 And whoever did the better moves was throwing the best shade, basically. 679 00:37:07,310 --> 00:37:10,479 [emcee 2] No touching. Neither one of you. 680 00:37:10,563 --> 00:37:13,274 If you touch, I'm chopping you. I'm telling you right now. 681 00:37:13,357 --> 00:37:16,110 [Willi] You could take the pantomime form of the vogue. 682 00:37:16,193 --> 00:37:18,112 This is what generally sometimes I do is, 683 00:37:18,195 --> 00:37:21,741 I make my hand into a form like a compact or a makeup kit. 684 00:37:21,824 --> 00:37:26,704 And I'm like beating my face with blush, shadows, or whatever to the music. 685 00:37:26,787 --> 00:37:31,000 Then usually I'll turn the compact around to face that person, 686 00:37:31,083 --> 00:37:35,046 meaning, like, almost like my hand is a mirror for them to get a look. 687 00:37:35,129 --> 00:37:37,214 Then I'll start doing their face, 688 00:37:37,298 --> 00:37:41,469 because what they have on their face right now needs a dramatic makeup job. 689 00:37:42,803 --> 00:37:45,598 So voguing's like a safe form of throwing shade. 690 00:37:46,057 --> 00:37:48,017 [emcee 2] Paris Dupree. 691 00:37:48,100 --> 00:37:49,101 Work. 692 00:37:49,185 --> 00:37:51,103 Paris Dupree. 693 00:37:51,187 --> 00:37:52,772 Work. Ooh! 694 00:37:52,855 --> 00:37:55,942 All right, Miss Fishy. Ooh. Go knock off Miss Paris. 695 00:37:56,025 --> 00:37:57,026 [laughing] 696 00:37:57,109 --> 00:38:00,112 [drumbeat] 697 00:38:06,869 --> 00:38:09,080 [emcee 2] Come on, baby. Take your time. 698 00:38:09,163 --> 00:38:10,790 Bring it to the judges. 699 00:38:11,207 --> 00:38:14,377 Judges, get into the form and the style. Work. 700 00:38:14,877 --> 00:38:16,128 Let's hear it for her! 701 00:38:16,212 --> 00:38:18,673 [Willi] The name was taken from the magazine Vogue 702 00:38:18,756 --> 00:38:21,258 because some of the movements of the dance 703 00:38:21,342 --> 00:38:24,512 are also the same as the poses inside the magazine. 704 00:38:25,888 --> 00:38:29,600 - [electro music] - The name is a statement in itself. 705 00:38:31,060 --> 00:38:34,647 I mean, you really wouldn't go to a ball to do the Mademoiselle. 706 00:38:35,064 --> 00:38:36,273 No way. 707 00:38:36,774 --> 00:38:40,111 [emcee 3] Now I want all of you to get up on the floor! 708 00:38:40,528 --> 00:38:42,571 New York and Jersey. 709 00:38:44,657 --> 00:38:46,909 Wake up! Come on! 710 00:38:50,121 --> 00:38:52,581 All right. This is Saint Laurent. 711 00:38:54,709 --> 00:38:57,378 This is Overness. [indistinct] 712 00:38:57,461 --> 00:39:00,464 - [music continues] - [emcee 3, indistinct] 713 00:39:02,258 --> 00:39:05,094 Whoo! Show 'em how to do that. Mm-mm-mm. 714 00:39:05,177 --> 00:39:06,345 [cheering] 715 00:39:07,221 --> 00:39:08,264 Ouch! 716 00:39:08,347 --> 00:39:12,893 Work! Work! Work! Work! Work! 717 00:39:12,977 --> 00:39:14,687 [screaming] 718 00:39:14,770 --> 00:39:16,188 [Willi] Like break dancing, 719 00:39:16,272 --> 00:39:21,902 the dance takes from the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. 720 00:39:22,319 --> 00:39:25,865 It also takes from some forms of gymnastics. 721 00:39:26,407 --> 00:39:28,409 They both strive for 722 00:39:28,826 --> 00:39:32,079 perfect lines in the body, awkward positions, 723 00:39:32,163 --> 00:39:33,706 but it goes one step further. 724 00:39:35,332 --> 00:39:39,587 It's starting to make a name for itself, but I want it to be known worldwide, 725 00:39:39,670 --> 00:39:42,131 and I want to be on top of it when it hits. 726 00:39:42,548 --> 00:39:46,802 I want to take voguing not to just Paris is Burning, 727 00:39:47,595 --> 00:39:49,972 but I want to take it to the real Paris... 728 00:39:50,681 --> 00:39:53,100 and make the real Paris burn. 729 00:39:53,517 --> 00:39:55,895 That's what I wanna do, and not just there, 730 00:39:56,228 --> 00:39:57,938 but to other countries as well. 731 00:39:58,272 --> 00:40:00,149 My house name is Ninja... 732 00:40:01,567 --> 00:40:04,862 and I would really like to take my whole house and go to Japan... 733 00:40:05,905 --> 00:40:08,991 and really let loose and do it and have them accept it there. 734 00:40:09,075 --> 00:40:10,868 I want to be a big star. 735 00:40:12,495 --> 00:40:17,583 Uh... known, generally, every corner of the world. 736 00:40:20,419 --> 00:40:23,756 You know, maybe as a choreographer, 737 00:40:24,507 --> 00:40:25,841 a famous dancer, 738 00:40:26,759 --> 00:40:27,927 a singer. 739 00:40:28,427 --> 00:40:29,428 All of them. 740 00:40:29,845 --> 00:40:33,682 What the balls has to do with that, as far as the dance field, 741 00:40:33,766 --> 00:40:35,810 is maybe perfect my craft a little better, 742 00:40:36,685 --> 00:40:39,146 to learn new things... 743 00:40:39,563 --> 00:40:43,067 new ideas, and bring 'em to the real world. 744 00:40:46,362 --> 00:40:49,907 It's been really unbelievable, my life. 745 00:40:50,825 --> 00:40:52,451 If was to die today or tomorrow, 746 00:40:52,868 --> 00:40:55,121 I could not say I've not had an exciting life. 747 00:40:55,204 --> 00:40:58,541 I have had a fabu — And I'm not rich, mind you. 748 00:40:58,958 --> 00:41:01,043 Just imagine if I had the dollars. 749 00:41:01,460 --> 00:41:03,295 Ooh, it'd be too much for the world. 750 00:41:03,712 --> 00:41:06,132 If I had the riches and I had the fame, trust me, 751 00:41:06,215 --> 00:41:08,801 all of y'all in here would be rich for points, 752 00:41:09,218 --> 00:41:10,344 'cause I'm very generous. 753 00:41:10,761 --> 00:41:14,473 You know, I can't, I wouldn't enjoy having a whole lot of money, 754 00:41:14,557 --> 00:41:17,768 like being a millionaire, and hoarding it, you know? 755 00:41:18,185 --> 00:41:21,730 I'd share it with all my loved ones. You know, I'd want them to have it too. 756 00:41:21,814 --> 00:41:23,107 We'd all have to go. 757 00:41:23,190 --> 00:41:25,734 I'd want to charter a plane, and we all fly to Paris. 758 00:41:25,818 --> 00:41:27,820 ["Triumphal March" by Verdi] 759 00:41:31,365 --> 00:41:36,162 O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E. 760 00:41:36,245 --> 00:41:37,496 Opulence. 761 00:41:42,168 --> 00:41:44,211 You own everything. 762 00:41:48,632 --> 00:41:50,342 Everything is yours. 763 00:41:50,759 --> 00:41:54,763 ["Triumphal March" continues] 764 00:42:08,235 --> 00:42:14,074 [man] This is... white... America. 765 00:42:15,534 --> 00:42:17,661 Any other nationality... 766 00:42:18,704 --> 00:42:21,540 that is not of the white set, 767 00:42:22,208 --> 00:42:25,711 knows this and accept this, till the day they die. 768 00:42:26,378 --> 00:42:30,674 For that is everybody's dream and ambition as a minority, 769 00:42:30,758 --> 00:42:35,221 to live and look as well as a white person, 770 00:42:35,930 --> 00:42:39,266 is pictured as being in America. 771 00:42:39,350 --> 00:42:44,897 Every media you have, from TV to magazines to movies to films. 772 00:42:44,980 --> 00:42:47,816 I mean, the biggest thing that minority watches is what? 773 00:42:48,067 --> 00:42:52,446 Dynasty and The Colbys, All My Children, the soap operas. 774 00:42:53,322 --> 00:42:55,616 Everybody have a million-dollar bracket. 775 00:42:56,408 --> 00:42:58,911 When they showing you a commercial from Honey Grahams 776 00:42:58,994 --> 00:43:01,956 to Crest or Lestoil or Pine-Sol, 777 00:43:02,039 --> 00:43:03,707 everybody's in their own home. 778 00:43:05,167 --> 00:43:09,421 The little kids for Fisher-Price toys, they're not in no concrete playground. 779 00:43:10,256 --> 00:43:14,093 They're — They're riding around the lawn. The pool is in the back. 780 00:43:16,095 --> 00:43:17,888 This is white America. 781 00:43:18,472 --> 00:43:21,558 And when it comes to the minorities, especially black... 782 00:43:23,143 --> 00:43:26,272 we, as a people for the past 400 years, 783 00:43:26,355 --> 00:43:29,692 is the greatest example of behavior modification 784 00:43:29,775 --> 00:43:32,486 in the history of civilization. 785 00:43:32,861 --> 00:43:36,115 We have had everything taken away from us, 786 00:43:36,532 --> 00:43:39,410 and yet we have all learned how to survive. 787 00:43:41,578 --> 00:43:47,209 That is why in the ballroom circuit, it is so obvious 788 00:43:47,293 --> 00:43:50,879 that if you have captured the great white way of living... 789 00:43:52,423 --> 00:43:53,465 or looking... 790 00:43:56,093 --> 00:43:58,095 or dressing or speaking... 791 00:43:59,555 --> 00:44:01,223 you is a marvel. 792 00:44:04,768 --> 00:44:08,188 I think if I could just be on TV or film or anything... 793 00:44:09,273 --> 00:44:11,275 I'd do that instead of the money. 794 00:44:11,692 --> 00:44:14,987 Of course, I do want the money because I want the luxury that goes with it. 795 00:44:16,030 --> 00:44:17,031 But... 796 00:44:18,365 --> 00:44:20,117 I want to be wealthy. 797 00:44:20,659 --> 00:44:23,454 If not wealthy, content, comfortable, 798 00:44:24,204 --> 00:44:25,205 you know? 799 00:44:26,332 --> 00:44:28,250 I want to be somebody. 800 00:44:28,334 --> 00:44:30,127 I mean, I am somebody. 801 00:44:30,210 --> 00:44:32,755 I just want to be a rich somebody. 802 00:44:34,506 --> 00:44:36,800 [emcee 2] You ain't gonna tell me you see her in the supermarket, 803 00:44:36,884 --> 00:44:38,510 and you gonna say, "That's a hag." 804 00:44:39,970 --> 00:44:43,140 [Octavia] Women don't go out of their way because they are women. 805 00:44:43,557 --> 00:44:45,601 I went out my way because I wasn't, 806 00:44:45,684 --> 00:44:48,437 and I felt that I wanted to be the best I can be. 807 00:44:49,063 --> 00:44:51,315 [emcee 2] The Virginia Slims girl is here. 808 00:44:51,398 --> 00:44:53,150 [Octavia] This was not a game for me or fun. 809 00:44:53,233 --> 00:44:54,985 This is something that I wanna live. 810 00:44:55,069 --> 00:44:56,403 [emcee 2] She's here in person. 811 00:44:57,738 --> 00:44:59,406 Hopefully, God willing, 812 00:44:59,782 --> 00:45:05,079 by 1988, I fully hope to become a full-fledged woman of the United States. 813 00:45:08,999 --> 00:45:11,085 You look at all these models on the wall. 814 00:45:11,668 --> 00:45:13,879 Every one of them are gorgeous. 815 00:45:14,296 --> 00:45:16,340 Every one of them are beautiful. 816 00:45:16,965 --> 00:45:19,510 But every one of them have their own look. 817 00:45:19,927 --> 00:45:21,970 This is my idol, Paulina. 818 00:45:22,429 --> 00:45:24,598 Someday I hope to be up there with her. 819 00:45:25,015 --> 00:45:26,350 If that could be me, 820 00:45:26,433 --> 00:45:29,812 I think I would be the happiest person in the world just knowing that I am, 821 00:45:30,229 --> 00:45:32,731 that I can compare to Paulina, 822 00:45:32,815 --> 00:45:35,275 to stand next to her and to take pictures with her. 823 00:45:35,359 --> 00:45:37,945 And I look at her here, and I'd say she's seductive 824 00:45:38,028 --> 00:45:40,531 and she's... alluring. 825 00:45:40,948 --> 00:45:44,660 I look at her there, and I say she's sexy and provocative. 826 00:45:45,077 --> 00:45:49,873 I look at her here, and I think that she's childish and little-girl type. 827 00:45:50,290 --> 00:45:52,626 You know? And I look at her here and it's the same, 828 00:45:52,709 --> 00:45:56,130 and I look at her here, and I think of wicked beauty. 829 00:45:56,547 --> 00:45:59,508 You know? That's how I see her. I admire her. 830 00:45:59,925 --> 00:46:02,553 You know, the red-hot fire of hair and... 831 00:46:04,346 --> 00:46:05,389 the whole bit. 832 00:46:07,099 --> 00:46:10,352 [man] You're not really trying hard enough, then I become hard. 833 00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:14,064 Do not believe just because I'm a guy that I cannot do it. 834 00:46:14,148 --> 00:46:16,150 In order to be a teacher to show girls how to do it, 835 00:46:16,233 --> 00:46:17,484 I have to know how to do it. 836 00:46:17,568 --> 00:46:21,280 I've taught for various shows, like for FIT, I've taught models. 837 00:46:21,780 --> 00:46:25,159 Girls that are from various agencies that come to me by word of mouth. 838 00:46:26,577 --> 00:46:29,746 [steel drum music] 839 00:46:35,419 --> 00:46:38,213 New York City women are a little bit harder than most women. 840 00:46:38,297 --> 00:46:41,133 Basically, I'm trying to bring their femininity back 841 00:46:41,216 --> 00:46:42,634 and bring some grace and poise. 842 00:46:42,718 --> 00:46:44,928 You know, whether they become models or not, 843 00:46:45,012 --> 00:46:47,723 it's nice to know because it's more attractive to men. 844 00:46:47,806 --> 00:46:49,433 But the walk that she's doing 845 00:46:49,516 --> 00:46:53,061 is basically to get more movement in your hips naturally. 846 00:46:53,145 --> 00:46:54,229 Don't exaggerate it. 847 00:46:54,313 --> 00:46:57,733 [orchestral music] 848 00:47:04,198 --> 00:47:05,991 [Willi] Most likely, she'll get what she wants. 849 00:47:06,074 --> 00:47:07,993 You know, especially if she's in a man's world, 850 00:47:08,076 --> 00:47:09,953 she can still have her equal rights, 851 00:47:10,037 --> 00:47:12,748 but be able to manipulate a man by using her feminine wiles. 852 00:47:12,831 --> 00:47:14,458 She can't use it by using masculine. 853 00:47:15,959 --> 00:47:19,463 [emcee 1] Are they soft? Looking from head to toe, would you know? 854 00:47:20,631 --> 00:47:23,592 Is this realness or not? Let it be motherfuckin' hot. 855 00:47:25,177 --> 00:47:28,180 ["Love Hangover" by Diana Ross] 856 00:47:29,473 --> 00:47:31,934 [emcee 1] Miss Octavia, you don't feel this realness? 857 00:47:32,017 --> 00:47:33,644 Where are you at, sister? 858 00:47:33,727 --> 00:47:36,104 Oops, you're right there, not bothered. 859 00:47:36,855 --> 00:47:40,859 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ What you think-ah ♪ 860 00:47:41,443 --> 00:47:44,404 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 861 00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:48,617 [man] ♪ The more I want, the more I get ♪ 862 00:47:48,700 --> 00:47:49,701 [emcee] LaBeija. 863 00:47:49,785 --> 00:47:52,496 - [man] ♪ The more I want, the more I get ♪ - [emcee] Candy LaBeija. 864 00:47:52,871 --> 00:47:54,748 Realness in the daytime, darling. 865 00:47:55,165 --> 00:47:57,125 She goes to school as a woman. 866 00:47:57,459 --> 00:47:58,460 Get into it. 867 00:47:58,919 --> 00:48:02,130 Get into both of them, and see which one is realer. 868 00:48:03,507 --> 00:48:05,467 Feel the flesh or whatever it may be. 869 00:48:06,051 --> 00:48:07,511 Is it soft or not? 870 00:48:10,305 --> 00:48:11,640 [man] It's soft. 871 00:48:11,723 --> 00:48:13,058 Come, come, come. 872 00:48:13,559 --> 00:48:15,602 [emcee 2] Score Miss Octavia first. 873 00:48:16,144 --> 00:48:18,063 Step forward. Accept your scores. 874 00:48:18,397 --> 00:48:20,482 Ten, ten, ten, ten, ten. 875 00:48:21,900 --> 00:48:23,068 Score Tennille. 876 00:48:24,236 --> 00:48:26,780 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ What you feel now ♪ 877 00:48:27,281 --> 00:48:28,782 - ♪ I need you - ♪ What you know... ♪ 878 00:48:28,865 --> 00:48:31,285 - [emcee 2] Nine, ten, ten. - [applause] 879 00:48:32,035 --> 00:48:33,787 ♪ To be real ♪ 880 00:48:34,955 --> 00:48:37,916 [emcee 2] Grand prize, Octavia. First place, Tennille. 881 00:48:39,376 --> 00:48:42,879 [applause] 882 00:48:42,963 --> 00:48:48,051 There's people who sit home all day. They have potential. Okay? 883 00:48:48,468 --> 00:48:50,971 I mean, they go to the balls and they prove that they have potentials 884 00:48:51,054 --> 00:48:53,056 on actually selling a garment, okay? 885 00:48:53,140 --> 00:48:54,975 But they, like, 886 00:48:55,058 --> 00:48:58,353 "Being that I have this potential, the ballroom tells me," 887 00:48:58,437 --> 00:49:02,357 okay, "the ballroom tells me that I'm somebody." 888 00:49:02,441 --> 00:49:04,276 But when the ballroom is over, when you come home, 889 00:49:04,359 --> 00:49:07,279 you have to convince yourself that you are somebody, 890 00:49:07,362 --> 00:49:08,947 and that's where they get lost. 891 00:49:09,364 --> 00:49:13,535 [Annie Lennox] ♪ Everybody's looking for something ♪ 892 00:49:13,619 --> 00:49:19,750 ♪ Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? ♪ 893 00:49:19,833 --> 00:49:22,210 [emcee] It's also in a magazine. 894 00:49:22,461 --> 00:49:24,296 What's the name of the magazine? 895 00:49:25,380 --> 00:49:28,467 - ♪ Sweet dreams are made of this ♪ - [emcee] Nova. 896 00:49:28,550 --> 00:49:31,511 - [emcee] Paris Kathleen Dupree. - ♪ Who am I to disagree? ♪ 897 00:49:31,595 --> 00:49:33,347 Paris Dupree. 898 00:49:33,430 --> 00:49:36,975 [Dorian] It was a time when you could spend a — a great deal of time, 899 00:49:37,059 --> 00:49:39,353 making outfits, and preparing for something. 900 00:49:39,853 --> 00:49:43,982 Now they come very quickly, and the moods change very quickly. 901 00:49:44,483 --> 00:49:47,736 I come from the old school of big costumes, 902 00:49:47,819 --> 00:49:49,363 feathers and beads. 903 00:49:50,113 --> 00:49:53,617 And they don't have that anymore. Now it's all about designers. 904 00:49:54,451 --> 00:49:57,329 And it's not about what you create, it's about what you can acquire. 905 00:50:00,332 --> 00:50:02,250 What do you think? 906 00:50:03,585 --> 00:50:04,878 Isn't that beautiful? 907 00:50:08,048 --> 00:50:11,677 $559. How's that for a simple dress? 908 00:50:12,177 --> 00:50:16,181 If you have on a label, it means that you've, uh — you've got wealth. 909 00:50:16,264 --> 00:50:19,810 When it doesn't really, 'cause any shoplifter can get a label. 910 00:50:20,310 --> 00:50:25,107 You can't come down the runway in something for 14.99 or 49.99, 911 00:50:25,190 --> 00:50:29,194 and say, "Well, I'm lovely," and expect to win. 912 00:50:31,530 --> 00:50:33,907 Okay, to describe, explain mopping. 913 00:50:33,990 --> 00:50:39,371 Mopping, you — go into a store, and... 914 00:50:40,706 --> 00:50:43,917 just look for — look for whatever you wanna see. 915 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,586 Look for whatever. Mopping is stealing. 916 00:50:47,713 --> 00:50:49,214 General stealing. 917 00:50:50,006 --> 00:50:51,883 However it's done, it's stealing. 918 00:50:52,384 --> 00:50:56,346 If you're working every day, you're struggling to buy this outfit. 919 00:50:56,596 --> 00:50:59,224 When you walk, you're like, "This is me." 920 00:51:00,100 --> 00:51:02,811 And your facial expressions as well as your means 921 00:51:02,894 --> 00:51:04,521 of projection of your outfit, 922 00:51:04,938 --> 00:51:07,733 it shows if you actually stole it, or you purchased it. 923 00:51:08,150 --> 00:51:10,444 - [interviewer] You can actually tell? - You can actually tell. 924 00:51:11,278 --> 00:51:14,656 Faggots are a stunt in themselves, regardless. 925 00:51:14,740 --> 00:51:15,907 Make no mistake. 926 00:51:15,991 --> 00:51:18,285 First, it comes... Okay, when it comes to a stunt, 927 00:51:18,368 --> 00:51:21,288 it goes in three — it goes, in order. 928 00:51:21,371 --> 00:51:24,583 It goes faggots, then girls, then boys. 929 00:51:24,666 --> 00:51:28,086 Because boys are the stupidest. They don't know how to do a stunt right. 930 00:51:28,754 --> 00:51:31,173 Now, faggots will do a stunt, 931 00:51:31,256 --> 00:51:34,593 and I mean, you will never catch up with it until years later. 932 00:51:34,676 --> 00:51:35,927 And then, I mean, you'll be like, 933 00:51:36,011 --> 00:51:38,805 "Oh, shit! This faggot pulled this stunt on me." 934 00:51:39,765 --> 00:51:43,310 We went down there, and we had fun, we act stupid and came back. 935 00:51:43,727 --> 00:51:46,563 But I think the best thing we did was Roy Rogers. 936 00:51:46,897 --> 00:51:47,898 That was fun. 937 00:51:48,315 --> 00:51:49,566 You would've had something to eat, 938 00:51:49,649 --> 00:51:52,235 'cause how much did you pay for that — for that sandwich? 939 00:51:52,319 --> 00:51:54,029 [interviewer] I don't remember. Maybe $5 or so. 940 00:51:54,112 --> 00:51:55,864 Around five — $5? 941 00:51:57,616 --> 00:52:00,285 Make no mistake, we got your $5 back. [laughs] 942 00:52:00,368 --> 00:52:03,163 I had two double cheeseburgers, 943 00:52:03,580 --> 00:52:04,790 two fries, 944 00:52:05,207 --> 00:52:08,835 a Coke, a Sprite and an orange, chicken and chips. 945 00:52:08,919 --> 00:52:10,962 Just going back and forth. I lived on that line. 946 00:52:12,130 --> 00:52:15,592 We got over around — around say around $200 in food. 947 00:52:16,885 --> 00:52:19,805 See, they put cheese on the meat. 948 00:52:19,888 --> 00:52:22,557 [laughing] 949 00:52:22,641 --> 00:52:27,604 I hope after this, Roy Rogers does not change how it has its food. 950 00:52:27,687 --> 00:52:31,691 Because if it does by this interview, I will be so upset. 951 00:52:31,775 --> 00:52:36,071 I will be so upset. I'll be squallin'. 952 00:52:36,154 --> 00:52:40,951 I'll be hurt, I'm telling you. I really will be — 'cause I mean it. 953 00:52:41,034 --> 00:52:44,454 Where else can you go in, get it done your way, 954 00:52:44,538 --> 00:52:45,956 and go out without paying? 955 00:52:46,039 --> 00:52:47,666 [emcee 1] Carla Xtravaganza said, 956 00:52:47,749 --> 00:52:52,712 will you please return her black patent leather shoes, size seven? 957 00:52:55,048 --> 00:52:56,842 There is a reward. 958 00:52:57,843 --> 00:52:59,928 She want her pumps. 959 00:53:00,011 --> 00:53:03,849 She said it's not going to work, taking her shoes. Give 'em back. 960 00:53:04,349 --> 00:53:07,060 Daytime, if they go out, they're only going out... 961 00:53:07,853 --> 00:53:10,397 to try to hustle up a quarter or two... 962 00:53:12,732 --> 00:53:16,570 to get their things for the ball... or go to a little job. 963 00:53:16,653 --> 00:53:19,906 Lot of them have little jobs now. They work. Don't think they're lazy. 964 00:53:20,282 --> 00:53:23,159 In New York City, you — you work or you starve. 965 00:53:24,035 --> 00:53:25,829 You work, or — some kind of work... 966 00:53:26,663 --> 00:53:31,084 legal or otherwise, but you have to work to sustain yourself. 967 00:53:32,878 --> 00:53:35,672 - [disco] - [emcee 1] The legendary Tennille Dupree, 968 00:53:35,755 --> 00:53:39,593 and the father of the House of Ebony, Max Debuciak, 969 00:53:40,093 --> 00:53:44,306 presents a night of living hell and punishment... 970 00:53:45,307 --> 00:53:47,434 at the Imperial Elks Lodge, 971 00:53:47,517 --> 00:53:52,105 160 West 129th Street, which is right here. 972 00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,108 Doors open at 5:00 a.m. 973 00:53:55,525 --> 00:53:58,403 Grand march is at 7:00 a.m. 974 00:54:01,448 --> 00:54:02,908 [man] ♪ Give me that house ♪ 975 00:54:02,991 --> 00:54:06,202 [woman] The boys are usually later because of the fact that 976 00:54:06,286 --> 00:54:09,331 we're waiting for the working girls to get there. 977 00:54:10,373 --> 00:54:12,751 [interviewer] And what is it those girls are doing? 978 00:54:13,168 --> 00:54:16,504 Well, they're making money for the balls, or they're making their costumes, 979 00:54:16,588 --> 00:54:20,675 their outfits, or, you know, getting it together like that. 980 00:54:20,759 --> 00:54:22,677 [woman] What's their profession? 981 00:54:22,761 --> 00:54:24,888 Usually showgirls. 982 00:54:24,971 --> 00:54:27,182 - Usually, they're, you know, showgirls. - [woman] Uh-huh. 983 00:54:27,265 --> 00:54:29,142 - You know. - [woman] Anything else? 984 00:54:29,559 --> 00:54:32,520 Well, it depends. It depends. 985 00:54:32,604 --> 00:54:36,691 I don't know a lot of their professions, but usually they're showgirls, usually. 986 00:54:37,776 --> 00:54:41,738 The thing that helped me make my most money through the escort service 987 00:54:42,155 --> 00:54:44,074 is being that I'm so little. 988 00:54:44,157 --> 00:54:46,952 I'm so petite and tiny. 989 00:54:47,452 --> 00:54:48,453 Um... 990 00:54:48,536 --> 00:54:50,789 The blonde hair and the light skin, 991 00:54:51,581 --> 00:54:54,292 the green eyes and the little features. 992 00:54:54,376 --> 00:54:57,754 And the client's hands will be bigger than my hands 993 00:54:57,837 --> 00:55:00,423 while they would hold my hand or something. 994 00:55:00,507 --> 00:55:04,886 You know, they'd like feeling that they're with something perfect and little, 995 00:55:05,720 --> 00:55:08,640 and not someone that's bigger than them, 996 00:55:08,723 --> 00:55:10,850 because I guess that kind of disturbs them. 997 00:55:13,728 --> 00:55:16,940 Most all the drag queens that are involved in the balls, 998 00:55:17,023 --> 00:55:20,360 say, 90% of them, are hustlers. 999 00:55:21,361 --> 00:55:22,988 I guess that's how they make their money 1000 00:55:23,071 --> 00:55:26,282 to go to the balls and get whatever they need and stuff. 1001 00:55:26,366 --> 00:55:29,035 I used to hustle in New York to make my money. 1002 00:55:29,119 --> 00:55:32,622 I was with a guy, and he was playing with my titties, 1003 00:55:32,706 --> 00:55:34,582 until he touched me down there. 1004 00:55:34,666 --> 00:55:37,752 He felt it and he seen it, and he, like, totally flipped out. 1005 00:55:38,503 --> 00:55:42,007 He said, "You fucking faggot. You're a freak. 1006 00:55:42,090 --> 00:55:44,759 You're a victim of AIDS, and you're trying to give me AIDS. 1007 00:55:44,843 --> 00:55:47,804 What, are you crazy? You're a homo. I should kill you." 1008 00:55:47,887 --> 00:55:50,056 You know, stuff like that. 1009 00:55:50,140 --> 00:55:53,476 And, like, I was really... terrified. 1010 00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:55,520 So I just jumped out the window. 1011 00:55:55,937 --> 00:55:58,523 I grabbed my bag and just jumped out the window. 1012 00:55:58,606 --> 00:56:01,317 But see, now I don't like to hustle anymore. I don't. 1013 00:56:01,401 --> 00:56:06,656 And I'm afraid of what's going on, the AIDS, and I don't want to catch it. 1014 00:56:06,740 --> 00:56:10,285 Like later on this evening, I'm supposed to meet someone, 1015 00:56:10,368 --> 00:56:12,829 a friend of mine, a very good old friend of mine. 1016 00:56:12,912 --> 00:56:17,000 He's a young, very good, attractive, handsome young man... 1017 00:56:18,334 --> 00:56:22,881 and, um — he's taking me out to dinner later on this evening 1018 00:56:22,964 --> 00:56:26,134 or for cocktails after midnight. 1019 00:56:26,551 --> 00:56:28,344 I know he'll give me some money... 1020 00:56:29,345 --> 00:56:33,975 just for me to maybe buy a pair of shoes and a nice dress. 1021 00:56:34,059 --> 00:56:36,186 So that the next time he sees me... 1022 00:56:38,021 --> 00:56:40,774 he'll see me looking more and more beautiful... 1023 00:56:41,566 --> 00:56:43,276 the way he wants to see me. 1024 00:56:44,277 --> 00:56:48,239 But I don't have to go to bed with him or anything like that. 1025 00:56:48,615 --> 00:56:50,825 At times they do expect sexual favors, 1026 00:56:50,909 --> 00:56:53,203 but that is between myself and them, 1027 00:56:53,286 --> 00:56:58,374 so I do not wish to further speak about that — if they do. 1028 00:56:58,458 --> 00:57:01,586 But at most times, 99% of the time, they don't. 1029 00:57:02,921 --> 00:57:05,215 95% of the time, they don't. 1030 00:57:06,716 --> 00:57:08,009 But I feel like... 1031 00:57:10,428 --> 00:57:12,263 If you're married, 1032 00:57:12,347 --> 00:57:14,682 a woman in the suburbs — 1033 00:57:15,350 --> 00:57:19,187 a regular woman that's married to her husband — 1034 00:57:19,854 --> 00:57:24,692 and she wants him to buy her a washer and dryer set. 1035 00:57:25,777 --> 00:57:28,530 In order for him to buy that, 1036 00:57:28,613 --> 00:57:31,032 I'm sure she'd have to go to bed with him anyway 1037 00:57:31,116 --> 00:57:34,702 to give him what he wants for her to get what she wants. 1038 00:57:35,662 --> 00:57:39,415 So, in the long run, it all ends up the same way. 1039 00:57:45,171 --> 00:57:48,758 [Octavia] If money wasn't so important in the world today... 1040 00:57:49,467 --> 00:57:50,969 to survive, 1041 00:57:51,386 --> 00:57:54,097 I guess I wouldn't want anything but what I have now. 1042 00:57:55,807 --> 00:57:57,308 But since money does... 1043 00:57:58,434 --> 00:58:02,397 I hope that the way I look puts money in my pocket. 1044 00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:03,940 You know? 1045 00:58:04,357 --> 00:58:08,194 I'm really working hard. I'm gonna work even harder. 1046 00:58:09,612 --> 00:58:12,282 - [shutter clicks] - [man] Yeah. There we are. 1047 00:58:13,366 --> 00:58:15,660 - That is lovely. Still. - [shutter clicks] 1048 00:58:16,077 --> 00:58:18,788 Great. Couldn't be better. There. 1049 00:58:18,872 --> 00:58:20,623 It's beautiful like that for the light, when you kind of, you know, 1050 00:58:20,707 --> 00:58:21,958 do this to the light. 1051 00:58:22,041 --> 00:58:25,170 [Octavia] I want people to look at me as there's the model Octavia. 1052 00:58:25,253 --> 00:58:27,046 There's the actress Octavia. 1053 00:58:27,130 --> 00:58:30,133 There's Miss Supermodel of the World Octavia. 1054 00:58:30,216 --> 00:58:32,760 Is this endless, this catalog of poses? 1055 00:58:32,844 --> 00:58:34,846 I could keep going longer than you could. 1056 00:58:35,889 --> 00:58:38,474 - [shutter clicks] - [photographer] Yeah, just there. Mm-hmm. 1057 00:58:38,558 --> 00:58:43,146 [Octavia] I don't want to end up an old drag queen 1058 00:58:43,229 --> 00:58:46,733 with nothing going for me but trying to win grand prize at a ball. 1059 00:58:47,150 --> 00:58:49,319 [photographer] Yeah, no. Back a little bit like you did. 1060 00:58:49,402 --> 00:58:50,778 Yes, that. 1061 00:58:50,862 --> 00:58:54,324 Twisting a little bit more to the light, just coming around. Yeah, right. 1062 00:58:54,741 --> 00:58:56,034 Couldn't be better. 1063 00:58:56,743 --> 00:58:59,037 [Octavia] I don't think the world has been fair to me. 1064 00:58:59,829 --> 00:59:02,582 - Not yet, anyway. - [photographer] Lovely. Lovely. 1065 00:59:02,665 --> 00:59:03,666 [shutter clicks] 1066 00:59:04,500 --> 00:59:07,462 I've been a man, and I've been a man who emulated a woman. 1067 00:59:07,545 --> 00:59:09,214 I've never been a woman. 1068 00:59:09,297 --> 00:59:13,051 I never... had that service once a month. 1069 00:59:13,635 --> 00:59:15,178 I've never been pregnant. 1070 00:59:15,261 --> 00:59:17,305 You know, I can never say how a woman feels. 1071 00:59:17,388 --> 00:59:21,726 I can only say how a man who acts like a woman or dresses like a woman feels. 1072 00:59:21,809 --> 00:59:23,603 I never wanted to have a sex change. 1073 00:59:23,686 --> 00:59:26,814 That's just taking it a little too far, you know? 1074 00:59:27,232 --> 00:59:30,401 Because if you decide later on in life to change your mind, you can't. 1075 00:59:30,485 --> 00:59:31,778 Once it's gone, it's gone. 1076 00:59:32,278 --> 00:59:35,490 A lot of kids that I know, they got the sex change because they felt, 1077 00:59:35,573 --> 00:59:38,660 "Oh, I've been treated so bad as a drag queen. 1078 00:59:39,077 --> 00:59:43,248 If I get a pussy," excuse the expression, "I'll be treated fabulous." 1079 00:59:43,665 --> 00:59:45,291 But women get treated bad. 1080 00:59:45,708 --> 00:59:49,003 You know, they get beat, they get robbed, they get dogged. 1081 00:59:49,087 --> 00:59:51,422 So having the vagina, 1082 00:59:51,506 --> 00:59:54,092 that doesn't mean that you're gonna have a fabulous life. 1083 00:59:54,175 --> 00:59:56,719 It might, in fact, be worse. You know? 1084 00:59:56,803 --> 00:59:59,931 So I've never recommended it, and I myself would have never, ever got it, 1085 01:00:00,014 --> 01:00:02,475 and I'm so thankful that I was that smart. 1086 01:00:02,558 --> 01:00:04,519 Because right about now, 1087 01:00:04,936 --> 01:00:09,232 this next 40 or so years that I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna live. 1088 01:00:09,315 --> 01:00:12,735 And for those children that can't take the fact that I still look youthful, ha! 1089 01:00:12,819 --> 01:00:13,820 Suffer. 1090 01:00:13,903 --> 01:00:17,407 No bags, no lines. Lovely. 1091 01:00:18,283 --> 01:00:19,450 - Don't fall. - [laughing] 1092 01:00:19,534 --> 01:00:22,203 [gulls calling] 1093 01:00:22,495 --> 01:00:25,540 America's nice. You can do what you want if you have the money. 1094 01:00:25,623 --> 01:00:28,584 [chuckles] You can be what you want, certainly, Look at me. 1095 01:00:28,668 --> 01:00:30,169 [laughing] 1096 01:00:30,253 --> 01:00:36,426 In '84... I've had a nose reconstructed job. 1097 01:00:36,843 --> 01:00:38,428 I've had my cheekbones risen. 1098 01:00:38,511 --> 01:00:41,931 I've had a chin implant and breast implants. 1099 01:00:42,015 --> 01:00:43,599 Yes. Tell them like it is. 1100 01:00:43,683 --> 01:00:49,605 The most important factor in my life that has been completed recently 1101 01:00:49,689 --> 01:00:52,608 is that I've had a transsexualism operation. 1102 01:00:52,692 --> 01:00:56,070 That means I've had a sex change. I'm no longer a man. 1103 01:00:56,696 --> 01:00:59,407 I am a woman. I feel great. 1104 01:00:59,490 --> 01:01:00,825 [laughing] 1105 01:01:00,908 --> 01:01:02,994 - I'm very happy. - She has to rub it in. 1106 01:01:03,828 --> 01:01:08,458 And I feel like the part of my life that was a secret is now closed. 1107 01:01:08,541 --> 01:01:09,917 - For now. - I can close the closet door. 1108 01:01:10,001 --> 01:01:11,919 There are no more skeletons in there. 1109 01:01:12,337 --> 01:01:16,632 And I'm as free as the wind that's blowing out on this beach. 1110 01:01:16,716 --> 01:01:19,510 [laughing] 1111 01:01:21,679 --> 01:01:24,640 - Except that voice is still there. - [laughing continues] 1112 01:01:26,017 --> 01:01:28,478 - Ah! - As free as this beach. 1113 01:01:29,604 --> 01:01:32,190 ♪ I am what I am ♪ 1114 01:01:32,273 --> 01:01:36,319 ♪ I am my own special creation ♪ 1115 01:01:38,363 --> 01:01:41,199 [saleswoman] A free gift today at the Dior counter. 1116 01:01:41,282 --> 01:01:43,409 Sample Poison by Dior, ladies. 1117 01:01:43,910 --> 01:01:47,246 Sample the elegance today. Poison by Dior. 1118 01:01:47,622 --> 01:01:50,166 - Can I sample it? - Yes. 1119 01:01:50,249 --> 01:01:51,918 Dior's Poison. 1120 01:01:53,669 --> 01:01:55,296 - Very nice. - Delicious, yes? 1121 01:01:59,384 --> 01:02:01,803 Folks, please keep moving. We're trying to keep the aisles clear. 1122 01:02:01,886 --> 01:02:03,388 [woman] Please keep moving. 1123 01:02:04,722 --> 01:02:07,266 [woman on PA] The Ford search for the Supermodel of the Year, 1124 01:02:07,350 --> 01:02:09,435 the seventh search of this type. 1125 01:02:09,519 --> 01:02:12,313 Mrs. Ford is here with two of her top models, 1126 01:02:12,397 --> 01:02:14,565 and we're interviewing candidates 1127 01:02:14,649 --> 01:02:17,568 who hope to become the Supermodel of the Year. 1128 01:02:17,652 --> 01:02:20,321 Clients like models who will be helpful, 1129 01:02:20,780 --> 01:02:23,491 who never say the clothes are terrible even if they are. 1130 01:02:23,574 --> 01:02:25,910 Because after all, not everything is perfect. 1131 01:02:26,661 --> 01:02:30,915 They have to make the least perfect of clothes look like a Dior. 1132 01:02:31,999 --> 01:02:36,129 And so that they can't just say, "That's the worst thing I've ever seen." 1133 01:02:37,213 --> 01:02:41,634 They have to make it look good. They have to be very, very cooperative. 1134 01:02:41,717 --> 01:02:45,430 And they have to be cheerful. Nobody likes to go in and hear your troubles, you know. 1135 01:02:45,513 --> 01:02:46,889 When people ask how you feel, 1136 01:02:46,973 --> 01:02:49,392 don't tell them if you're sick, 'cause they don't really care. 1137 01:02:49,475 --> 01:02:52,645 - [woman] And then you drop it off... - [man] Three, two, one. 1138 01:02:52,728 --> 01:02:55,398 But while the faces of the '80s stood on line, 1139 01:02:55,481 --> 01:02:57,442 the feet of the '80s did some waiting. 1140 01:02:57,525 --> 01:03:01,028 Half an hour and round the block, all the way to Third Avenue. 1141 01:03:01,112 --> 01:03:05,241 One of these young ladies could become the Supermodel of the World. 1142 01:03:05,324 --> 01:03:06,325 Exciting? 1143 01:03:08,453 --> 01:03:09,454 Try again. 1144 01:03:11,831 --> 01:03:16,586 How does this type of thing square with women's lib? 1145 01:03:17,962 --> 01:03:19,422 What about men? Do they take you seriously? 1146 01:03:19,505 --> 01:03:22,884 Or when they hear you're a model, how does their reaction change to you? 1147 01:03:22,967 --> 01:03:27,096 What about, like I asked before, does this square with the women's lib movement? 1148 01:03:27,638 --> 01:03:31,434 [woman] Can I have a few of you over here? Okay. Can I have a few more women? 1149 01:03:31,517 --> 01:03:32,977 - [woman 2] How you doin'? - [woman 1] Good. How are you? 1150 01:03:33,060 --> 01:03:35,188 Fine. Nice to meet you too. I'm Shari. 1151 01:03:35,271 --> 01:03:38,316 - Shari, my name's Janet. - Hi, Janet. So you want to be a model? 1152 01:03:38,399 --> 01:03:40,526 - Yes. - So you need an application. 1153 01:03:40,610 --> 01:03:44,572 Actually, I was in this contest. That's how I started. That's me. 1154 01:03:44,655 --> 01:03:45,781 - I can't believe that. - Yeah. 1155 01:03:45,865 --> 01:03:47,658 - That's five years ago. - You still look great. 1156 01:03:47,742 --> 01:03:48,743 Thanks a lot. 1157 01:03:48,826 --> 01:03:52,497 We look at 75,000 pictures. I mean, well, you know, 1158 01:03:52,580 --> 01:03:55,625 that's the average amount that we look at each contest. 1159 01:03:56,083 --> 01:04:00,171 What have girls become? Are they the same? How are they different? 1160 01:04:00,254 --> 01:04:04,675 Girls are not different... from yesterday or the day before. 1161 01:04:04,759 --> 01:04:07,595 Everybody who's young has a hope and a dream... 1162 01:04:08,596 --> 01:04:12,391 and I don't think that it's ever been any different in the history of the world. 1163 01:04:15,645 --> 01:04:18,356 I believe that there's a big future out there... 1164 01:04:19,398 --> 01:04:21,734 with a lot of beautiful things. 1165 01:04:22,902 --> 01:04:24,403 Lot of handsome men. 1166 01:04:25,738 --> 01:04:26,906 Lot of luxury. 1167 01:04:28,658 --> 01:04:30,076 I want a car. 1168 01:04:30,910 --> 01:04:32,828 I want be with the man I love. 1169 01:04:33,454 --> 01:04:40,169 I want a nice home away from New York, up the Peekskills, or maybe in Florida. 1170 01:04:40,253 --> 01:04:42,171 Somewhere far, where no one knows me. 1171 01:04:42,880 --> 01:04:44,674 I want my sex change. 1172 01:04:45,841 --> 01:04:48,219 I wanna live a normal, happy life, 1173 01:04:48,302 --> 01:04:52,098 whether it's... being married and adopting children, 1174 01:04:52,181 --> 01:04:55,476 whether it's being famous and rich. 1175 01:04:57,311 --> 01:05:00,147 I want to get married in church in white. 1176 01:05:01,857 --> 01:05:05,570 Sometimes I sit and I look at a magazine. I try to imagine myself 1177 01:05:05,653 --> 01:05:09,031 in the front cover, or even inside. 1178 01:05:10,616 --> 01:05:12,952 I want to be a complete woman, 1179 01:05:13,035 --> 01:05:16,998 and I want to be a professional model behind cameras 1180 01:05:17,790 --> 01:05:19,709 in the high fashion world. 1181 01:05:20,918 --> 01:05:23,170 I want so much more. I want... 1182 01:05:24,297 --> 01:05:29,010 I want my name to be a household product. 1183 01:05:29,510 --> 01:05:33,764 I want everybody to look at me and say, "There goes Octavia." 1184 01:05:34,682 --> 01:05:37,226 I want this. This is what I want. 1185 01:05:38,185 --> 01:05:40,104 And I'm gonna go for it. 1186 01:05:43,691 --> 01:05:45,776 [chattering] 1187 01:05:45,860 --> 01:05:49,614 - [disco music] - [emcee, indistinct] 1188 01:05:50,364 --> 01:05:55,828 Amy... Xtrava... ganza! 1189 01:05:58,456 --> 01:06:01,792 Amy Xtravaganza! 1190 01:06:02,710 --> 01:06:03,753 Swinging... 1191 01:06:04,670 --> 01:06:05,796 vogue. 1192 01:06:07,173 --> 01:06:09,008 [no audible dialogue] 1193 01:06:09,091 --> 01:06:13,095 Vogue. Vogue. Vogue. Vogue. 1194 01:06:13,179 --> 01:06:16,307 Amy Xtrav... 1195 01:06:16,932 --> 01:06:20,895 Previously, I introduced, uh, rap music, 1196 01:06:21,520 --> 01:06:23,439 along with the dancing 1197 01:06:23,522 --> 01:06:25,775 to Japanese people, 1198 01:06:25,858 --> 01:06:28,152 and they really loved it. 1199 01:06:28,235 --> 01:06:30,613 [female reporter] This, ladies and gentlemen, is voguing, 1200 01:06:30,696 --> 01:06:33,199 a form of dance that has its roots in Harlem, 1201 01:06:33,616 --> 01:06:37,703 a takeoff on runway modeling, which they had plenty of last night as well. 1202 01:06:38,746 --> 01:06:42,708 - [cheering, applause] - Voguing is an attitude, a style. 1203 01:06:42,792 --> 01:06:44,335 It's — It's... 1204 01:06:44,418 --> 01:06:48,589 Kind of an institutionalized showing off. But not without its entertainment value. 1205 01:06:48,673 --> 01:06:53,636 It's something very spectacular. Very important art form. Very important. 1206 01:06:53,719 --> 01:06:58,599 It's just so theatrical. And the energy. Oh, it's just terrific. 1207 01:06:58,683 --> 01:07:01,185 [reporter] In addition to perhaps putting voguing in vogue, 1208 01:07:01,268 --> 01:07:05,064 this love ball, sponsored by the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS, 1209 01:07:05,147 --> 01:07:07,566 raised more than $350, 000 1210 01:07:07,650 --> 01:07:10,695 for research and housing for the homeless who have AIDS. 1211 01:07:11,028 --> 01:07:13,906 And I had never seen anything quite like it. 1212 01:07:13,989 --> 01:07:16,617 And I'm Connie Collins, News 4, Manhattan. 1213 01:07:17,451 --> 01:07:21,580 [Willi] Two years ago, I was working in a health food store, 1214 01:07:21,997 --> 01:07:25,376 still teaching, and trying to perform on my own. 1215 01:07:25,459 --> 01:07:26,877 Well, now — [chuckles] 1216 01:07:26,961 --> 01:07:30,589 my foot is, like, in every little doorstep that you can think of. 1217 01:07:31,340 --> 01:07:35,803 Um... I'm doing a lot of runway work. 1218 01:07:35,886 --> 01:07:40,307 I'm dancing, performing for Malcolm McLaren, various other people, 1219 01:07:40,391 --> 01:07:43,769 doing choreography, helping people put their shows together. 1220 01:07:44,562 --> 01:07:45,646 So it's going very good. 1221 01:07:45,730 --> 01:07:48,774 ♪ It wasn't easy No one, two, three ♪ 1222 01:07:48,858 --> 01:07:52,236 This earring that I have here is... I bought this in Japan. 1223 01:07:52,319 --> 01:07:54,905 As you can see, it says "House Couture." 1224 01:07:54,989 --> 01:07:57,116 I can't read the rest of it. It has a scissor, 1225 01:07:57,199 --> 01:08:00,119 and it has "Junior Gaultier '89" on there, of course. 1226 01:08:00,202 --> 01:08:03,622 That's the Gaultier label emblem. I bought it, mind you. 1227 01:08:03,706 --> 01:08:07,251 I have the receipt still. Where? I don't know, but I bought it. 1228 01:08:07,334 --> 01:08:09,336 [man] ♪ Deep in vogue ♪ 1229 01:08:11,464 --> 01:08:13,549 ♪ Deep in vogue ♪ 1230 01:08:13,632 --> 01:08:18,512 [Willi] The balls have kind of gotten toned down compared to what it used to be. 1231 01:08:19,013 --> 01:08:23,350 Now when I tell people what it is, and they go and it's not what they expect, 1232 01:08:23,434 --> 01:08:26,479 you know, it's like they feel a little bit of a letdown, you know? 1233 01:08:26,562 --> 01:08:29,440 And they say, "Oh, it was long, it was dragged out, it was boring." 1234 01:08:29,523 --> 01:08:31,525 Okay, the balls are always long and dragged out, 1235 01:08:31,609 --> 01:08:32,943 but they were never boring. 1236 01:08:33,569 --> 01:08:36,071 I really do kind of miss the street element. 1237 01:08:36,155 --> 01:08:38,199 I mean, but everything changes, 1238 01:08:38,282 --> 01:08:41,994 and — and everything's been changing drastically, you know. 1239 01:08:42,077 --> 01:08:46,707 Um... New York's not even the same — [laughs] anymore. 1240 01:08:46,791 --> 01:08:48,292 ["Let No Man Put Asunder" by First Choice] 1241 01:08:48,375 --> 01:08:51,837 ♪ I gotta have you every day In my doggone life ♪ 1242 01:08:51,921 --> 01:08:56,509 ♪ It's not over Baby, baby, baby... ♪ 1243 01:08:59,011 --> 01:09:03,015 ["Um... I Just Might" by Rusk] 1244 01:09:09,188 --> 01:09:11,440 ♪ I want to shout... ♪ 1245 01:09:14,527 --> 01:09:16,862 [Angie] I always said to her, "Venus, you take too many chances. 1246 01:09:16,946 --> 01:09:18,739 You're too wild with people in the streets. 1247 01:09:18,823 --> 01:09:21,742 Something is gonna happen to you." But that was Venus. 1248 01:09:21,826 --> 01:09:24,620 She always took a chance. She always went into strangers' cars. 1249 01:09:24,703 --> 01:09:28,457 She always did what she wanted to get what she wanted. 1250 01:09:30,543 --> 01:09:33,754 I had a booking for a Christmas show at Sally's, 1251 01:09:33,838 --> 01:09:37,716 and the DT's came to me with a picture of her, murdered, 1252 01:09:37,800 --> 01:09:41,887 and they were about to cremate her 'cause nobody had came to verify the body, 1253 01:09:41,971 --> 01:09:46,141 and I was the one that had to give all this information down to her family. 1254 01:09:46,642 --> 01:09:48,853 Actually, they found her dead after four days, 1255 01:09:48,978 --> 01:09:52,439 strangled under a bed in a sleazy hotel in New York City. 1256 01:09:52,523 --> 01:09:53,858 I'm hungry. 1257 01:09:54,275 --> 01:09:56,402 [Angie] We use to get dressed together, call each other, 1258 01:09:56,485 --> 01:09:59,738 and say what we were gonna wear, and, you know, she was like my right hand, 1259 01:09:59,822 --> 01:10:00,823 as far as I'm concerned. 1260 01:10:00,906 --> 01:10:03,367 I miss her. Every time I go anywhere, I miss her. 1261 01:10:03,826 --> 01:10:04,994 That was my main... 1262 01:10:05,744 --> 01:10:07,746 the main daughter of my house, in other words. 1263 01:10:08,247 --> 01:10:09,957 But that's part of life, 1264 01:10:10,040 --> 01:10:13,669 as far as being a transsexual in New York City and surviving. 1265 01:10:18,048 --> 01:10:19,049 [sniffs] 1266 01:10:19,925 --> 01:10:22,344 I always had hopes of being a big star. 1267 01:10:26,265 --> 01:10:29,727 And then I looked. As you get older, you aim a little lower. 1268 01:10:30,769 --> 01:10:33,981 And I just say, "Well, yeah, you still might make an impression." 1269 01:10:34,064 --> 01:10:36,442 Everybody wants to leave something behind them, 1270 01:10:36,525 --> 01:10:38,944 some impression, some mark upon the world. 1271 01:10:40,112 --> 01:10:41,196 And then you think... 1272 01:10:42,448 --> 01:10:44,283 you've left a mark on the world... 1273 01:10:47,745 --> 01:10:49,204 if you just get through it... 1274 01:10:52,583 --> 01:10:54,668 and a few people remember your name. 1275 01:10:56,295 --> 01:10:57,588 Then you left a mark. 1276 01:11:00,925 --> 01:11:02,885 You don't have to bend the whole world. 1277 01:11:05,804 --> 01:11:07,932 I think it's better to just enjoy it. 1278 01:11:12,061 --> 01:11:13,228 Pay your dues... 1279 01:11:15,397 --> 01:11:16,690 and enjoy it. 1280 01:11:18,859 --> 01:11:21,570 If you shoot a arrow and it goes real high... 1281 01:11:22,613 --> 01:11:23,948 hooray for you. 1282 01:11:33,999 --> 01:11:38,253 ["Got to Be Real"] 1283 01:11:41,548 --> 01:11:44,802 [Cheryl Lynn] ♪ What you think-ah ♪ 1284 01:11:46,011 --> 01:11:48,931 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1285 01:11:50,265 --> 01:11:52,810 ♪ What you know-ah ♪ 1286 01:11:54,103 --> 01:11:55,729 ♪ To be real ♪ 1287 01:11:58,357 --> 01:12:01,110 ♪ What you think-ah ♪ 1288 01:12:01,652 --> 01:12:06,031 - ♪ I think I love you, baby ♪ - ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1289 01:12:06,115 --> 01:12:10,953 Bring the cameras closer, Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up. And so... 1290 01:12:11,036 --> 01:12:12,871 ♪ To be real ♪ 1291 01:12:15,916 --> 01:12:19,086 ♪ Ooh ♪ 1292 01:12:19,169 --> 01:12:22,548 ♪ Your love's for real now ♪ 1293 01:12:23,007 --> 01:12:28,429 ♪ You know that your love is my love My love is your love ♪ 1294 01:12:28,512 --> 01:12:30,848 ♪ Our love is here to stay ♪ 1295 01:12:30,931 --> 01:12:33,267 Okay, Winter Sportswear. 1296 01:12:33,726 --> 01:12:39,648 Preferably fur, but if not, you know, in error, you can... natural fibers. If — 1297 01:12:39,732 --> 01:12:43,694 If you choose the polyester, God help you. You know how the children are. 1298 01:12:43,777 --> 01:12:46,280 - [laughing] - ♪ To be real ♪ 1299 01:12:49,491 --> 01:12:52,411 ♪ Ooh ♪ 1300 01:12:52,494 --> 01:12:56,373 ♪ Your love's for real now ♪ 1301 01:12:56,457 --> 01:12:59,585 ♪ You know that your love is my love ♪ 1302 01:12:59,668 --> 01:13:01,920 ♪ And my love is your love ♪ 1303 01:13:02,004 --> 01:13:04,631 ♪ Our love is here to stay... ♪ 1304 01:13:04,715 --> 01:13:07,593 Okay, you add "U-G" at the end of your word, right? 1305 01:13:08,010 --> 01:13:09,970 But you have to take off the first letter, 1306 01:13:10,054 --> 01:13:12,598 or the first letters, until you get into a vowel. 1307 01:13:12,681 --> 01:13:14,600 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1308 01:13:14,683 --> 01:13:19,605 [speaking Pig Latin] 1309 01:13:20,105 --> 01:13:21,648 ♪ To be real ♪ 1310 01:13:24,401 --> 01:13:27,029 ♪ What you think-ah ♪ 1311 01:13:27,112 --> 01:13:28,822 ♪ I think I love you ♪ 1312 01:13:28,906 --> 01:13:31,200 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1313 01:13:31,283 --> 01:13:32,826 ♪ I feel I need you ♪ 1314 01:13:32,910 --> 01:13:35,829 ♪ What you know-ah ♪ 1315 01:13:36,997 --> 01:13:38,457 ♪ To be real ♪ 1316 01:13:38,540 --> 01:13:41,126 ♪ It's got to be real ♪ 1317 01:13:41,210 --> 01:13:42,669 ♪ To be real ♪ 1318 01:13:42,753 --> 01:13:45,255 ♪ It's got to be real ♪ 1319 01:13:45,339 --> 01:13:51,929 ♪ To be real ♪ 1320 01:13:56,892 --> 01:14:00,187 I'm not looking for anything. I think all men are dogs. 1321 01:14:00,604 --> 01:14:01,605 I honestly do. 1322 01:14:02,397 --> 01:14:04,942 You know, every man starts barking sooner or later. 1323 01:14:05,275 --> 01:14:09,780 ["Got to Be Real" continues] 1324 01:14:10,197 --> 01:14:11,615 I'm a quiet person. 1325 01:14:12,741 --> 01:14:16,036 And if you believe that, you know, I own that island right over there too. 1326 01:14:16,328 --> 01:14:19,373 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1327 01:14:20,415 --> 01:14:23,460 ♪ What you know-ah ♪ 1328 01:14:24,128 --> 01:14:26,088 ♪ To be real ♪ 1329 01:14:28,257 --> 01:14:30,926 ♪ What you think-ah ♪ 1330 01:14:31,009 --> 01:14:32,678 [vocalizing] 1331 01:14:32,761 --> 01:14:35,139 ♪ What you feel now ♪ 1332 01:14:35,222 --> 01:14:37,057 [vocalizing] 1333 01:14:37,141 --> 01:14:39,977 ♪ What you know-ah ♪ 1334 01:14:40,978 --> 01:14:42,354 ♪ To be real ♪ 1335 01:14:42,437 --> 01:14:45,023 ♪ Oh, yeah, yeah, ha! ♪ 1336 01:14:45,107 --> 01:14:46,567 ♪ To be real ♪ 1337 01:14:46,650 --> 01:14:49,695 [cheering, applause] 1338 01:14:49,778 --> 01:14:56,785 [woman] ♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪ 1339 01:14:58,370 --> 01:15:01,915 ♪ Skies are blue ♪ 1340 01:15:01,999 --> 01:15:03,917 They want to be with their kind. 1341 01:15:04,334 --> 01:15:06,170 - Right. - They want to be gay-gay. 1342 01:15:06,253 --> 01:15:08,755 It's probably, like, just like, just all right. 1343 01:15:08,839 --> 01:15:10,716 Just like, again, just like a community. 1344 01:15:11,300 --> 01:15:15,012 In a religious community, they want to pray together a lot, right? 1345 01:15:15,095 --> 01:15:18,765 - [man] I suppose. - Well, this gay community might wanna... 1346 01:15:19,349 --> 01:15:22,477 Or-Or they, like, wanna be together. 1347 01:15:23,562 --> 01:15:28,192 ♪ Someday I wish upon a star ♪ 1348 01:15:29,026 --> 01:15:32,529 ♪ And wake up where the clouds are far ♪ 1349 01:15:33,530 --> 01:15:36,617 ♪ Behind me ♪ 1350 01:15:40,078 --> 01:15:43,081 [cheering] 1351 01:15:46,793 --> 01:15:50,672 ♪ Way up on the chimney tops ♪ 1352 01:15:51,465 --> 01:15:53,675 - ♪ That's where... ♪ - [woman] That's where... 1353 01:15:53,759 --> 01:15:57,679 ♪ That's where you'll find... ♪ 1354 01:15:57,763 --> 01:16:00,682 [woman] All right! All right! 1355 01:16:00,766 --> 01:16:04,061 [cheering, applause] 1356 01:16:04,144 --> 01:16:06,438 [woman] All right! [laughing] 1357 01:16:07,856 --> 01:16:10,692 [vocalizing] 1358 01:16:10,776 --> 01:16:12,027 [woman] Go ahead! 1359 01:16:12,110 --> 01:16:15,906 ♪ Way up high ♪ 1360 01:16:17,824 --> 01:16:21,203 [continues, indistinct] 1361 01:16:21,286 --> 01:16:23,455 [woman shouting, indistinct] 1362 01:16:23,538 --> 01:16:24,831 [applause] 1363 01:16:24,915 --> 01:16:26,541 ♪ Rainbow... ♪ 1364 01:16:26,625 --> 01:16:28,543 [woman] Work at it! Work! 1365 01:16:29,544 --> 01:16:31,046 ♪ Oh ♪ 1366 01:16:33,715 --> 01:16:36,718 - [woman] All right! - [cheering] 1367 01:16:39,012 --> 01:16:42,099 [vocalizing] 1368 01:16:50,190 --> 01:16:53,735 ♪ Over the rainbow ♪ 1369 01:16:53,819 --> 01:16:55,821 [continues, indistinct] 1370 01:17:01,076 --> 01:17:05,330 So this is New York City, and this is what the gay life is about. 1371 01:17:06,373 --> 01:17:07,958 - [interviewer] Right. - Right?