Leave It On The Floor

Today in class we talked a lot about how Paris Is Burning was documented from a white, privileged point of view. So, I decided to just Google movies about ball culture to see if there were any other movies that had been made from a different perspective. Another movie came up from 2011 called Leave It on the Floor. I decided to read a few of the reviews and some critics’ views on it. Rotten Tomatoes called it a “mash-up of Paris is Burning, Rent, and Dreamgirls.” I really liked Rent and Dreamgirls, so I thought I would watch Leave It on the Floor since it was on Netflix.

After watching the film, it definitely is a musical in the sense that the music and dancing are more important than the depth of the plot line. The story is about an African American boy who comes out gay to his mother who kicks him out of the house. He finds himself being taken in a by a “house” called Eminence that competes at balls in L.A. There’s a little bit of a love story, but that isn't very important to the film’s overall message about the struggles of gay and transgender youths. One of the most powerful scenes comes after a car accident in which one of the house members dies. At the funeral, the families of the house members attend the funeral. In song, there is a battle between the families and the house members about their life choices and being gay and transgender. The families are referring to all the house members by their male, birth names and the house members are resisting against the families. In the end, the family members admit they don’t want their gay and transgender family members back in their lives which you can tell is really hard for all of them.

In class we commented a little bit on how we would have liked to see a little bit more from other members of the houses rather than just the most prominent contestants of the balls. This film, although it is fiction, gives a little bit better picture of how the houses operate and get prepared for and compete at the balls.

I’m not a huge fan of musicals, so I kind of felt like the film was more happy-go-lucky than the actual problems that it was supposed to be representing. Then again, like one review said, it makes it a little easier to watch if someone is uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the culture than to have the whole film be so serious. Overall it was pretty interesting to watch since it was inspired by Paris Is Burning.