While watching Paris
is Burning, I kept going back to the cultural appropriation conversation we
had in the last class period. The balls and the culture surrounding them seem
to grow out of a desire to recreate a culture that completely rejects them,
forming a separate society that gives them acceptance. Yet, like many things we
talked about in class, mainstream white culture has seemed to take this culture
and use it for its own entertainment
As I watched the documentary, I thought of every
stereotypical drag queen I had ever seen in a television show or movie. When the
movie explained “reading,” I realized just how stereotypical these portrayals
had been. Without ever really going into details on why they do this or showing
them in any other light, the mainstream culture makes them a caricature of
themselves.
Madonna’s “Vogue,”
the dance off in Zoolander, and the
character of Titus in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt all came to my mind as I
watched, seeing the similarities and possible influences of balls in these
mainstream productions. I’m sure if I thought a little longer, there would be
plenty more examples. Balls seem to represent represent this strange cycle of
copying the mainstream culture only to have that interpretation taken by the
mainstream culture.
Katie, I think your statement about white culture taking the ball culture and using it for entertainment is definitely correct, especially with all the stereotypical references you mentioned. At first I looked at "Paris is Burning" as more of a documentary on the balls, thinking it was fairly accurate. However, after thinking about it and reading the Bell Hooks chapters for tomorrow, I agree that it seems as more of a way to display entertainment and humor for the purpose of white culture's enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteKatie, it is interesting to think about how people use this subculture as a form of entertainment. Maybe some people just find the whole situation so foreign that they want to see more of it. Also in these types of shows, producers seem to take drags and exaggerate their personalities in order to make them funnier. I can see how this sort of thing can give a wrong portrayal of a certain lifestyle. It was nice to watch "Paris is Burning" to see an accurate portrayal of their lifestyle.
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