There is no denying the love that I have for Paris Is Burning. So I was pleased to hear that PBS's documentary show, POV, is hosting a Greatest Documentary of All Time competition on their website.

More than 20 years later, Paris is still bringing it to the masses. I love this.

For those of you who don't know what the hubbub is all about, a small clip:

Another contender to the title is the Maysles brothers' Grey Gardens, a film that has its hold on a lot of gay hearts. We love Edie for her kookiness and her fashion sense. We love Big Edie for her eternal grace under pressure (and for never mentioning that most unmentionable of things, the mountains of cat shit in the house).

Work it, you staunch women!

After the recent coming out of R&B and hip-hop wunderkind Frank Ocean, it's good to see a recent video by Murs features the emcee portraying Roderick, the conflicted love interest of Jonathan, a young man who is on his way to college. Their love goes awry because of Roderick's internalized homophobia. A great video, a heartfelt story and a smart move toward erasing homophobia in the world of hip hop and R&B.

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Someone out there in the wonderful world of the internet has put out a fan video of Azealia Banks's "Fierce" - a track that sends love to the New York ballroom scene - and mixes in snippets of "Paris Is Burning." It is a wonderful example of post-modern genius. Listen and watch now.

It's been more than 20 years since it was released, but people are still talking about Paris Is Burning. Its legacy, the criticisms around it and more.

A few months back, I even wrote about my own love for the 1990 documentary. It seems that earlier this week, NPR posted a blog entry about the music behind the film, including interviews with various musicians on how the film, the people portrayed therein, and the sounds they heard in the film influenced them and their art. Artists who were influenced by the film include sissy bounce queen Big Freedia, Hercules and Love Affair mastermind Andy Butler, emcee Zebra Katz and disco edit maestro Prince Language.

To get you in the groove, here are a couple tracks by these artists that you could easily find on any current ballroom dancefloor, from grand Philly soul sophistication to contemporary walking records.

Prince Language's "Please Don't Go." This edit of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' "Don't Leave Me This Way" is a beautiful rework of the soulful, Philadelphia-style records that were often heard during the balls in the '70s and '80s. Style and sophistication.

Hercules & Love Affair, "You Belong," a song strongly influenced by the early '90s New York sound that was popular in ballrooms.

Zebra Katz's "Ima Read," a record with a bassline made for duck walking.

Big Freedia's "Y'all Get Back Now." This record is made for the new floor, the new queens and the new sissies. Bounce that ass, baby.

I have to admit, I dig Gavin McInnes.

One of the originators of Vice magazine, McInnes has always been a bit of a pissant. His infamous DOs and DON'Ts column was sartorial satire at its finest. However, it's nice to see that McInnes is not below (or above) his own contempt, as seen in this video. 

"I look like an apple that's been left in a van all July," he says, mocking his crow's feet. But McInnes doesn't reserve his best judgment for himself; it is directed toward a lone woman, whom he describes as a "jazz singer at a ski slope who lost her job," then berates her for her choice of sweater wear.

McInnes is like a straight, butch version of Dorian Corey in Paris Is Burning.

"I think fashion and style is a fun game, and people who take it seriously miss the point, and people who don't participate miss the point," he says at the end of the video. I would much rather take fashion advice from McInnes than a certain gay stylist we all know. 

Author’s note: “Paris Is Still Burning” is the first in a series of op-eds on queer history that will appear on this blog. It will feature both local (ie, Atlantic Canadian) historical content (and context) and larger historical events.

It’s 1990, and I am a kid living in rural Nova Scotia watching Siskel & Ebert. It’s a Saturday afternoon and they are talking about a recent documentary. All of a sudden, a black drag queen in a gold lamé dress, with puffed sleeves that are bigger than a tire, is on the television. Off screen, someone is yelling for everyone to get off the floor. “Learn it, and learn it well,” they say.

What I am learning is that there is a world out there.

It’s been more than 20 years since Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning was released. The film depicts the lives of a group of predominantly black and Latino gay men and transgender women living in New York City during the late '80s. They are members of “houses,” congregations and fraternities who battle each other during balls or pageants, competing in various categories in which they emulate certain ideals of straight society. Executive realness anyone?

The film is also known for being one of the few detailed portraits of voguing during its initial heyday. Although people may have been acquainted with the term and elements of the dance thanks to Madonna, Paris Is Burning took an academic and sociological glance at what was mostly viewed as a dancefloor fad.

Twenty years later, the film still resonates in the queer community. I have conversations with young queers who were barely out of diapers when the film came out yet can recite great lengths of dialogue from it. They can read someone or throw shade, having been taught by no less than Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza.

But the balls and voguing did not go the way of the gay dinosaur. They simply went back underground, and new generations of houses have come about, while some of the old stalwarts still hear the names ring out during the balls. The House of Ninja and the House of Xtravaganza are two that still produce dancers and voguers who will leave you gagging.

Fast forward to the 1:27 mark.

For a white kid from a middle-class family living in a fishing village of 300 people, you would think I had nothing in common with anyone or anything on that screen. But I felt a kinship and a sense of belonging. I wanted to be like them: these were people who dreamed themselves into existence, even when reality was trying to shake them awake into living nightmares. Once in a while, in front of all their peers, they could be whoever and whatever they wanted. And that gave a shy and closeted kid a lot of hope.

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Addendum: Jennie Livingston, the director of Paris Is Burning is still making films. She is currently looking to make a film about the subject of death and identity. You can find out more on her Kickstarter site.

Butch Queen Bonus: In 2010, Cabin Fever Records put out a 12-inch recording called “Shade,” by The Realness. This quasi-bootleg record samples dialogue from the film in a booty-shaking, duck-walking track.

A must for those who want to be real.