Since its debut in 1990, Jennie Livingston's iconic documentary about New York City's gay ball scene has impacted the way we dance, talk, and werk. Here are music videos that, intentionally or not, reflect the film's legendary status.
Source: monetmcg
It's been more than 20 years since the documentary debuted and pop culture is still referencing "Paris Is Burning." Diddy decided to make a short film about a recent trip to Paris and named it... well, you know. When designer Rick Owens decided to use "Ima Read" by Zebra Katz as the soundtrack for his Paris Fashion Week Show last year, the set's background was all fire. (Get it?) And remember when Steven Tyler showed up in drag on American Idol and said his drag name was Pepper LaBeija? Yep. And, of course, if you've been watching or talking about RuPaul's Drag Race lately, you can thank Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and the rest of the film's cast for your newfound vocabulary.
Oh, and if you need to brush on your ball scene realness, you can view the documentary in its entirety here.
For now though, let's focus on the music videos that take their cues from the ball scene's legendary children.
"Vogue" by Madonna
Via: youtube.com
Willi Ninja, one of the documentary's stars, took voguing from Harlem's ball scene to the club scene and then Madonna caught wind of the trend and invited him to choreograph her now-iconic music video. The rest is pop culture history.
Ninja died of AIDS-related heart failure in 2006.
