Film ReviewsKiki: fabulous balls on fireJun 15, 2017 Anchorage Press
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Balls have always been safe spaces where often-persecuted populations of young black and brown gay men have found acceptance and empowerment through a supportive community that helped folks through some rough times that were filled with hate, racism, homophobia, and discrimination. And, because these –isms still exist, balls are as relevant as ever. Kiki is indebted to the ground-breaking, gender-bending documentary of the late 1980s, Paris Is Burning by Jennie Livingston. Paris Is Burning was significant in many ways, not only because it was the first of its kind and depth, but because it came at a time when the culture wars of the 1980s were reeling against art that addressed taboos like Robert Mapplethorpe’s body of work containing BDSM images, and Andres Serrano’s infamous “Piss Christ” photograph. Artists of their ilk were vilified for their treatment of subject matter that exposed subcultures and human proclivities that had simply been in the shadows. Paris is Burning was swept in current of intolerance even if it did receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The documentary took about six years to make and even though it's hugely important, especially in retrospect, it wasn't without its controversies. The documentary is beautifully raw and touched on economics, race issues, appropriation, and later on faced legal problems related to payment for the contributors. All that aside, and for better or worse, Paris Is Burning is the standard by which all future documentaries, including Kiki are and will be measured. Artistically, Paris Is Burning is tight; using beautiful textures on the screen to tell the stories of LGBTQ and the ballroom phenomenon and the streets of New York before Mayor Rudy Giuliani went on his white-washing mission to clean up the streets, displace people, and sweep social issues under the rug. Kiki continues to expose the issues that plague the current generations of gay brown and black men, queers, queens and especially Transgender people. Both documentaries continue to speak to the healing power of “family” – a community that comes together dues to dire needs and a desire to belong, gay “family” take care of one another through thick and thin and are often closer than their respective blood relations. For a long time “family” was code to identify other LGBTQ folks, “family” shares in solidarity, parallel experiences of rejection from main society, and a sense of acceptance of one another and love.
Kiki or a film like it has been overdue; it's been too long since Paris Is Burning. Kiki documents a facet of LGBTQ history and culture that has been going on for 100 years. Kiki is it's own film, documenting a different generation on its own terms, using different technology, and facing some of the same old challenges and also new ones. In some ways the generation in Kiki has more tools and structures to combat the –isms, but the road to equality remains long and hard.
Kiki has some beautiful moments filled with compassion, but there are some parts of the narrative that feel contrived and could benefit from enhanced editing so it doesn’t feel longer than it is. As Kiki follows different people, there are definitely some stories that are more compelling than others. The structure of the film lacks the tightness that its predecessor has, and never quite brings the individual stories back into the ball phenomenon. However, to be fair it's also that balls today or not the same as balls from the past, and that gay communities, in and of themselves are varied and diverse that it would be impossible to re-create a structure that applied to its entirety. A great and timely accomplishment of Kiki is that it shows a new generation finding its own way, particularly disenfranchised gay and transgender men in the African-American community. Kiki reminds viewers that the spirit of family, and justice remains as an integral part of what it is to be gay. As demonstrated in Kiki, LGBTQ queue people cannot take anything for granted because inequality persists and because it is not protected class, there are no guarantees. What is nice about the film is that it also shows how far some parts of society have come, including those in supporting of roles like biological family members and organizations. And just like in the 1980s, in the world of Paris Is Burning, and the world reflected in the work of Nan Goldin, the focus remains on the undisputed characteristic of the LGBTQ community members to care for one another. For those of viewers who have never kikied, they should not miss this documentary; for those who have, Kiki offers a refreshing and melancholic look at how far we’ve come.
Showing on Monday June 19 2017 5:30 PM (94 Minutes)
Kiki or a film like it has been overdue; it's been too long since Paris Is Burning. Kiki documents a facet of LGBTQ history and culture that has been going on for 100 years. Kiki is it's own film, documenting a different generation on its own terms, using different technology, and facing some of the same old challenges and also new ones. In some ways the generation in Kiki has more tools and structures to combat the –isms, but the road to equality remains long and hard.
Kiki has some beautiful moments filled with compassion, but there are some parts of the narrative that feel contrived and could benefit from enhanced editing so it doesn’t feel longer than it is. As Kiki follows different people, there are definitely some stories that are more compelling than others. The structure of the film lacks the tightness that its predecessor has, and never quite brings the individual stories back into the ball phenomenon. However, to be fair it's also that balls today or not the same as balls from the past, and that gay communities, in and of themselves are varied and diverse that it would be impossible to re-create a structure that applied to its entirety. A great and timely accomplishment of Kiki is that it shows a new generation finding its own way, particularly disenfranchised gay and transgender men in the African-American community. Kiki reminds viewers that the spirit of family, and justice remains as an integral part of what it is to be gay. As demonstrated in Kiki, LGBTQ queue people cannot take anything for granted because inequality persists and because it is not protected class, there are no guarantees. What is nice about the film is that it also shows how far some parts of society have come, including those in supporting of roles like biological family members and organizations. And just like in the 1980s, in the world of Paris Is Burning, and the world reflected in the work of Nan Goldin, the focus remains on the undisputed characteristic of the LGBTQ community members to care for one another. For those of viewers who have never kikied, they should not miss this documentary; for those who have, Kiki offers a refreshing and melancholic look at how far we’ve come.
Showing on Monday June 19 2017 5:30 PM (94 Minutes)