Groups of People are not Cool

Although there are a few cool people within Paris is Burning, no one is cool because they belong to a society of people. Homosexuals and African Americans are not cool because of their sexual identity or their ethnic heritage. Although both of these groups have been historically oppressed by the white mainstream, they do not become cool simply because they are oppressed. I do not mean to say that the oppression of any people by another is right, but an oppressed group is not cool simply because they are oppressed. Take the example of Pepper LaBeija. Although LaBeija is both gay and black, he is not cool for either of these qualities. The coolness that comes from LaBeija is generated by his power and strong motherly qualities. By controlling the House of LaBeija, he is in command of a large group of baller queens. Additionally, he uses this power to spread his help amongst his daughters in the House. Whenever one of his daughters needs advice on anything from clothes to dancing to life related issues, LaBeija is there to provide help. Another person from the film that is cool because of factors other than race and gender was Willi Ninja. Ninja's coolness had nothing to do with him being either black or gay. Instead, Ninja's coolness came from his path in life. He started out as a very poor man. However, through hard work and determination, he took his personalized version of vogue dancing to the mainstream. Before he died in 2006, he had even made television appearances and owned a modeling agency. The way that he rose from poverty and became a wealthy and well-respected man is what made him cool-not being gay and black.

Documentaries themselves are not very cool. Although the people within documentaries may be a little cool for their own personal achievements, documentaries and the people who make them are generally considered to be very uncool and boring. The reason for this is the lack of entertainment in documentaries. Movies that are cool like Star Wars, Terminator, and Casablanca would not be cool if we came out of the movie theater thinking, "Wow, that movie was boring." However, documentaries are not without merit entirely. Through using investigative techniques, important issues can be explored and introduced to the public through the easy to digest medium of film. Unfortunately, the boring nature of these films often means that people are not willing to see them because the primary reason to go to a movie theater is to be entertained. As a result, people who make documentaries are often either completely ignored or looked upon as uncool. For example, Michael Moore is not a cool person. Even though he is well known for his work in making documentaries, he is not cool because he does not have the kinds of determination that we consider to be cool as a society. Willi Ninja is cool for rising out of poverty and becoming a successful person through his own sheer will and determination. Michael Moore is simply a documentary maker who is arrogant enough to feature himself in his own films, and there is no way a combination of arrogance and documentaries is cool at all.