I think it is also interesting to compare this film to Moonlight in its reception. Moonlight has similar subject matter and came out only a couple years later, but its positive reception at the Oscars versus that of Pariah shows how far we have come in accepting queerness and racial identity as more of a cultural norm and something to be accepted.

It is interesting to compare the film in the trailer and the actual film because they are nothing alike. The trailer shows the commercial side of the film and how it needed to be shown in a certain way that would attract an audience.

Why exactly would this film be considered "too black" or "too gay" when that is legitimately the main focsus of the film? It creates a double standard because it disregards the target audience of the film. No one ever says that films are either "too white" or "too straight".

She completely misunderstood the film's purpose and I feel like her view is extremely detrimental to the queer community because it is close-minded and completely disregards the inclusivity of the balls themselves.

I find this disturbing that she didn't do more to help the people in the film. If she was expecting nothing for them, she should not have made them any promises.

I feel like everyone should have the right to see this film. Even though white audiences initially reacted poorly to it, their is room for them to grow and become more accepting and understanding of the film's contents in the future.

The fact that the film went mainstream did attract the white and straight audiences naturally, but it was also necessary for the film to reach the actual audience that it was meant for and be a representation of the queer community. Even though the film receives a lot of criticism from those that don't understand it, became accessible to the queer people that need to be aware of other people in the queer community and promote feelings of inclusivity and acceptance.

I agree and feel that the idea of "otherness" that people believe about this film comes from the fact they are assuming that the film is meant for a white, straight audience when that is not the case whatsoever.

Fusco's comments demonstrate why the white audiences reacted the way they did to this film. They are so entitled and set in their own ways that they do not understand and cannot grasp the need of this freedom of expression. They have been such dictators of culture that they cannot fathom how balls would be needed as an outlet to people of lesser backgrounds that are unable to have the same opportunities as white Americans.

It is unfortunate that the audience reacts this way to something that they are not yet familiar with. It reminds me of when I went to see the live action version of beauty and the beast and there was a shocked reaction to the hint at a queer relationship at the end of the film. People are not comfortable with the unfamiliar, but hopefully over time it will become a lot mpre normalized and accepted.

I agree it is definitely impossible. I feel like this is the critical response of a lot of films that deal with this subject matter. In a similar way to how critics said that Pariah was too black and queer, on the other end of the political spectrum viewers did not think that Paris is Burning did enough even though its main focus was on the idea of self expression in the balls rather than race.

I agree with the writer that this is an inaccurate representation, especially saying that femininity is understood only through a white lens– I feel like the ball children are not unaware of race, but that it is an integrated part of their lives, so that is why it is not explicitly mentioned.

Though I do not agree with Hooks' statement about the film, I can see how her outrage could have sprung from the ignorant reactions of the audience around her. I don't think it is fair to blame their reactions on the film though. I think that the film is just too far ahead of its time. If this were something that came out today, I definitely think that it would generate a much different response and be more accepted by a wider span of audiences now that people are more culturally aware of the queer community.

When watching the film, I thought a lot about this as well and it made me think specifically about how the social constructs from my own identity might be holding me back from being who I want to be.

In a way I liked that race was not a main focus of the film because it would kind of take away from the idea of everyone choosing their own identity and it would make it into a whole new film that disregards queer specific identity.