What is there for us to point out about , a 1990 documentary about Harlem drag balls, that hasn't already been said by far greater minds than our own? Between 1987 and 1989, filmmaker Jennie Livingston followed, interviewed, and created an intimate portrait of urban men -- mostly black, mostly poor -- who devoted a simply awe-inspiring amount of energy to creating competitions in which they could hone their imitations of realness. These folks created an entire world in which they could be loved and admired for dramatizing the state of being rich, or feminine, or young, or geneerally enfranchised. It's all just absolutely incredible, and that's all you need to know about that.

And now, fifteen years later, Jennie has a new piece to exhibit, this time a narrative short called Who's the Top. And it sure is different from PiB. We'll get to that in a minute.

Paris is Burning