The musical stylings of "strike a pose, there's nothing to it", "you better work" and "I'm too sexy" entered our lexicon at a time when we were still sporting a perm and a retainer, so understanding that these pop radio songs were simply a corporatization of an entire underground subculture was far beyond anything our prepubescent mind could comprehend. Next Wednesday we will get a glimpse into the decades-old tradition of "ball culture", which inspired countless 80's and 90's pop culture trends, as Scion presents the next offering in their Independent Film Series, the critically celebrated documentary Paris Is Burning.

Paris is Burning follows several marginalizied groups in NYC in the 80's, specifically the Black and Hispanic lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, as they find likeminded friends who act as a family unit, substituting for the biological families that have rejected them and their ways. They form "houses", which are basically a same-sex "confederacy of children" who adopt a family name in the style of the fashion world, typically based on the last name of its founding member. Mainstream culture has House of Dior, named after fashion designer Christian Dior; ball culture has House of Ninja, whose namesake is Willi Ninja, the man whose sweet moves inspired Madonna's "Vogue."

Houses compete against one another in "balls", where the goal is to mimic mainstream culture as much as possible, be it desperate housewife-esque fabulosity, uptight Wall Street Bankerism or musclebound meatheadedness. Participants are judged based on their dance skills, costume, general appearance and attitude. Verisimilitude is the goal, and whosoever is the most convincing claims the spoils of victory for their house.

Say what you will about corporate sponsored events, we are really glad that Scion is bringing Paris Is Burning to Austin. We haven't seen it yet, but it won tons of awards when it came out, including the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1991. Our expectation is that it will be smashing to watch the film in a crowded theater and then get to discuss all of the elements that mainstream culture has borrowed from ball culture, while sipping free cocktails and enjoying the magical mixing of DJ Mel. We give this event three snaps in a circle.