Online Response 4

Representing voices from underrepresented communities is essential in documentary because the form itself shapes how audiences understand lived experience. Nichols points out that documentary modes structure the qualities of the relationship between filmmaker and subject, meaning the choice of mode determines whose perspective organizes the film’s meaning. When dealing with communities that have long been ignored or stereotyped, that structure matters. Different modes create different forms of visibility, and the performative and participatory modes in particular offer two distinct ways of centering these experiences.

Nichols describes the performative mode as a form that emphasizes subjective experience, memory, and embodiment. Rather than relying on detached factuality, performative films use lived experience to communicate what a particular community feels like from the inside. This approach works especially well for groups whose voices have been historically suppressed, because it positions the emotional truth of the subject as the main source of meaning. This becomes clear in Paris Is Burning. One of the most defining scenes is when Dorian Corey sits at her vanity, applying makeup while explaining the ideas of “shade” and “realness.” The shot remains quiet and fully in Dorian’s control. Instead of guiding her with questions or breaking up the scene with expository voiceover, the film lets her build her world through her own language and performance. Her gestures and the way she carries herself carry as much meaning as her words. Nichols notes that performative documentaries rely on embodied knowledge, and this moment demonstrates exactly that: Corey narrates a history of survival and creativity simply by being herself onscreen.

Dorian Corey in Paris is Burning (1990)

Another scene where the performative mode becomes essential is Venus Xtravaganza lying on her bed, talking casually about her dreams of safety, femininity, and financial stability. The camera never challenges her or redirects her. It simply holds space as she oscillates between hope and fear. Her voice and posture communicate the risks she lives with daily as a trans woman in 1980s New York. The emotional reality of her experience becomes visible because the film refuses to mediate her voice. In both scenes, performance is not decoration; it is the primary method through which the community articulates its identity.

Venus Xtravaganza in Paris is Burning (1990)

The participatory mode works differently. Nichols describes participatory documentaries as films where the filmmaker becomes a “social actor,” meaning the interaction itself becomes part of the meaning. While Sherman’s March is not centered on a marginalized community, it is one of the clearest examples we have from class of how participatory mechanics operate. A specific scene that illustrates this well is when McElwee talks with the Mormon woman about her beliefs. The conversation in the restaurant is prompted when McElwee asks her why she doesn’t drink soda or coffee. Once McElwee realizes that she is a practicing Mormon, he engages her in a dialogue that reveals her stances on marriage, family, and faith, as well as his response to those stances. In the end, McElwee chooses not to pursue romance with her because of her beliefs. None of this would happen without the filmmaker’s presence. The scene reveals how participatory films construct meaning through interpersonal tension.

Ross McElwee in Sherman's March (1985)

But to see participatory dynamics applied to marginalized experiences, a hybrid example like Minding the Gap becomes necessary. In the scene where Keire talks about police harassment while skating, Bing Liu’s questions from behind the camera give Keire a space to express the racialized pressure he carries. Later, the interview where Bing confronts Zack about domestic violence shows how participatory filmmaking becomes ethically charged when the filmmaker is personally involved in the subject’s life. Zack pushes back, grows defensive, then shifts into self-justification all because the filmmaker is present and asking. The social dynamics of race, trauma, and class become inseparable from the participatory structure.

 Kiere Johnson in Minding the Gap (2018)

These films collectively show why representation matters: different modes illuminate different facets of marginalized experience. The performative mode, as in Paris Is Burning, highlights interiority and community knowledge. Participatory and hybrid modes, as in Sherman’s March and Minding the Gap, expose the relational and systemic pressures that shape people’s lives. In the end, the power of documentary comes not just from the subject matter, but from the mode that frames it, and the mode ultimately determines whose voice the audience hears.