The Messed Up True Story Behind Party Monster

In the 1980s and 1990s, something truly extraordinary was brewing in New York. As Them tells us, this was the era of the Club Kids — a blanket name for a group of young, outrageous, and often LGBTQ creative types who shed away their outcast status and became party scene butterflies. They were highly visible at the parties they attended, and they attended a lot of them. They painted their faces in an outlandish manner, sported unlikely-for-the-time piercings, and wore colorful, commanding costumes.

The Club Kids were out and about, and their open celebration of difference wasn't just a fringe thing, either. Their ranks included future influencers such as RuPaul, and their scene became a huge deal that inspired artists and designers from Jean Paul Gaultier to Elton John. Per Interview Magazine, the Club Kids were in the habit of creating "glamorous personalities," and they aimed to make them as inventive and shocking as possible. As such, many of them became locally or even nationally famous, and they made sure that they were as visible as possible by, for instance, holding "Outlaw Parties" at strange and surprising locations. 

According to Indie, the scene had its good sides, as it fought to reclaim its members' humanity and value after the AIDS crisis and during New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's crackdown on nightlife. However, its reputation would be forever tarnished by Party Monster and its subject, Club Kid extraordinaire Michael Alig.

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