Viewing Response 13: Cinematic Style IÂ
In âGender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion,â author Judith Butler asserts that lesbianism has a complex relationship with heterosexuality that varies from person-to-person. She says that the common view of these concepts as a ârepudiation of heterosexualityâ (341) is not necessarily true, but neither is the idea that âthat there is a lesbian desire radically different from a heterosexual one, with no relation to itâ (340). Instead, each lesbian woman may view her sexuality as one of these things or some combination of the two. As such, there is no singular definition of the relationship between lesbianism and heterosexuality.
In the case of young Alike in Pariah (2011), lesbian love is not related in any way to heterosexual love. While this is made clear throughout the film as a whole as she discovers herself and her sexuality, it is especially evident in this excerpt from a piece she wrote about her journey to self-discovery (narrated at the end of the film):
âBreaking is freeing, broken is freedom. I am not broken. I am free.â
Alikeâs use of the word broken indicates the view of heterosexuality as the norm and the origin, and homosexuality as unacceptable and unnatural. However, she uses the term as a synonym with freedom to take ownership of her sexuality and break free from heteronormativity entirely. She uses the final statements to emphasize that she is not broken, but rather she has come to the terms with her homosexuality to finally accept herself as she is, becoming free. On Butlerâs spectrum of lesbianism, Alike falls on the complete opposite of heterosexual repudiation; while she is oppressed by heteronormativity, her lesbianism is not a product of this oppression, but rather an innate aspect of who she is as a human being, as shown in her final statements at the end of the film.
On another note, Pariah relates to ââSheâs Gotta Have Itâ: The Representation of Black Female Sexuality on Filmâ in that it completely nullifies all the issues discussed in this article. The writer/director Dee Rees is not only a black woman, but also a member of the LGBTQ+ community that is represented in Pariah. The filmâs exploration of black female homosexuality is filtered through the lens of a woman who falls under every category, and as such it completely avoids the idea of the black man controlling the sexuality of the black woman. The repudiation of this idea is exuded even in the narrative itself, as the only significant black man in the film, Alikeâs father, is not the one who retaliates at the discovery of her sexuality, but rather it is Alikeâs mother. So in this sense, Rees completely removes the black manâs influence on the sexuality of the black woman not only through her position in making the film, but in the construction of narrative as well.