ENG2300

In “White Privilege and Looking Relations”, Gaines criticizes an aspect of feminist theory in which they explain that white feminists talk about objectification, and fetishization, and so forth, but it is wholly from a white woman’s perspective. In other words, white feminists have given their experience as every women’s experience even though that is not the case. Being female, while also being black adds another dimension of analysis. The author also criticizes the idea a black female is usually, mostly woman or mostly black, but never both and mentions that often women of color will identify with race first, then gender second. In Strange Days, the topic of race is not avoided. Jeriko, an activist and rapper is murdered by the police for no reason other than being black. At the end of the movie Mace faces off these two police officers. She is framed here as a strong, female character both physically and mentally. She is fighting for justice as someone who is black. But, she retains attributes that are generally associated with womanhood. Her character is an example of the intersectional experience of being a woman of color as the audience sees instances where she is a fighter, but still allowed to show vulnerability and emotion.

In the text “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion”, Judith Butler discusses the intersectionality of gender and sexuality. Butler talks about the fluidity of activities that are coded a certain way. For example, she fights against the idea that drag is mysogynistic because to say so assumes that activities like crossdressing and being gay is rooted in heterosexuality when that is certainly not the case. She relates this to common statements heard about lesbianism when people say that it is due to a bad heterosexual experience or because a woman has not found the right man. This mindset holds heterosexuality at the center of all other orientations when instead, being queer does not relate to it at all. This is seen is Pariah as Alike is definitely lesbian from the start to the end of the movie. She rejects the idea that her mom suggests she is gay because of her dad, instead it clearly comes from within. In the scene where Alike has to change to go to church, Alike presents herself more masculine. Her mom does not like it so she orders her to change. Her mom talks to the father about why Alike is still in her tomboy phase. The phrase “tomboy” shows the binary way of thinking her mom engages in. Despite this, in the same scene Alike expresses that she dresses like she does simply because that’s who she is and what she’s comfortable in. It has nothing to do with being like a boy. This movie also gives an example against the article “‘She’s Gotta Have It’: The Representation of Black Female Sexuality on Film” written by Nkweto Simmonds as this movie accurately depicts a black, gay girl’s life’s through the lens of a director who is also part of the community she attempts to capture. I think a good scene to look back on is the second time Alike and Bina kiss and spend the night together. The scene is tender and captures Alike’s point of view in this being her first sexual experience, but also her first real experience with someone she has feelings for. Usually scenes with similar content have voyeuristic camera movement and excessive bodily sounds, but neither of these are present here. The scene feels genuine, but personal because of the lens the audience experiences the scene through. 

In “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”, Willims explores the three “gross” genres, porn, horror, and melodrama. She defines them this way because of the way the excess in each of these genres make us feel. The excess would be what is over the “edge of respectable” which differs to each person because of their background. Something that is shared between all three due to their excess is the intense emotion or sensation shown on screen as well as gaining a big reaction from the spectator as a result of such. Looking at horror films, women usually are shown as the spectacle showing a “sexually saturated” female body. In Alien, there was certainly an excess of violence as well as violence associated with sex regarding the female character fitting itself nicely into the horror genre. In the scene where Ash attacks Ripley, Ash attacks Riley as the other members attempt to save her. When Parker finally defeats Ash, there is fluid everywhere in the place of blood. The scene has a lot of movement emphasizing the violence in the fight within the choreography as well as the camera work. As for the violence associated with sex, Ash sticks a phallic object down Ripley’s throat as a way to gain an edge and establish dominance within the fight. These larger components can be found throughout the movie relating it to others within the horror genre. 

In “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre,” Rick Altman proposes his theory of looking at films with a semantic and syntactic way as the current state of looking at genres is not sufficient. Both are necessary so that you can explain in detail as well as be able to apply the idea to many movies. He also states that it is important to note that not all films within a certain genre relate to the genre to the same extent. This is true for High Noon. There are elements here that dictate the movie as a western film, such as the setting and the time period in which it takes place. Classifying as such is looking at it with a semantic lens. However, the syntax is a little different from other western movies. For example, at the end of the movie the main character defeats the bad guy by killing him, however, he is not celebrated, nor does he desire it. Instead, he just leaves the town with his wife. The film does not follow what people might think is needed in the western genre as much as other movies do.

In “The Totaling Quest of Meaning”, Trinh T. Minh-ha discusses documentaries as past just a telling of the truth. A documentary’s value lies with how well it captures reality as it takes actual people’s situations with real people. Something that is given as true in a documentary, remains as evidence. Although documentaries try to present reality, they do not completely convey realism because of a couple factors: the filmmaker’s bias and the idea of a documentary having to be composed. Documentaries still exist within the world of the dominant ideology. Good documentaries are also those that are “correct” in their point and agree with the point of view of the spectators. 20 Feet of Stardom exemplifies this with Judith’s first intimate time with the camera. She tells her story and within this scene, there are clips of her past performances. With this, her story is composed visually so that the image is still interesting and it is also composed in the sense that the movie is organized. It has a sense of flow and does not feel like random clips put together. Also on the base level, the story is about perseverance which can connect with all spectators watching. Documentaries present facts, but do not completely present realism.

In “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”, Bell Hooks introduces how the idea of the oppositional gaze from black, female spectators due to the lack of representation on screen in history. A different type of gaze is needed so that they can engage. She mentions that often black, female spectators need to ignore the sexism and racism in a text to be able to watch for pleasure if not watching to analyze. This big idea deals with how spectators see and interpret the narrative because of how a narrative is told. In the movie Daughters of the Dust, the entire film comes from the memories of the unborn child from the oral narratives that her relatives told her. In the scene after Eli breaks all the bottles on the tree, the unborn child starts to narrate about how her Nana Peasant “prayed for help” and that is when she arrived. Nana Peasant’s voice plays right as she says “Come child.” This shows the influence of her point of view in the story because she is telling the story as the past as the film happens in the present. As an accurate and intimate representation of  one of the many black, female stories, spectators need not to develop an oppositional gaze to enjoy this film.