Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity?
Black Girl is a pioneering work of African Cinema, produced just at the moment when African countries like Senegal were asserting their political and cultural independence from their colonial occupiers such as France. Despite the fact that Senegal is an independent nation in this film, old colonial mindsets, both of the colonizer and colonized, persist. How does the film show these stereotypes, biases, and hypocrisies in the film? What is the film saying about the relationship between traditional African culture and Western modernity?
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In "Black Girl," it is evident that the colonizers of Senegal, such as the French, remain in power over the Senegalese, despite the fact that Senegal was asserting their political and cultural independence. This idea is shown in the film multiple times, the most obvious one is during the French family's dinner party. It is during this time that Duana, the maid, is treated like a slave, as one of the guests kisses her without her consent because he had never kissed a black girl before. This kind of behavior shows how the French just saw the Senegalese as people that they could walk all over and treat however they wanted. They also saw them as objects, as the man simply kisses Duana because he wanted to. In addition to the French’s reckless actions, there were multiple symbols in the film that delivered a message that the French can be deceiving and conceded toward the Senegalese. One of the symbols is a mask that Duana gifts to her boss, which I believe represents trust and respect. However, her boss abuses the meaning of the mask as she treats Duana with none of these things. Another symbol is the sunglasses that Duana's boss wears when she goes to find a maid, which I think she wears to prevent a connection from forming with the aspiring maids. When two individuals are speaking they look at each other in the eyes which shows that they are connecting, but when Duana's boss wears the sunglasses she is masking her eyes from connecting with any of the maids. This could possibly be the reason why she is able to treat Duana so poorly since she never connected with her, learned about her family, fiancé, or her hopes for the job. In conclusion, the French did not let the status of Senegal stop them from the way they were treating the Senegalese, they still had power over them in their minds.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most shocking realizations that Diouanna has to go through is the difference between what she thought France would be like and how it is very different when she gets there. When Diouanna learns that she is going to go to France, she brags to her friends that she will get to go there, see all of the sights in France, and take care of the kids. However, she soon learns that France is not what she thought it would be because her boss does not ever let her out of the apartment. She is treated horribly, and the kids are not even at the house for her to take care of, so she has to cook and clean even though she did not sign up for that. Her owner is rude to her almost every day. One of the most shocking instances is when there is a dinner party, and the guests are impressed that the hosts have someone who is from Africa to cook them “authentic” food from Africa. One of the men even brags that he “has never kissed a black girl,” and kisses Diouanna on the cheek without her consent. He treated her as if she was a piece of property that he could just kiss because he wanted to. Additionally, Diouanna gave her family a mask as a gift when she first met them, but now the family only cares about it because they think it is a rare, authentic piece of art from Africa. Like the colonizers, the house owners believe that they can just take whatever they want from Diouanna because she is less important than they are in their minds.
ReplyDelete“Black Girl” explores the oppressive legacy the French left behind in Senegal as well as the cold and distant rapport they established with the Senegalese during their occupation. The film follows Diouana, a Senegalese woman much in need of work, who is convinced of French, or European, superiority. One day while sitting on a street corner looking for employment, a haughty white woman wearing sunglasses steps out of a Mercedes and gives Diouana work. She is elated to be employed by a French woman, one who distances herself from “primitive” and “uncouth” Africa with the assistance of designer shades. Weeks or even months pass as Diouana watches the woman’s children, and she cannot believe her luck when her employer asks if she would come to France with the family. Diouana eagerly accepts and goes around bragging to her friends about her travel plans to France, suggesting that she is excited to escape the confines of “primitive” Senegal and see a “civilized” country. While in France, she, a nanny, is told to cook and submissively does so, just as the Senegalese submissively were ruled by the French. Also in France, a dinner guest of Diouana’s employer asks to kiss Diouana, citing the reason as his never having kissed something as “exotic” as a black woman. Apart from depicting the French as still dominant and the Senegalese as still submissive, “Black Woman” addresses the rift between African and European cultures, years after European colonization.
ReplyDeleteOusmane Sembène uses location to illustrate the effects of the colonizer and colonized relationship, which ultimately tells us that political independence does not necessarily lead to happiness. The film constantly shifts between Diouana's past and present life, which provides the audience with two different stories of her relationship with her employers in two different locations. In the past, Diouana lived in Senegal and was working as a nanny. Sembene subtly illustrated the colonizer and colonized relationship with the hiring of Diouana. In this scene, Diouana is sitting next to many other Senegalese citizens, who are all desperate for jobs. A white French lady walks up, and the camera captures the horde of people running up to her begging for a job. Eventually, she picked Diouana, who was sitting still in the back. This scene is reminiscent of the purchasing of slaves. Although it varies from actual slavery significantly, Diouana was essentially an indentured servant for the French lady's family. In her present life, Diouana is living in France, working as a full-time servant instead of a nanny. Despite being in such a free place, she is shackled to her work, unable to explore freely and happily in her new environment. Again, this is reminiscent of slavery as she is forced to work for her French owners. In addition, all of the French employer's friends considered Diouana to be very exotic just like how the original colonizers were to the native people. No matter where Diouana is working at, she was never happy. In Senegal, she may have had a good boyfriend, but she was in need of money. The political freedom of Senegal did not provide her any financial gains and happiness. Moving to free France, also did not provide her happiness, despite clear eagerness to explore it back at Senegal. In the end, the clear cultural disconnect between the two locations led Diouana to her end. The African Mask at the end perfectly captures and concludes what Sembene is trying to illustrate in Black Girl. The mask symbolizes how distant the French employers are compared Diouana. When the lady and Diouana were fighting over the mask, it shows their roles as the colonizer and colonized. The mask is the only connection Diouana has to her hometown and it is the symbol of exoticness for the French lady.
ReplyDeleteThe third cinema film Black Girl highlights the stereotypes created by the colonization of Africa through Diouana's harsh experience living as an underprivileged, black girl with a wealthy, French family. The film is set following the establishment of Senegal as an independent country, therefore there is a certain “free” feeling that seems to exist within the people. When Diouana is given the opportunity to nanny in France, she is elated because she feels she will be able to live the privileged, Western lifestyle. Her job in itself is reinforcing her place in society because we often look down upon those whose career is caring for children. Diouana isn’t moving to France to pursue her own academics or career, she is moving to do the work a rich, French family does not want to do. On a microscale, Diouana is being colonized by the French family; she under sole control of them because they are all she has/knows in France. Similarly, Diouana faces extreme negative treatment from her “bosses” while working in the home. She faces verbal abuse, is not allowed to rest when she desires, and other inhumane treatments from employers. These interactions enforce the idea that she is lesser than because she is poor and black; this stereotype is one that was thought to be project following the decolonization of Senegal. When Diouana first meets the family, she gifts her a mask from Senegal; a mask with deep, cultural significance. The mask also symbolizes Diouana, her home, and the culture she left behind. Later in the movie, after many experiences of mistreatment Diouana, upset, takes the mask off the wall to “ungift” it from the family. The wife merely considers Diouana as being ungrateful and disrespectful, rather than acknowledging the fact she hasn’t been treating Diouana, therefore not respecting the culture. The wife’s ignorance to Diouana’s feelings, similarly demonstrates the narrative that the disadvantaged black girl is less than. In the end of the movie, Diouana chooses to take her own life. Following the loss of Diouana, the French family travels back to her village in Senegal to offer their condolences for the loss of her daughter. This action taken by the man is the culmination of the themes present throughout the film; the colonizers do not take responsibility for their actions. As Diouana’s family points out, it is disrespectful for the French family to visit when they were the ones that drove her to suicide. The trip to Senegal was to care for the feelings of the French family, not Diouana’s family. This trip further shows the idea that Diouana, and the Senegalese people, were not the priority. Despite decolonization, the plot of Black Girl shows the inhumane and disrespectful stereotypes and experiences Diouana and her people had to face, proving that while the official ties were cut, the sentiment still remains.
ReplyDeleteThe film Black Girl, tells the story of a Senegalese woman who finds a job working for French white people who lived in Senegal. After they moved back to France, she follows them to continue working for them, but after she gets there, she finds that they are expecting more from her than she was expected to do back in Senegal. Although she is monetarily compensated for her work, technically not making her job slavery, she is held captive in a foreign nation when the description of her job changes against her will, sort of making it modern “slavery.” The family she works for is mean to her, frequently making her work unfair jobs, holding her captive within the apartment, and even verbally abusing her when she puts up the slightest resistance. This film is a comment on how the French still treated their old colonies. Although Senegal was as sovereign nation in the film, the French people still treated Senegalese people as inferior beings. Either it is because of a racial difference between the white French and the black Senegalese, or it is because the French still have the viewpoint of a colonizer over their former colony, there is definitely a sense of superiority seen in the white French people in the movie. Because the movie is called Black Girl, I would venture to say the director and screenwriter wanted to show that the actions of the French people were caused by the race of the Senegalese people, and not by the former colonial mindset. Either are possible, but that does not change the film’s message, one that pushes for tolerance by showing the alternative perspective.
ReplyDeleteBlack Girl explores the disjoint between the technically independent nature of Senegal and the lingering oppression from their former occupier, France. In the beginning of the film, Diouana idolizes France, believing it to be a paradise. Soon after her arrival, she realizes that she is fated to live as little more than a slave to her Madame and Monsieur. In effect, the people of France still consider Senegal a country subservient to them, despite their independence. However, Senegal is beginning to exert their autonomy: when Diouana’s employer tries to placate her grieving family with money, the family coldly refuses, not even speaking to the employer. This scene demonstrates that Senegal will not be subjugated again—they are a free nation and should be treated as such. The final scene of the boy following Diouana’s employer out of the village while wearing the mask suggests a spirit of vengeance chasing the employer from Senegal. The mask, Diouana’s most prized possession, serves as a reminder of her death. The employer repeatedly looks over his shoulder, awkwardly quickening his pace, implying that he feels some amount of guilt over Diouana’s suicide. While the boy was perhaps just playing, the symbolic message is clear: you are not welcome here. Black Girl does an excellent job of giving dignity to the developing Senegal. Diouana’s hometown is a poor village where women roam the streets daily in hopes of finding a job. Even this village can stand up with pride to their former colonizer and proclaim the independence of the Senegalese.
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