Ashley Murphy, Blog 5

After reading Mayssa's post, I would like to respond to her questions at the end of her blog and raise some of my own, in addition to adding my own personal take on the works we have studied thus far. 

To begin, Anderson's mentioning, or lack thereof, of women fewer times than I can count on one hand demonstrates that even as late as 1983,conclusions could not be drawn pertaining to the role of women in the formation of nations. Like Mayssa mentioned, it seems that women may have the utmost responsibility of producing children, and even better if she can produce a male. But women do so much more than just make babies! Some women don't even have children so does this render them useless? Absolutely not! As I embark on my own journey as a woman to find a career, I am experiencing firsthand how the playing field isn't necessarily level, especially since my major, government, is male-dominated. 

In the montage of skits in The Colored Museum, women did play stereotypical roles. Why not have a women as a doctor or a lawyer, instead of a flight attendant, or some ambivalent young woman getting ready for a date? Why was there not a woman in a role of power? Is it to further demonstrate the lack of control of the colored race during the pieces? Perhaps. 

As I was reading the interview that Sembene, the filmmaker who crafted the first African film, La Noire de..., I was struck by a particular comment.
"There are many such instances [of improvisation on location] with women in my films, and it's often with women that I find myself doing the most improvisation. I usually give them more freedom than I give the guys."
I wondered, could scenes from Black Girl have been improvised? This quote interested me because it seemed to counter what I expected - I would have thought he would give men more leeway in their performances on the screen. Something that I particularly noticed throughout the film was the black and white imagery. Of course the film was in black and white, but many of the textures and backdrops were in these binary colors. For instances, the dress that Diouana wears for most of the film is black and white. I recall a particular scene of a close up of the floor, and the tiles were black and white. Further, there was the color of Diouana's skin compared to her superiors. These contrasts showed how there was and perhaps still is a primary system of thinking. Either you are or you aren't. Black or white. Rich or poor. 

When I think about Spivak's Can the Subaltern Speak?, my answer is no. If a subaltern commits an action or says something, and no one pays attention or notices, were the actions worth it? Was Diouana right to have killed herself? Does that matter? I guess my question is, "So what?" If the subaltern can't really speak, even if dramatic actions are taken and no one listens, what is accomplished  Who cares? If the peers of the subaltern don't do anything, then what can be done?