BlackBrownQueerCZ

 This week's film Mosquita y Mari was very sweet. It was easy to follow along and I really appreciated their friendship dynamic. It was interesting because you have Yolanda who is a good student, comes from a good family, and has a clear path for what she wants for her future. Then you have Mari who is struggling to get by, she's trying to pick up odd jobs to help her family, and she isn't doing so well in school. When Yolanda starts helping Mari with geometry, you could tell that the two really hit it off and also, Mari was improving in the class. I felt that the film lacked dialouge. There wasn't much speaking, even between the two protagonists and I don't recall much background music either. I wonder if this was intentional. Regardless, it worked well with the film. I felt that I could pick up on the emotions of both the characters and especially when they were together, the way they looked at each other provided a lot of context.  One thing that was brought up i...

      I was really reluctant to give my honest opinion on this movie at first, but after hearing everyone else's thoughts from today's class, I'm glad I can now say that I really disliked the movie and would never watch it again 😁.     The acting was cringey, the two main characters weren't that likable, the storyline was not believeable, the way Zaynab and Alma met at the bar was weird, it wasn't funny, and overall, I just had a hard time paying attention throughout the film. The scene where Zaynab and Alma got into an argument about Zaynab not being out to her mother yet, it seemed like the that scene was suppose to be really heartfelt and moving but for some reason, I didn't feel anything from it. I'm not sure if it's the script or just the acting but nothing about their chemistry felt genuine.      Someone from class raised the question of why the film was percieved so poorly by us and I've been thinking about that but I still don't seem to ...

     This week's film Pariah was a very moving film. I was able to follow the story clearly the whole way through and really felt for the main character Alike. I was intrigued by some of the cinematic decisions of the film. For example, the use of light or the lack thereof. I noticed that most of the film was very dark in color. In the beginning of the film, I believe it opened with Alike and Laura at a club. Even in Alike's home, it lighting was always dark. Only when Alike was performing her writing to the class or to her teacher was there light. Also, there was light in the last scene when Alike was on the bus leaving for her summer writing program.     In class, my breakout room and I discussed Pariah in relation to an article by Caleb Luna. We focused on topic of being unlovable and how falling in love when queer is dangerous. These ideas were reaffirmed by the actions of the church girl who practically "used" Alike without expressing upfront that she was s...

    I remember stumbling on the movie Tangerine years ago. At that time, I had only watched about 20 minutes of it before giving up. To be honest, when I first attempted watching it, I thought the storyline was insane, I wasn't too fond of the acting, nor was I fond of how the film was shot. Looking back, I should've definitely given it more of a chance.  I'm glad to have been to able to watch it the whole way through this time as I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the beauty and culture of this film otherwise.      The film was really funny althroughout. At first I didn't really understand the role of the cab driver. Having gotten to the end, I now know the weight of his role. The cab driver represents the many men out there who fetishize transgender women while trying to maintain their "normal", standard lifestyle. I found the scene where the cab driver pushed the prostitute out of his car after finding out she does not have a penis really disturbin...

     This week's film Paris is Burning was really interesting. During Tuesday's class, my classmates brought up some really interesting points that I hadn't considered. Initially, my reaction towards Paris is Burning was  that I was happy for the fact that the LGBTQ, black, and brown communities were gaining recognition and exposure through this film. In addition, being someone that had no prior knowledge of ball culture, it was really insightful. During Tuesday's class, there was a lot of discussion around the movie not providing an accurate representation of black and queer communities during this time. Specifically, the negative aspects of ball culture such as the problem of AIDS and prostitution, the residents of the house not having attainable goals, etc. While I definitely felt that those things were important to discuss, I don't know how different of a vibe the movie would've had if it had discussed those issues. I, personally, just enjoyed learning abou...

 I really enjoyed this week's film. Though it was a bit slower spaced than what I am used to, I found myself very intrigued with the story the entire way through. There are many challenaging though necessary aspects to consider with this film; gender, sexuality, and race. Something that made it difficult for me was the idea that the boy thought that he needed to have straight hair in order to pursue his dream of being a singer. I find it fascinating how much media influences our appearance and it was hard to see how obsessive the boy was at such a young over something that genetically out of his control. The contrast between the grandmother and the mother was both refreshing but also difficult to watch. I loved that the grandmother allowed the boy to straighten his hair and almost encouraged him to be as feminine as he wanted. It really combatted the treatment he was getting at home with his mother. Though, I can only imagine how confusing this must've been for a growing young ...