ESSAY:
“Black Mirrors”, an essay on A Different Image (1982)
by Khat Patrong02/05/2023
A Different Image holds a mirror up to the average western woman, and it asks of her, “Black Madonna… or Isis?”, as both are sexualized and idolized figures of femininity and womanhood, what difference would either one make in a woman’s life? Prominent L.A. Rebellion filmmaker, Alile Sharon Larkin, explores a new city, holding up a mirror to society, challenging their thoughts and projections of what femininity is.
“The pieces display a woman with intense eye makeup, a bare breastfeeding newborn, and a young girl with her legs spread open, covered in a long, red summer dress.”
We meet Alana (Margot Saxton-Federella), our main character, surrounded by pieces of presumed African art. The pieces display a woman with intense eye makeup, a bare breastfeeding newborn, and a young girl with her legs spread open, covered in a long, red summer dress. I could almost hear an older woman -- an elder, speak to say, “close your legs, that’s not ladylike.” Similarly, this image is played as Alana writes a letter back to her mother, legs wide open. A grandmother and her granddaughter come up and sit down at the bus stop with Alana. A car horn is heard off-screen, honking in Alana’s direction and the grandmother notices that her legs are wide open. She turns to her grandbaby, who without knowledge, has her legs open. The grandmother takes the young girl's legs and forces them closed.
What mirror was Alana holding up to the grandmother in that moment? An act of rebellion gone wrong? It’s possible that this grandmother was reinforcing the same mindset that was instilled into her by her elders. The instinct she had was in fact habitual and it suggests the layers of deep-rooted ideologies that are passed down just by action alone. The grandmother, in her youth, may have not even been incorrect, but maybe that was just the period -- the time.
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The mirror of relationships. Can a man and woman have a platonic relationship? Vincent is Alana’s male friend in the film. We can see them spending time together, doing various activities. On separate occasions, the question is asked, “are y’all together… like together together?” Alana’s response is simple. No. “Don’t you have any guy friends? Do you sleep with all of them?”, to her point, the balance of the relationship brings about a dynamic that one must assume that they are together when in fact it’s a programming to see two people together and think that they are, or else.. what’s the point? At the beginning of the film we hear Alana’s mother outwardly wishing she had grandkids of her own. It’s possible that Alana’s main act of rebellion is just being her artistic self. Defying the act of motherhood and responsibility.
“The air of peer pressure
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Vincent’s response to the relationship allegations is different. The air of peer pressure and pornography is his friend’s main motivation. The 80s equivalent to why haven’t you smashed yet? Vincent does his best to play it off but his manhood is in question. There is a pressure that he’s feeling and it won’t go away. He takes his mind off it by studying and spending more time with Alana.
Alana is different, in the way she adorns herself, and the attractive nature that she has, which is a mixed fabrication of African culture -- a small spectrum of it, and American culture. She wants to see the world through the eyes of beauty, love, and femininity. Most importantly, she wants to share that ‘world’ with someone she can trust. She asked Vincent to give her an African name because those names are given, earned even. This is based upon how the friend truly sees them for who they are. Vincent, once again feeling the pressure to exert his manhood, tries to take advantage of Alana. Alana refrains him from touching her and pulls away. She cries, “you don’t see me!”
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After a night of broken trust, Alana distances herself from Vincent. The programming that society pushes is the mirror we see playing out in our world today. A theme found in the film was the accessibility of pornography and the use of it in magazines. Billboards of naked women on streets, where children can view freely. Young minds being formed to be more adaptable to nudity, pornography, eroticism, etc. The film created an indirect commentary of how the male mind reacts and responds to women, with the intaking of pornographic content.
After succumbing to the pressure, Vincent takes some time away from Alana, but once he returns, he returns with a name, “Isis.” He hands her silver earrings as a token, and she takes them, accepting the name given to her.
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As stated before, ‘A Different Image holds a mirror up to the average western woman’, but not only her, this piece holds a mirror up to the black people, as a whole. We must face the ways in which we view each other. The Black diaspora is deep because we are disconnected from our roots, even though we’ve been established in this new land for quite some time. The mirror we see is a reflection of accumulated lessons from our ancestral past. The mirrors are tainted with what society tells us. Alana stands tall in an act of defiance, not out of disrespect to her elders, but out of curiosity. At what point do we end up like the grandmother who points and shames? Or do we stay curious to ask the questions and take the leap of faith to find the answers?
Directed by Allie Sharon Larkin.
The mirror of relationships. Can a man and woman have a platonic relationship? Vincent is Alana’s male friend in the film. We can see them spending time together, doing various activities. On separate occasions, the question is asked, “are y’all together… like together together?” Alana’s response is simple. No. “Don’t you have any guy friends? Do you sleep with all of them?”, to her point, the balance of the relationship brings about a dynamic that one must assume that they are together when in fact it’s a programming to see two people together and think that they are, or else.. what’s the point? At the beginning of the film we hear Alana’s mother outwardly wishing she had grandkids of her own. It’s possible that Alana’s main act of rebellion is just being her artistic self. Defying the act of motherhood and responsibility.
“The air of peer pressure
and pornography is his friend’s main motivation.”
Alana is different, in the way she adorns herself, and the attractive nature that she has, which is a mixed fabrication of African culture -- a small spectrum of it, and American culture. She wants to see the world through the eyes of beauty, love, and femininity. Most importantly, she wants to share that ‘world’ with someone she can trust. She asked Vincent to give her an African name because those names are given, earned even. This is based upon how the friend truly sees them for who they are. Vincent, once again feeling the pressure to exert his manhood, tries to take advantage of Alana. Alana refrains him from touching her and pulls away. She cries, “you don’t see me!”
After a night of broken trust, Alana distances herself from Vincent. The programming that society pushes is the mirror we see playing out in our world today. A theme found in the film was the accessibility of pornography and the use of it in magazines. Billboards of naked women on streets, where children can view freely. Young minds being formed to be more adaptable to nudity, pornography, eroticism, etc. The film created an indirect commentary of how the male mind reacts and responds to women, with the intaking of pornographic content.
After succumbing to the pressure, Vincent takes some time away from Alana, but once he returns, he returns with a name, “Isis.” He hands her silver earrings as a token, and she takes them, accepting the name given to her.
As stated before, ‘A Different Image holds a mirror up to the average western woman’, but not only her, this piece holds a mirror up to the black people, as a whole. We must face the ways in which we view each other. The Black diaspora is deep because we are disconnected from our roots, even though we’ve been established in this new land for quite some time. The mirror we see is a reflection of accumulated lessons from our ancestral past. The mirrors are tainted with what society tells us. Alana stands tall in an act of defiance, not out of disrespect to her elders, but out of curiosity. At what point do we end up like the grandmother who points and shames? Or do we stay curious to ask the questions and take the leap of faith to find the answers?
Directed by Allie Sharon Larkin.
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