elizabethramos

[elizabethramos]

The Short Film "Paralysis"

The short film Paralysis is a psychological horror film about a photographer who suffers from sleep paralysis and also thinks she is having paranormal experiences in her home. This film was one of the short films from this class that I thought was scary to watch and also confusing but in an entertaining way. At some points of the film, I did not know if the paranormal experiences like the faucet turning on and the coughing up of blood were in her dreams or if they were real. I was also wondering whether the scene at the beginning of the film where she cut her finger was the beginning of the paranormal experiences or whether it was the monster that was haunting her from her divorce. However, in the beginning we learn that Jessica has had previous issues with sleep paralysis and has harmed herself due to this problem worrying her father after her recent divorce. She has to take pills to sleep and also resorts to candles for spiritual support to calm her peace and stress. Her neighbor knocking on her door and mentioning that the previous tenant became crazy and had a breakdown while living in that same apartment was also confusing and had me wondering whether the apartment itself housed evil spirits. The knife on her bed and the bruise on her arm were the last straw that made her seek out a parapsychologist, however, the psychologist does not agree that her experiences are paranormal and actually says that her issues are psychiatric. She says one of the causes of sleep paralysis is a monster that is sitting on one’s chest but for Jessica, it is a monster that is outside of her dreams and possibly an internal monster. This makes sense as Jessica mentions that she stayed in a marriage for three years so that she wouldn’t sleep alone. It is obvious that Jessica has issues in her life that are affecting her sleep and perception of reality. It appears that the sleep paralysis and so called paranormal experiences are a warning that there is something wrong internally. The parapsychologists suggests Jessica to take pictures of rooms in her home because a “camera can capture what the eyes cannot” which I believe she was suggesting that maybe there is something in Jessica’s life that she is ignoring but needs to be changed. The film ends with the pictures that Jessica took of herself sleeping but none of them show her paralyzed in her sleep as we had seen previously possibly suggesting that this whole experience was all in her mind and not real. In the end, this movie was entertaining and a great psychological horror that starred African American actors showcasing more diverse actors in the movie industry.

[elizabethramos]

Beloved

The film Beloved demonstrated the unfortunate life of a black family during slavery but also the significance of the sacrifices that a mother had to make to protect her children from slave owners. The symbolism of Beloved was the daunting memories of the day that Sethe killed her daughter to prevent a slave owner from enslaving her children. Sethe was regretful of her daughter’s death but felt that was the only way to protect her children. She could not get behind that day and was reluctant to move from her house although the spirit of her dead daughter tortured and taunted her other children. A critical moment in the movie was the scene where Sethe attempted to kill all her children when she saw a group of white men riding toward her home. She knew the reason for the visit and immediately took her children to the shed attempting to kill all her children so she could avoid her children having a future as slaves. However, the bloody scene in which the men were confronted brought them to tears not for the children but for the lost opportunity of future slaves that the children would have grown to be. With tears rolling down their faces, the white men asked Sethe, “Why would you do that for?” and called her an animal as if they weren’t at fault for the fear that Sethe had of her children’s future. This scene was significant to me because it showed the fear that black people had of being enslaved and in this movie, it showed a mother who did not hesitate to kill her children whom she loved very much because she knew that the future they would have had would not be better than being dead. This moment was tremendous in demonstrating how torturous and inhumane slavery was. Another scene in the movie that made it extremely hard for me to watch was the scene of Sethe giving birth to Denver on the edge of a river while she had just been assaulted by a group of white men. Her back had been struck several times, her face was swollen from beatings to her face, and her feet were destroyed from trying to escape the town to safety. Nonetheless, Sethe gave birth to her baby without any medication, and being in a worse state that a mother could be in such a sensitive situation. This scene was difficult to digest but it also made me think about how often black women had to give birth in such stressful situations and health conditions. This was an eye-opening moment but also a saddening one. Overall, Beloved was a great movie showing life behind slavery but also showing how people were able to find joy and overcome the conditions that they were in, for example, seeing Denver come out of her shell and gain confidence in herself without her mother and the loss of her sister.

[elizabethramos]

Eve's Bayou Thoughts

Eve’s Bayou was a movie that kept me interested from beginning to end. At the beginning of the movie, the music, the dancing, the laughter, and the dresses are an indicator of a happy black community. All the women were dressed elegantly, with beautiful figures and shiny faces coming off as wealthier families. Their dancing was an expression of the freedom and happiness that they all carried with them. The movie was not centered around racism, discrimination, or financial struggles. The family seemed to be wealthy especially since the father, Louis Batiste, was a doctor. I thought it was centered around a dysfunctional family and the uncontrollable desires of a man. I noticed that Eve was often ignored by her mom and her father. There was one moment in the movie when her brother Poe went running toward his mom and she greeted him with such joy and warmth while Eve stood there watching in jealousy. Another instance, was when her father began dancing with Cisely instead of her. Her face expressed her disappointment such that Mozelle’s partner asked her if she wanted to dance. I found this strange throughout the movie, that Eve was constantly overlooked and almost manipulated. Firstly, when she caught her dad and Matty Mereaux being intimate, she was convinced by her father and her sister that that was not the case when it was. Her father also did not appear to show any embarrassment or guilt after the incident considering that Eve was very young and innocent at the time. Also, when Louis Batiste was dancing vulgarly with Matty Mereaux, Roz Batiste stood watching with a smile as if her husband was not doing anything wrong. It was almost as if she refused to recognize that her husband was disrespecting her and acting unacceptably, especially in front of their children. I also suspected that the husband was acting inappropriately with his oldest daughter and favored her in some way. When the incident of the kiss happened and Cisely was depressed, I thought he had committed rape because of how the character had acted from the beginning of the movie. However, I believe the father did contribute to that event happening or even making his daughter think that the kiss was necessary to fix things around the house. Regardless of who initiated the kiss, I believe the father was at fault for everything that led to that moment. At the beginning of the movie, Roz confesses to Mozelle that she is unhappy with her husband and realizes that he isn’t “the one” but has turned out to be the definition of a man. In the end, I don’t believe that Louis Batiste cared about his children as he made them believe and wasn’t embarrassed or regretful of his infidelity. 

[elizabethramos]

Yenderil in "The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World"

I thought the friendship between Yenderil and Gregory was the sweetest. Two young innocent teenagers exploring and figuring life out. By the way they speak, it sounds like Yenderil and Gregory belonged to the poor side of the village. Yenderil was also very brave confronting the sea creature that left her orphaned and alone as a young child. When she walked to Daddy Pa’s house after the creature became attached to her, however, I found it weird that he was retching behind a bush behind his house and when Yenderil was lifting her dress to show him the creature, he casually said “And put your dress back down. Nobody want to see that” as if the creature on her body was no surprise. Afterward, Auntie Mabel doesn’t let her stay in her home and tells her to stay at her old house. Not only was she orphaned, but this creature had transformed her into something scary that left her completely alone. She remembers a story she heard in the rum shop about a guy named Champagnie who built the Iron Donkey to find escaped slaves and made it out of coffin parts and bones of the dead black men. Even worse, the Iron Donkey is still looking for black people who are now free because the inventor died and did not destroy the donkey. She decides she wants to go on adventures to get rid of the donkey and make ghosts talk to her and have Gregory accompany her by giving him a “come follow me” powder in his food. At the end of the story, she was able to outsmart the creature by depriving it of water and ultimately saving her village because she had killed the last creature that terrorized everyone in the water. Yenderil, a lonely young girl, was left empowered after defeating the strongest Obeah woman in the world and set her to go on the adventures she fantasized about so much. I found it interesting, that the creature on her symbolized the “devil” and was making her think and do things that she didn’t want to do. Once she defeated the creature within her, she was the strongest person in the world and gained the confidence to pursue the adventures she wanted to go on. Coupled with Yenderil’s sad childhood, rituals, and magic, this makes the perfect horror story.

[elizabethramos]

Brief thoughts on the Movie Us

Jordan Peele’s movie Us was another great horror movie with suspenseful and unpredictable turning points. I had so many questions as to why the doppelgangers were wearing red suits, nonverbal, and animalistic. Their stares were almost thoughtless and evil, except for Red, who could speak but with a strained voice and was conscious and aware. Why was Adelaide paranoid that night, why did she refuse to go to the beach, and why did she take the role of the leader and protector of the family instead of Gabe? At the end of the movie, all these pieces made sense when it was revealed that Adelaide was actually the doppelganger and Red was the Adelaide who was strangled and swapped when she was a little girl. This was why Adelaide immediately called the police when she saw four people at her doorstep and why Adelaide had assumed the sacrificial role of making sure Umbrae was dead and going into the house on the beach to kill Red. However, why wasn’t Adelaide’s family killed immediately as Josh and Kitty’s family had been? I noticed that Adelaide’s family had more survival instincts than Josh’s family, for instance, by grabbing the bat, using Jason’s tricks, and using the boat. They all had managed to escape their twin, however, Josh was teasing his wife for thinking there were intruders outside their home. There also seemed to be closeness and trust between Adelaide’s family as they all had the chance to ask for help from their neighbors but instead, they waited to find each other again. However, the deeper meaning behind the movie was based on the struggles of different social classes. Firstly, there was an obvious tension between Josh and Gabe on who was doing better financially and it appeared that the children did not get along either. This awkward relationship could be because one family was more privileged than the other. But most importantly, the tethered who represented the lower social class were shadows of the “privileged” and their appearance on land was an act of revolt against the life that was determined by the government. Red revealed that the doppelgangers who live underneath the land were experiments of the government and were eventually abandoned. They experience the same moments as their counterparts but do so dully and depressingly. This is similar to how a poor person and a wealthier person are both living life but one has to do so with obstacles and setbacks. She reminded Adelaide that they still had souls and could feel the sadness and pain of the life they were given. For this reason, their appearance can be considered a rebellion against the upper class and the privileged. In my opinion, the surprise of those on land reflects the ignorance, whether by choice or chance, of the privileged on the struggles of the lower class. I was rooting for Adelaide’s family all along, until the end when I realized we should have been rooting for the people living underground.

[elizabethramos]

Horror Film Thoughts

Watching the short film “Wake” by Bree Newsome was interesting not only because of the horror factor of the old man’s death at the beginning of the film but also because of how delusional the female character is. It is obvious that the female and her father had a distant relationship but one would not think it would lead her to almost being a murderer of her father. Her unsympathetic behavior after her father’s wake, dressing in a pretty dress and being alone in a house surrounded by the woods as she waits for the man she sacrificed her father for, sets up the eeriness of the film. I believe the film partly focuses on the stereotype of a delusional single, older woman preferring lust over family but in this case, her lover is a demon-like being that she conjured. It is common for women to be portrayed as easily blinded by the idea of love that they end up committing rash decisions and are willing to betray their family over a man. In my experience, this image of a girl is often seen in Hispanic families where the girl is entertained with relationships and the man is focused on building wealth. Secondly, I think the presence of black characters was intentional in making this film a horror film because often people like to relate terror-like fantasies to black rituals and beliefs.

After reading “The Comet” by W.E.B DuBois and watching the movie “Get Out” I noticed a pattern where the main characters found themselves in a life-or-death situation that they were put into by the white characters. “The Comet” made it apparent that when humans are in survival mode, there are no external differences in humans of different races. For example, when Julia and Jim found each other the author writes that she had not thought of him as a Negro and he had not thought of her as white. However, at the end, when Julia’s father appears, the invisible wall between the two races appears again which made me think that maybe on an individual level, people are not discriminatory but become so when they are surrounded by people who look like themselves and want to exert dominance.

In “Get Out”, I thought that the movie demonstrated “horror” in the experience of a black man meeting his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. There were a lot of microaggressions toward Chris, an effort to prove they weren’t racist, and an odd behavior from everyone from the beginning of the movie. It was as if Rose and her family had to work a bit hard to prove they weren’t racist which makes the audience question if they really aren’t racist. For example, there is talk about voting for President Obama a third time, Tiger Woods, and Chris’ physique and strength almost as if they are fascinated by Chris. There were so many red flags in the movie such as the ambiance of the house, the servants, the cop interaction, the dinner table talk, and the family’s friends that I was surprised Chris did not leave earlier. In my opinion, the movie shows a horror-like element when a black person enters the world of a white person that they call the “Sunken Place” where white people are in control of the situation.