Daughters Of The Dust Analysis

Bobo’s discussion of audience’s reactions to ‘Daughters of the Dust’ highlighted the significant difference to my own (Dash, 1991).

I struggled with this film, it did not resonate and although I thought it was quite beautiful and because of that, mesmerising, I did not understand it. I found the dialect difficult to comprehend and the narrative, unfamiliar. I tried to decipher this text in two ways. Firstly, I attempted to take what I was seeing and place it within a context that I felt I better understood; one closer to home. Secondly, because I felt a lack of personal connection I tried to look at it as from a film student’s perspective; analysing what I was seeing on screen to unearth deeper themes, Migration, cultural tensions, past and present.

I had heard prior to viewing the film that it was “not for me”, initially I thought nothing of this. Now, having read the responses of other individuals it became clearer that the category of race may contribute significantly to how one responds to a media text. Bobo, being unnerved by her respondents initial quiet response to me was interesting, among those I viewed the film with, her concerns would have been confirmed, but among an audience of Black women it seemed to be a time of reflection and connection (Bobo, …show more content…
Responses were similar, but more intense for those who had personally experienced these things. Dr. Brown’s discussion of depression regarding race, without racism was not somthing that I considered. Racism, at elast by Pakha/European individual seems to only be recognised in a blatant form, which is why ‘Crash’ creates a sympathy but not the understanding it