Blog Post #3

 Blog Post #3

I really enjoyed learning about Ouanga, a voodoo-themed horror movie starring Fredi Washington. I had never heard of this movie before, so I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about its important themes and to see a few clips in class. From the very beginning, you can catch the intensity of the fear of blackness, black ritual, and the drum. Learning that the drum was used between enslaved people who were abducted and brought here from West Africa to communicate with one another, a language that Europeans could not understand, amplified its power and meaning for me. Although the movie was much later than slavery, I found it interesting that the fear of the drum still continued, representing Voodoo rituals, so to see it reframed as something threatening felt disturbing. I found it particularly interesting that there was the looming fear of Voodoo; a Haitian tradition. Something that is a practice and faith that gives people strength and sustenance, was ultimately being demonized in this film. The stark contrast between its historical memory and the way it was represented in the film was disconcerting. This was something that I couldn’t fully wrap my head around, something, in my opinion, that can be healing and used for guidance and protection, can also be used for evil. Hollywood weaponizing a tradition that is a focal point within a culture and making it representative of fear feels unsettling and saddening, as it completely removes its actual meaning and the respect it deserves from those who follow and appreciate it. 

I could understand how there were some groundbreaking scenes that made Hollywood history, like Fredi going to a Voodoo practitioner to animate the dead and eliminate her competition. Also, since there was a kissing scene between a biracial woman and a white man. This was able to push the dominant ideas and challenge what audiences would typically see.  However, about that particular scene, I found it shocking that it was the reason the movie faced so many distribution issues; today, that really wouldn’t be the case. I recognize that that was something usually not shown on television, as back in 1915, they wouldn’t even allow actual Black actors to touch a white actress, and now, there's a black actor abducting this white actress, and there is also the kiss I mentioned earlier. I guess since this was shocking for its day, most people couldn’t understand it and didn’t think it was appropriate. Seeing how strict and racially fractured our society was, intensifies my understanding of just how risky these scenes were. Discussing this movie did leave me a little conflicted because I could see how the film could be seen as inappropriate due to challenging societal conventions; however, I am still left confused and almost even frustrated that touch, affection, and even having people of different races on screen together could be viewed as indecent. After further reflection, I am more aware of how far society has come and why the responses were what they were during the time that the movie came out.