I am comparing Pair D.
I really liked what Amanda (I think it was her) said about this mask that was represented throughout La Noir De…. I like that she said it represented her pride. I was thinking it represented her true self that was hidden by all of the French clothes and her yes ma’ams’, etc but I think I like the pride thing better even though I guess maybe both could work, I don’t know. For the purpose of this blog, however, I am going to focus on the theory that it represents her pride. In this first picture, the French couple had just received this gift of the mask from Diouana when she started her new job as the nanny. It was like she was handing her pride over to them. It is set up perfectly to represent this. The two in the shot are facing it in a way that they seem to be putting her pride on display and they are two spectators watching the pride, even guarding it, as they appear to be surrounding it. It is also almost centered in between them, which is showing that it is important and something that will be fought over as well. This is the case because the woman wants to keep it all to herself and has no problem stomping all over it while the man tries to go about being calmer and trying to pay her off, etc. They both, however, want the pride. They are also not too close to each other, which shows their different methods of trying to obtain her pride. They are on a different page almost. In the second image, Diouana is attempting to take her pride back from the French woman. She keeps yelling that it is hers and pulling it away but the woman is determined to hold on because what does she have if she doesn’t own Diouana’s pride? This shot is set up in a way that predicts who is going to win this little fight. Diouana is the dominant in this shot, which shows that she will get her pride back and end with her pride. I never thought I would really consider someone killing themselves as being prideful until this movie when, even though it is sad and helpless of herself to kill herself, she still leaves in a neat manner that is releasing for her but painful for years to come for the French couple. The French woman is cut out of this shot a bit as well which shows that she no longer is in control but she is slowly losing grip on Diouana’s pride and will soon have to let go. Through the set up of each scene as well as the narrative context, we are able to see foreshadowing as well as symbolism throughout these two scenes as well as the whole film.
Some interesting stuff here, Parker. I think we can look at some of the more literal qualities of the mask as well as projecting more symbolic qualities. Remember that the mask seems to have no particular origin. We first see it when the little boy is playing with it, so it doesn't belong to Diouana to begin with. She essentially buys the mask from the boy in order to give it away. So if there's any pride at stake here, we can't really say it's just Diouana's. But the mask is also clearly a work of native Sengalese craft, a cultural object distinct from the more modern in which Diouana and her neighbors live in, so I think it's not unreasonable to consider the gift and the struggle as having something more at stake than the personal pride of Diouana.
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