Lydia Hagan

Get Out Witten and Directed by Jordan Peele     For this week's blog post, I chose to critique the article "Why Get Out is the Best Movie Ever Made About American Slavery" by Steven Thrasher. Thrasher argues that Get Out is a masterwork of Afrofuturism, using science fiction to help the viewer understand race through time and space. He writes, " Get Out is really a masterwork of Afrofuturism, the artistic and scientific framework for understanding race as a technology across time and space" (first paragraph). The film is a powerful and thought-provoking work that tackles the ongoing issue of the theft of the Black body. In the article, Thrasher writes, "A recurring image in Afrofuturism is the Black body abducted by aliens as an allegory for enslavement in different eras and places" (paragraph 1). Peele, the director of the film, uses classical Afrofuturist imagery to depict this allegory, exploring the theft of Africans, Henrietta Lacks' HeLa ce...

     For this week's blog post, I chose to read Ramzi Fawaz's article "Space, That Bottomless Pit." The article explores the use of space and science fiction in African American cultural expression and films. Fawaz's main argument in the article is that science fiction and Afrofuturism offer a way for African Americans to imagine alternative futures of space and belonging.      The article examines several films, including "Space is the Place," which we have watched, as well as our current film "The Brother from Another Planet." Fawaz notes that these films use science fiction and space as a metaphor for the experiences of African Americans who have historically been excluded from larger racial communities with power and privilege. For example, Fawaz writes, "These are films that depict the arrival of an African American space traveler to Earth who, whether intending to or not, forces those around him to reconsider their relationship to a ...

Adilifu Nama  This week I focused on the reading, "Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film," by Adilifu Nama. This reading explores the representation of race in science fiction films. Nama analyzes the ways in which science fiction films have represented blackness, and how these representations have evolved over time.  Nama argues that science fiction films often have negative stereotypes and radicalized representations of blackness. Although he does argue this he also says that three have been significant efforts to make a more positive and nuanced portrayal of blackness in science fiction films. It is important to analyze these films because it helps shape our understanding of race and racial identity. Science fiction films have the potential to change racial ideologies and stereotypes and make a more inclusive future.  Some films Nama looks at are Birth of a Nation and The Time Machine.   Nama uses many different films to supp...