Date: Tue, 11 Jul 95 11:18:55 est
Subject: Re[6]: Like water for Chocolate ...


     I would not rule out that the red-haired sister represents a 
     rethinking and reaffirming of the feminine within sexual difference. 
     My only gripe is that the author/director *chose* to make that 
     character's sexual difference legible via a racist stereotype. It is 
     an unnecessary detail that does not further the plot, but only 
     situates her in a familiar discourse. I did not suggest that she had 
     no positive qualities or that she was not an interesting character. 
     She did, after all, become a general and lead a rebellion. My point is 
     that if we are to imagine new characters, identities, worlds etc we 
     must not rely on old oppressive ideas.
     
     jc


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Re[4]: Like water for Chocolate ...
Author:  postcolonial-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu at INTERNET
Date:    7/11/95 3:16 AM


As perhaps Drucilla Cornell would pose the question: An imposing of 
structures of the femininity associated with patriarchal stereotypes, or a 
reinterpretation of gender identity and an ability to reaffirm the 
feminine within sexual difference?  
     
Would you completely rule out the latter in this movie?
     
Regards,
     
David.
     
On Mon, 10 Jul 1995 jcharles-AT-computer.org wrote:
     
>      I wasn't suggesting that the red-haired sister was oppressed, but 
>      rather that her characterization is thoughtlessly essentialist and 
>      borderline racist. People of African descent are presumed to be ruled 
>      by their sexual appetites and naturally good dancers, among other 
>      things. These attributes link them to a lower, more primitive, level 
>      of the great chain of being than their more cerebral, temperate, and 
>      civilized European counterparts. Within the narrative the only 
>      evidence the viewer has as to why the red-haired sister has these 
>      qualities more so than her sisters is that she is born of a mulatto 
>      father: Implicitly, "It's in her blood." These sorts of racist 
>      narratives do contribute to oppression beyond the text, however, since 
>      people of African descent self-evidently need the tight rule of 
>      so-called superior Westeners. 
>      
>      jc
> 
>         I took the daughters to be confined by type, but in another way--a
> la Dostoyevsky's _Bros K_.  One was physical (the red-haired sister), mental 
> (the oldest, mental manipulator), and the spiritual (the cook).  If I were 
> to be critical (I enjoyed the movie), I'd have to say they were oppressed by 
> these categories rather than political oppression.
>      
>      
>      
>                                             * 
> Mark Heydon is not "in."                    *     "Mei You!"  
> Try: mheydon-AT-sonic.net                      *        -Old, obnoxious Chinese 
> saying.
> or: mheydon-AT-nermal.santarosa.edu            * 
>                                             * 
>      
>      
>      
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