screeningblackliterature2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , an animated film adaptation of Marvel’s superhero comic book character Miles Morales and sequel to its previous film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , serves as a groundbreaking interpretation of the classic Spider-Man principle, "With great power comes great responsibility." The film follows the main protagonist, Miles Morales, as he discovers the existence of the  Spider-Verse, the multiversal connection between the different iterations of Spider-Man, and the concept of canon events, which shape and define each Spider-person. As Miles interacts with the Spider-Verse and learns how it functions, he slowly comes to the realization that perhaps instead of following the determined canon events that supposedly come with being Spider-Man, he must instead follow his own path and redefine what it means to be Spider-man. Miles and his mother, Rio, watch the Brooklyn skyline, with a literal and figurative distance between them as Miles struggl...

Catwoman is a film loosely based on DC comics the antiheroine Catwoman. The film presents the origin story of the Catwoman Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) in its unique worldview.  After discovering the magically age-defying face moisturizer her company produces causes serious health problems, Patience Phillips is killed and then gains her superpower of Catwoman from Egyptian cats after being reincarnated. She then goes on to investigate the company and is drawn into even deeper and more complex conspiracies. The film has an exceptional focus on the protagonist’s body image, and it especially draws attention to the contrast before and after Patience’s transformation into Catwoman. As the story of Patience/Catwoman unfolds, the film leads the audience into the discussion of sexism in the work environment, ageism, and females’ desire in general, and the eventual discussion of justice and evil.   Catwoman's dramatic entrance before she is about to rob some jewelry from the jewelr...

  Film Summary:  His House follows a refugee couple from South Sudan after they have been placed in government housing in England. Soon after moving in, it becomes apparent that the house is haunted, with both characters having individual spiritual encounters or hallucinations of the daughter they lost in their journey to England. The film follows both characters as they react to the haunting differently, with the husband, Bol, believing everything they brought from South Sudan is cursed and needs to be destroyed so they can create a new life in England; while the wife, Rial, believes they need to return to their homeland and atone for their sins.  Film Significance:  This film’s main purpose is to explore the mindset and experiences of refugees. The conflict between Bol and Rial’s reaction to their haunted house is a metaphor for how two immigrants or refugees might grapple with the question of assimilation and the struggle of culture shock. In this case, Bol repre...

       The film Everything, Everything , based on the novel by Nicola Yoon , follows the life of newly eighteen-year-old Madeline living with a rare autoimmune dis ease that prevents her from leaving the protection of her sealed home in which she is iso lated from the outside world. Maddy is extremely imaginative, especially when Olly moves in next door and her curiosity for life outside of her home grows, causing her to push the boundaries that formerly kept her safe. With the bond that they had formed with their limited contact, the pair fall deeper in love, and over time Olly helps Maddy realize what she has been doing is not really living.   Trailer     The particular scene in this screenshot is the main turning point of the movie where things drastically begin to change. In this scene, Maddy takes a dramatic leap and decides to leave her house to go to Hawaii with Olly. She packed a bag an d purchased the tickets and accommodations,...

Precious  In Precious , adapted from Sapphire’s Rush , we witness a cyclically brutal life reimagined through the genius, emotional power of the protagonist, Claireece "Precious" Jones. After being transferred to an alternative school following her second pregnancy by her father, Precious learns not just to read, but to express herself internally and externally despite the daily beatings and abuse by her mother. Her resiliency in the toughest of circumstances represents a greater sense of hope for those who have been forgotten and neglected by their community. Image 1: Precious speaks in class for the first time, one of the many firsts she will experience within her new classroom.   Image 2: Precious' mother, Mary, recounts to their social worker the history of sexual abuse Precious suffered at the hands of her father. Significance: Precious uses extremely graphic and difficult situations to force the audience to face the real and present consequences of systematic racism...

  The Human Stain is a mystery-drama film from 2003 based on Philip Roth's novel of the same name. Set in New England during the late nineties, the film follows the narration of Nathan Zuckerman, a down-and-out writer telling the story of his friend, the recently disgraced professor Coleman Silk, after he and his lover, Athena College janitor Faunia Farley, are killed under suspicious circumstances in a car crash. The film tackles a variety of contemporary social and moral issues surrounding the late nineties including academic politics, race relations, trauma, and abuse through the lens of Zuckerman's reflections, Silk's budding romance, and flashbacks to Silk's youth. Silk and Farley in their last moments before their car crashes. Young Silk first sees Steena Paulsson at the library. So what? The Human Stain  received mixed reviews with critics not lambasting the movie but calling it mediocre and passable. Most people seemed confused by the choice of casting especial...

Synopsis:   Set in the summer of 1964, right after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, The Secret Life of Bees follows Lily Owens as she runs away from her abusive father in hopes of finding out something about her late mother's life, leading her down a long road of self realization and discovery of the world. Through her journey she is forced to expand her point of view, address the issues of racism in her time and the importance of understanding lives other than your own. Lily spends time growing, bonding and healing with the Boatwright sisters, later finding out that her mother had also lived there many years in the past. Trailer:   Screenshot #1: The pink house where Lily goes to seek out information about her late mother's life, and where she meets the Boatwright sisters. The house is revealed to be pink as part of a lesson to Lily. August tells her that she thought it was the "tackiest" color she had ever seen, but "if it'll lift May's heart, then...

The film Fast Color is a science fiction film about a woman named Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who, after eight long years, returns to her childhood home to reunite with her mother Bo and the daughter Ruth had left behind to try and control her earthquake inducing seizures. However, Ruth is being chased by an unknown government agency, determined to capture her and test her powers to try and solve the eight year long drought that has loomed over their country. As the agency comes closer and closer to finding Ruth and her family, she is learning how to be a real mother to the daughter who never knew her and how to control her powers so she can finally see the Colors.  Ruth watching Lila try to put the pane of glass back together Ruth and Bo bonding over their family's magical history Film's Significance This film, above all else, is a film about motherhood and the healing that needs to come before one can be. a mother to someone else. It portrays the way that trauma can shape and chan...

Film Synopsis: Pinky , the 1949 film involving the “passing” of a young authentically Black light hued woman, showcases the perplexity and complexity surrounding the intersection of race and gender. When Pinky Johnson, an authentically Black light hued woman who recently graduated nursing school in the northern part of the United States, revisits the south to see her authentically Black and dark hued grandmother, Pinky is forced to come to terms with her race and culture, and how both are connected to, and i mpact, her overall identity. Pinky, who went by “Patricjia” when attending nursing school in the north, confessed to her grandmother that she has been “passing” as White as a means of climbing society’s social ladder. Trailer: Screenshot #1 In this photograph from the trailer, the protagonist, Pinky, is taking care of her elderly authentically White neighbor, Miss Em. Miss Em was the one who told Pinky that she must stop pretending to be someone she is not, and should start loving ...

Blood raves, bullets, and bad one-liners make up Marvels first feature length adaptation of their comic books. 1998's Blade follows vampire hunter Blade (Wesley Snipes) as he faces off against Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorf). Blade learns he is a human-vampire hybrid "chosen one", and the only living thing on earth with the blood necessary to summon the Blood God, a vampire entity with the power to wipe out humanity. Along the way, Blade discovers family secrets, trains under his mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and helps a vampire newcomer named Karen (N'Bushe Wright) navigate New York's vampire infested crime world and save humanity.  Trailer: Blade smiling after taking out a room of vampires Blade and Karen confronting a bouncer at a club suspected to be a front for vampire activity Film Significance:  The pioneer of the 2000s superhero movie craze, Blade set the stage for a new era in filmmaking. It was the epitome of a cheesy 90s action movie, with goofy dia...

Antwone Fisher  is a 2002 drama and based off of a memoir named Finding Fish , written by Antwone Fisher. It was Denzel Washington's directorial debut as well as lead actor Derek Luke's film debut. It primarily deals with trauma and the story of how a young black man in the Navy works to heal wounds that have been festering since childhood. The film also discusses the role of masculinity, poverty, and family in this slow burn character study.  Antwone Fisher  (2002) trailer Antwone Fisher & Dr. Davenport, the naval psychiatrist, hug after an argument Antwone returns to his childhood house to face his foster family Significance beyond masculinity and masculine stoicism trauma responses & what catharsis looks like normative sexuality and the vulnerability of sex class and the foster care system father figures, authority, love, and the role of family Discussion Questions One common thread of Antwone's insecurity is the fact that he is a virgin, not wanting to open u...

The 2021 Candyman, a remake that also functions as a sequel to the original 1992 film, follows a story about the main character, Anthony McCoy, as he dives deep into the figure known as Candyman and how he came about for his artwork. However, Anthony does not anticipate the path he could go down, leading to a descent of his sanity, as Candyman starts to become far more real than he would have ever imagined. Released in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, this film uses the infamous status of Candyman to discuss racial injustices, such as police brutality and gentrification. Anthony's infected hand reaches out towards a mirror, as the notorious hook of Candyman's, swarming with bees, reaches back. A stylized silhouette of Candyman that is shown while his story is told through shadow puppets. Film's Significance As stated before, Candyman (2021) uses the original story of Candyman as a vessel to discuss the racial issues of police brutality and gentrificatio...