This week on Black on Black Cinema the guys discuss the 2011 coming of age/coming out drama, Pariah. Directed by Dee Rees this film takes a unabashed look at homosexuality and its level of acceptance in the Black community. Alike, a 17 year old girl in New York, has to come to terms with who she is and the world in which she lives.
What are we watching/playing/reading this week?
TV
Dees Rees coming of age film is not one to miss. A 17-year old’s struggle with her own sexual orientation and what the implications are for her friends, family, and her own future are handled with such style and grace.
The story of Alike (Adepero Oduye) pronounced A-LEE-KAY brings the audience in at break neck speed into a world of seeming sexual perversion as the film opens inside of a strip club with music with very descriptive lyrics blaring loudly. This scene puts the viewer in a very assumed position about what they are about to watch. However, within moments the entire film shifts, purposefully, to a narrative that is more complicated much like the life of Alike.