Day: October 17, 2019

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that today, at 7pm, Cornell Cinema is showing for free the French documentary Mariannes Noires, directed by Mame-Fatou Niang and Kaytie Nielsen.

“Marianne” is the name of the allegoric woman representing France, on stamps for example. As you can imagine, because of institutionalized racism, Marianne has always been White…

And “Noires” is the French word for “Black”, here in feminine plural (because French is so a gendered language).

So in this documentary, French Black Women try to define their place in this country which still doesn’t acknowledge the impact of colonization, the existence of neocolonialism, or systemic racism, and for which “intersectionality” is almost unknown.

I haven’t seen it alreeady, but I heard a lot of good things about it, and I’m going to see it tonight with students of the French class I teach this semester 🙂

Hope to see you there, if you’re free and interested !

Best, Alex

I chose thing song because when I listen to it, it feels very open, like something I would listen to on a long road trip through winding roads of nature. It also has a melancholy, slightly dreary way about it. The lyrics point to a sort of darkness lurking underneath the surface, especially at the bridge when Lana Del Rey sings “I’m tired of feeling like I’m fucking crazy/I’m tired driving till i see stars n my eyes/I got to keep myself sane baby, so i just ride.” She also talks about having a war in her mind–yet she still rides.

Fan has left B-Mor, in pursuit of Reg, and possibly more. She doesn’t really know what she is in pursuit of, or how she will go about finding her lover. Yet, she pushes on.  I feel that both the mood of this sing as well as the lyrics match with Fan’s journey thus far.