Gesture and Finitude

To create this movie I brought together a news clip from TMZ, a background music clip, and a quote from the Muñoz reading.  I only used one clip, because I wanted to focus on using this one clip to create a deeper meaning. To do this, I took the most startling moment from the clip, copied it, and put it in slow motion.  Finally, I added freeze frames to help the viewer focus on what I wanted to get across: the harsh punishment Ray Rice received after this video surfaced.  I hope that by manipulating this video in this way the viewer can see how important it is to read further into the media we are taking in.

The reading I focused on this week was Muñoz’s, that focused on how gestures, though often unnoticed, can have rhetorical effects on society.  While Muñoz is focusing on the gay community and dance, I think this idea can be applicable to other demographic groups.  I think that here, Ray Rice did not realize the implications of this not so subtle gesture.  As a professional football player, he is always under the scrutiny of the media.  Also, he might think that he is above the law because of his status.  Therefore, he thought he could get away with this gesture.  He was trying to break his finitude.  He pushed the boundaries and limits that society sets for men and felt the repercussions.  He faced blowback from both the media and the NFL.  He was suspended and later released from his football team, and his brand is forever tarnished by this gesture.

I hope in my final project to use these images and videos along with images of Hope Solo to point out a stark difference in the finitude that society sets for us based on our race and gender.  Hope Solo, having performed a similar gesture, faced little to no charges in the eyes of the media and her sports team.  I think that this white privilege must be addressed, and society needs to become aware of these inequalities that are perpetuated by inferential racism.