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After watching Lizzo perform in the VMAS, I couldn’t help but smile. She is so powerful and fierce and honestly just a whole badass. Her body positivity and way to celebrate black joy has made a significant impact and it’s not only in the black community. The way she disidentifies with being “plus size” or whatever word she’s labelled as, empowers young girls, teenagers, and adults to love their body just as much as Lizzo does. 

As we learned about José Muñoz’s disidentification theory, I had to think about how I disidentify. In some situations, I tend to disidentify with my religion because I am half Catholic and half Jewish. Many people don’t understand how I can be a Latina, but also be Jewish. I honestly forget about religion, because I don’t align with either religion. Additionally, I am still trying to figure out my sexuality, so sometimes when I’m checking boxes for “sexual orientation,” I end up putting straight because there isn’t a box for “I don’t know yet.” 

The news sometimes tells me to disidentify with being a Latina, which is something I am tremendously proud to be. In cases where politics are being discussed, I feel that my fellow Latinx community is attacked in terms of immigration or our President’s view on the policies. Whenever I see pictures and videos of the immigrants and the action he is taking at the border, it hurts my heart. Not only do I personally know people and families who have made that long gruelling trip, but to be stopped, separated, and even hurt by the police is just another example of the history of racism that continues to repeat itself. Now that I think about it, this is literally and figuratively a form of gatekeeping. Trump is thriving upon the idea of who he is keeping out and how this will keep our country safe. First of all, this shit just makes me mad because he is hurting innocent families who just want to provide and have a slight chance to have a better life. In José Muñoz’s theory, he writes: “To disidentify is… not to pick and choose what one takes out of an identification. It is not to willfully evacuate the politically dubious or shameful components within an identificatory locus” (12). He talks about how it is not always a strategy of resistance, but rather participating and changing a system of oppression. I think this is one of the most interesting topics we have covered in class because it taught me that I can change the social mobility and traits of the system by applying psychoanalytic theory to my everyday life.

When I finished Sorry To Bother You, I was in awe. I was honestly laughing so hard because I had no clue what the ending meant. After analyzing and reflecting on the movie, I watched the director, Boots Riley, discuss the film on Youtube. He describes the movie as an absurdist, dark anticapitalist comedy. From the beginning of the movie, we see Cassius being advised by Danny Glover  to use his “white voice.” Boots Riley talks about this codeswitch, saying that the white voice is used as a performance, to demonstrate what black people have to do in order to hide their identity. Having Cassius perform in his white voice is a form of him participating in the system of whiteness. This also relates to Jose Muñoz’s theory of disidentification in terms of passing and not passing. He is passing for a white male, which society has made the mythical norm. This system relates to the concept of gatekeeping, thriving on the people who society keeps out.

I really liked Detroit’s character in this movie. She demonstrated her free, artistic spirit, which I appreciated. She used her art as a form of political engagement, commenting on various platforms. She resists the status quo, disidentifying from the norm.

As the movie progresses, Cassius becomes the power caller and this comes with different privileges. We see the capitalistic view of him being pushed by authority to crave more. This greed results in Cassius losing a sense of morality.

Boots Riley also demonstrates the divide between the upper and lower class in Oakland, California. Using Cassius as a primary example, he drives a decrepit car and lives in a garage, but passes beautiful mansions on his way to his job.  Boots uses theorizing to demonstrate the socioeconomic divide he sees and wants his audience to see, as well.

I think this movie points to the idea of putting up a fight against the world. Detroit, a small artist in a highly political climate, uses her platform to impact the world. Cassius, as he is transformed at the end of the movie, uses his power to fight against authority.

Solange. A literal queeeeeeeeeen. Whenever I think of her, I think of how beautiful and talented she is. I first saw her in the movie, Bring it On: All or Nothing, so, when Professor Chaz told us about the screening of her short film, I decided I wanted to go. Her film, When I Get Home, was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was packed with insane visuals, as she used an Afrofuturist cowboy theme as the center of what she calls her “Texas film.” She unpacks the idea of blackness, demonstrating black people owning farm land, and growing up as farmers. This concept of blackness ties into the everyday experiences she displays in marginalized America, using her return to her hometown of Houston to represent where she comes from, but also where she’s going. 

When I enrolled in Media, Culture, and Identity, I was interested to find out the specifics, since these are all very broad terms. I read the course description and knew it would align with my undeclared communications major. I immediately went on ratemyprofessor, but couldn’t find anything. I went into the class with no idea what I was going to be taught. So far, this class has challenged what I think about different stereotypes amongst the Black and/or queer lens. Listening to my peers share their stories has opened my eyes to the differences, but also the commonalities we share on and off campus. I am also taking Cultural Studies, and there are many overlaps between these classes. In terms of my goals for this course, I want to be able to read, write, and think from a critical perspective. Whether it’s a simple article on the lighting of media or the more complicated concepts such as the speculative fiction of blackness or disidentification, I  want to be able to see these ideas as unique and important to the world that I live in. Being knowledgeable on these topics can spark conversation because they apply to modern day thinking and relate to the idea of what makes us individual beings. I want to learn more about who Sofia is, figure out my identity, and be able to view the various outlets of media from a different lens than most people. 

Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, is set in New York city during the late 1980s. In the show, it is apparent how the conviction of the Central Park 5 sparked a national conversation. DuVernay highlights the bias media coverage and stereotypes that the Central Park 5 dealt with through her use of protests.

This piece spotlights Korey Wise’s sister, Marci, who is a transgender woman of color. She is kicked out of her own home because of her gender identity and continually faces harassment from her community and her own mother. This feature of the trans sub-community aims to create change and offers insight into the external factors affecting Korey as he spent 14 years in prison.

This series disrupts the assumption that the media portrays both sides of every story. In this case, the media chose to alter the story of the five men, which stirred up the emotions people already had. The media also played a role into how the prosecutors and courts were seen. The world that the prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, lives in allows her to not carry the burden of having coerced these children into giving confessions. There was no case against the Central Park 5, but because of her status as a white upper class female, she was able to manipulate her power. Betrayed by the media, jails, prosecutors, and the police, the Central Park 5 and this series as a whole serve as an example of exposing a brutal and racist system that continues to repeat itself.