Blog Post #3 - Sunken Place

 

    Reflecting back on Week 4, one of the most interesting works I have seen thus far in our course is Candyman and specifically comparing the 1992 version to the 2021 sequel. For me, as for Professor Due, I felt like the 1992 version was problematic in delivering the message that it was intending to do. Firstly, the fact that it was shown through a white person's point of view; for me, I did not like that because how is it fair to depict Black suffering and pain through a non-Black person's lens? Although it was a great film, that really bothered me. I also can recognize that the political climate that both of these films were created in were completely different to each other. I did not like how in the 1992 version that towards the end it basically depicted Cabrini Green in a dangerous and violent place and took away the community that it was. It did not focus on Black experience which I felt it needed to stick to. 

But, when I analyzed it and compared the 1992 version to the 2021 version, I felt like a lot of the problems that I had with the original version were somewhat addressed. I liked how it did not make Cabrini Green a scary and “other” place, but rather it explored how people who once were scared of it are now benefiting from its wiping. I felt like the 2021 version focused more on telling a story about the very people and systems who keep reproducing Black pain, as opposed to delivering this message through the point of view of a white outsider. Something else that I really enjoyed about the sequel was how it made Candyman into a symbol of racial violence for every single Black victim that has experienced that. Candyman represented more of a symbol of fighting back and exposing these systems as opposed to a story about fear. 

Another really fascinating component of the 2021 version was how it used mirrors as a symbol. I feel like the sequel’s overall message was more about seeing society’s truths for what it is and exposing the realities for Black people. In the movie, there were many mirrors. For me this felt very intentional in trying to deliver this message and I thought it was brilliant to use a physical representation to deliver such a strong message. Of course, it is easy to say how amazing the 2021 version was because Jordan Peele produced it! The more I learn and watch about his works the more amazed I get. I am really enjoying having the opportunity to watch such incredible movies and films that have such a moving message behind them.