The purpose of this paper is to characterize the relationship between Flipper and Angie in the film Jungle Fever directed by Spike Lee. In order to do so, is necessary to try to respond what attracts them to each other; how do they interact with one another; and, by contrasting the relations between Flipper and his wife and Angie and her ex-boyfriend, what does the relationship between Flipper and Angie offers to each other of them that their other relationships don’t, and what do their other relationships offer that this one lacks?
Apart from the curiosity that each other has for their racial differences, what attracts Flipper to Angie is that he thinks that he might be more accepted or will fit in better in his corporative world if he is with a white woman, also Flipper is attracted to Angie because she is very beautiful, and because she is a hard worker and is a family oriented woman that knows how to take care of the males. He also is attracted to her, because he finds in her an escape to the routine, she represents freedom and passion. On the other hand, Angie is attracted to Flipper because he is also a hard worker and bright man; she is tempted by his successfulness and the fact that he is a happily married man, he represents stability to her.
At first, the interaction between Flipper and Angie is very rusty, but once they pass over the trauma of the skin color and become realized and aware of the individuals they are, they start to flirt around and pretending to work until very late at night as an excuse to spend time together. After they decide to establish an affair, their relationships becomes childish and teenage like, they play around all the time trying to evade the reality surrounding them and having sex like passionate teenager who just discovered the art. But then, when all gets complex, they just give up and realize that it all was an illusion, a nice adventure that cost them their apparently “they live happily ever after” life.
As the author of this paper just stated before, what the relations between Flipper and his wife and Angie and her ex-boyfriend offer to them that the others relations don’t is a peaceful life, a very passive and continuous relationship with no apparent disturbance. But even tough these relationships are very well accepted by the communities they come from, they become boring and monotonous, almost as if they had no other choices. In other words, in these relationships they are absorbed by Jean-Paul Sartre’s definition of “Bad Faith”, which is taking for necessary, something that in fact is voluntary.
On the other hand, the relationship between Flipper and Angie offers them passion; it smells lie teen spirit, is totally supportive, and moreover, it’s a labor partnership also. This relationship offers them liberty and autonomy, but is a very frustrating relationship for both of them, because of the external social factors that fall upon them. All in all, what this relationship offers Flipper and Angie is an opportunity, a window to a new world and a passage to acknowledge how hard it is to sustain an interracial relationship in a society dulled by its prejudices, that blocks them from seeing the human being under the skins.
To complete and conclude this idea, the author of this paper will assist himself with Peter L. Berger’s definition of a role: “A role may be defined as a typified response to a typified expectation; […] role theory could be summarized by saying that, in a sociological perspective, identity is socially bestowed, socially sustained and socially transformed. […] In other words, identity is nor something “given” but is bestowed in acts of social recognition. We become that as which we are addressed. […] Sociology makes us understand that a “Negro” is a person so designated by society, that this designation releases pressures that will tend to make him into the designated image, but also that these pressures are arbitrary, incomplete and, most importantly, reversible.”
Then, the real thing is that the kind of Skin that “keeps it real”, is the most accepted, recognized, socially sustained and played role of how being a Skin among North American society is supposed to be; leaving Flipper and Angie as deviants from the stereotypes. Nevertheless, even though this is true, it certainly does not mean that there is only one way of being a Skin; at the end the author of this paper states that black or white are just a colors, as it is yellow, pink, brown, red, green, purple and blue.
Apart from the curiosity that each other has for their racial differences, what attracts Flipper to Angie is that he thinks that he might be more accepted or will fit in better in his corporative world if he is with a white woman, also Flipper is attracted to Angie because she is very beautiful, and because she is a hard worker and is a family oriented woman that knows how to take care of the males. He also is attracted to her, because he finds in her an escape to the routine, she represents freedom and passion. On the other hand, Angie is attracted to Flipper because he is also a hard worker and bright man; she is tempted by his successfulness and the fact that he is a happily married man, he represents stability to her.
At first, the interaction between Flipper and Angie is very rusty, but once they pass over the trauma of the skin color and become realized and aware of the individuals they are, they start to flirt around and pretending to work until very late at night as an excuse to spend time together. After they decide to establish an affair, their relationships becomes childish and teenage like, they play around all the time trying to evade the reality surrounding them and having sex like passionate teenager who just discovered the art. But then, when all gets complex, they just give up and realize that it all was an illusion, a nice adventure that cost them their apparently “they live happily ever after” life.
As the author of this paper just stated before, what the relations between Flipper and his wife and Angie and her ex-boyfriend offer to them that the others relations don’t is a peaceful life, a very passive and continuous relationship with no apparent disturbance. But even tough these relationships are very well accepted by the communities they come from, they become boring and monotonous, almost as if they had no other choices. In other words, in these relationships they are absorbed by Jean-Paul Sartre’s definition of “Bad Faith”, which is taking for necessary, something that in fact is voluntary.
On the other hand, the relationship between Flipper and Angie offers them passion; it smells lie teen spirit, is totally supportive, and moreover, it’s a labor partnership also. This relationship offers them liberty and autonomy, but is a very frustrating relationship for both of them, because of the external social factors that fall upon them. All in all, what this relationship offers Flipper and Angie is an opportunity, a window to a new world and a passage to acknowledge how hard it is to sustain an interracial relationship in a society dulled by its prejudices, that blocks them from seeing the human being under the skins.
To complete and conclude this idea, the author of this paper will assist himself with Peter L. Berger’s definition of a role: “A role may be defined as a typified response to a typified expectation; […] role theory could be summarized by saying that, in a sociological perspective, identity is socially bestowed, socially sustained and socially transformed. […] In other words, identity is nor something “given” but is bestowed in acts of social recognition. We become that as which we are addressed. […] Sociology makes us understand that a “Negro” is a person so designated by society, that this designation releases pressures that will tend to make him into the designated image, but also that these pressures are arbitrary, incomplete and, most importantly, reversible.”
Then, the real thing is that the kind of Skin that “keeps it real”, is the most accepted, recognized, socially sustained and played role of how being a Skin among North American society is supposed to be; leaving Flipper and Angie as deviants from the stereotypes. Nevertheless, even though this is true, it certainly does not mean that there is only one way of being a Skin; at the end the author of this paper states that black or white are just a colors, as it is yellow, pink, brown, red, green, purple and blue.
No comments:
Post a Comment