Watched the film through. The film is in contrast to the images presented of the two different ethnic groups as shown in Simba. Here the strong forceful character is black whilst the whites are depicted as weak ineffectual and in the case of the older man cowardly. We do have the interesting juxtaposition of the older of the two white men and the younger who is more ready to work under the control of the black man and the tension that this creates in the group.
As we are not offered Dyer's explanation of the film and its link to his desire to examine the concept of 'whiteness' in the extract in the reader (see reference in the blog immediate to this one) one can only speculate. I presume it is the way, in this case, where 'black' is shown to be ordered, rational and in control and 'white' is shown to be disordered, irrational and lacking control that is the opposite to the version in 'Simba'. However both are films and particularly in the case of 'Night' are fictional events that have no reality other than that created by the Writer and the Director. They are totally false images that rely upon the plausibility of the plot or story line to get the message across that they could be 'real'.
Can we draw any conclusions about the concept of 'whiteness' from what we have been shown. I suspect not. To experience 'blackness' or 'whiteness' (in Dyer's terms) it is necessary to be aware of your 'self' as seen by the other group and how they respond and behave towards you. This defines you in that relationship. I recall visiting a public house in Nottingham with a friend. It was in an area that I had known as a child (my grandparents lived there) but had not visited for some time. Every other person in the pub was black. There was no hostility just a sense of being examined as something different and unusual in that setting. It was my 'whiteness' that made me different and worthy of examination. It was the intensity of the gaze that surprised and discomfited me.
As I suggested in my previous blog I believe that Dyer's approach is too simplistic in that it does not take into account the differences within the larger groups that are equally as defining as the colour of ones skin. Dislike or open hatred of a group is not confined to the colour of a person's skin. Having been around at the time of the 'mods' and 'rockers' all that seemed to be needed for open conflict to erupt was for someone to be seen who was wearing the costume of the 'hated' group. Humans define themselves by thrusting onto others those things that are seen as 'bad'. Of course it is much easier if they are easily identifiable such as someone of a different colour but it does not stop there. The Nazis had a whole range of groups that were deemed untermensch with disastrous consequences.
Throughout this exercise I have been aware of an increasing sense of unease and distaste. I believe the reason for this is that the attempt, for academic purposes, to separate us all into 'black' or 'white' (I wonder how the Asian population sees themselves) or to talk of 'blackness' or 'whiteness' can only feed into racism. Implicit in such separation is that there is a difference that can be applied to a whole group. Whilst the academic (who survives through published works) can claim it to be an intellectual exercise these are feelings that are unique to a living person. They affect their every day lives in a meaningful way either positively or negatively.
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