Racial Tension In The Film 'Black Girl'

When the racial tension that develops throughout the narrative finally erupts [in a sequence beginning at 1:29:04], Tina is unsurprisingly absent, attesting hooks’ summation that “the presence of black women in the film take the heat off and replace it with erotic play”. Nevertheless, though outnumbered by ten men, a secondary female character, Ella (Christa Rivers), is present at Sal’s as the conflict unfolds. Until this point, Ella serves a deindividuated roll as a member of a collective featuring Cee (Martin Lawrence), Punchy (Leonard Thomas) and Ahmad (Steve White) that sees her repeatedly belittle. Lacking the autonomy to challenge the behaviour of her peers, Ella thus shares in their actions and mannerisms upon entry to Sal’s, particularly by castigating Mookie for his refusal to allow them into the building [1:29:17].

Lacking the requisite testosterone to join the ensuing fracas, she is reduced to hysterically pleading with the male characters to “please stop it”. A series of high-angle shots visually accentuate her vulnerability by making her appear diminutive in contrast to the likes of Mookie, Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out, all of whom are consistently filmed in close-up from a low-angle. Though Lee’s original published screenplay for the film states that Ella, Cee, Punchy and Ahmad simply “cheerlead” while Sal and Raheem fight, the deliberate use of these camera angles and their clear symbolic meaning suggests that Lee, perhaps at the recommendation of cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, had a late change of heart and instead aspired to explicitly illustrate Ella’s otherness within the