Author: Wing Young Huie
Photo taken: 2012-2013
Place of publication: http://photos.wingyounghuie.
When first looking at the picture I see people in a high school setting. Who I believe to be the teacher is standing in the background. The students are participating in some activity. Since the photo is black and white my eyes were first drawn to the people in the photo since I was unable to tell what their skin looked like. Still in a black and white photo thought I was able to come up with a prediction of what I would expect the true color of their skin to appear as. When looking at the boy on the right with the sign he appears to be sad, upset, or frustrated about something.
When looking deeper into the picture I first interpreted what the signs that the students are holding says and what it can tell me about them. The girl's sign that says "I'm not black, I'm African-American". This leads me to believe that she is proud of her heritage and doesn't want to be immediately judged by the color of her skin and grouped together with all people with the same color skin. The boy in the photo holds a sign that says, "I have depression I'm no sad". He is saying that people often mistake his depression for him being sad about something all the time. The photographer is trying to get across the point that you can't judge people just by looking at them. You have to get to know someone before you can determine a true representation of a person. The photographer is also trying to show that grouping people by the way they look and making assumptions about people can truly upset them even though we may not realize it.
Othering is used by Atwood on the Handmaids similarly to the way that the photographer is using othering on the African-American girl and the boy who has depression. Atwood makes wearing red a visible sign of being Handmaid and makes it something that the Handmaids are unable to escape like the girl in the photo. The actions that are expected of Handmaids can be compared to someone who is depressed. In depression the brain is affected causing people to feel the way they do and Atwood shows that the brains of Handmaids were conditioned to act the way that they do.
Brandon-
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your denotative examination, but I do wish you had provided more in your connotative examination- what choices did the artist make in terms of format, structure, color, etc. and with what effect? Also, don't forget to provide textual evidence to strengthen your assertions in your final paragraph.
I like the interpretation you give of the picture because it draws some really clear connections between the picture and THT. The color of someone's skin as an indicator of identity is similar to how THT uses color as identity. Using color as identification is a big generalization that negatively affects people. We can see that through Offred's internal thoughts and the African American girl's feelings towards being called "black".
ReplyDelete