Don’t We Look Pretty? (2022)
"Don’t We Look Pretty?" (2022) is an experimental short film and photography project critiquing the connection between the history of minstrelsy and the dyed afro. The idea for this project came to be when I dyed my natural hair hot pink during the summer of 2019. When wearing this hairstyle, I initially felt a sense of discomfort, which confused me because I had worn just as vibrant colors before. After much thought, I came to understand that my discomfort stemmed from both the silhouette and color of this hairstyle, given its cultural associations–namely blackface clowning. Unnaturally-colored afros are often seen in the context of clownery, which resulted in their being perceived as tacky. "Don’t We Look Pretty?" recontextualizes and reclaims the dyed afro as a source of agency. While there has been much recent public discussion of overt racism, the insidious place of minstrelsy in American popular culture has not entered the conversation enough.
Poem
Don’t we look pretty?
We dot the greenery with our color like flowers.
We share secrets among ourselves.
You’ve heard the whispers.
The sun beams, a spotlight on earth’s stage.
You forget you’re not the only one to bask in the light.
Earth slowly turns her cheek.
You don’t realize what’s happening until it’s dark.
We’ve brought you here to where it all began.
Don’t we look pretty?
You pluck us, roots dangling.
Painting your faces with an attempted recreation
of our pigment.
Are we the hand that holds you together?
You ask whether this is a mourning or a celebration.
Whether birth or funeral.
Don’t you know a show can have it all,
Compressing truths of a lifetime into mere minutes?
Written by Ivana M-A