The question I would like to explore is ” What kind of work does child-like wonder, imagination, and magic do in/for the film Guava Island? And specifically what kind of work does it do around the way the text imagine race, blackness, and freedom?”. I really enjoyed the film in itself, and its use of cinematic elements to heighten its message. Guava Island has been my favorite work that we have been assigned, and I think it is worth exploring more.
I noticed right away that Deni attracts the children on the island. They look up to him, and he really functions as the voice of their future. When deciding whether or not to do his big performance, it is the children, Zoila and Mapi, that push his decision to go on with it. In Guava island, Blackness is not constituted by skin color, but by a lack of privilege and sense of community. Blackness is performed in community solidarity and overcoming structural challenges for a better future for the next generations. Kofi’s child represents the hope that Deni has that outlives his life on the island.
In terms of magic, I think that the song “Summertime Magic” really sets the tone for the world. With the bleak industrialism and numbing workday, the magic lives in the relationships between the characters, specifically Kofi and Deni. The life of the island is embedded in the mysticism of the folklore and the connections that the people have, even under the harsh rule of capitalism. Music functions as the tangible manifestation of this Black joy and connection.
If Deni didn’t have his childlike wonder, imagination and determination to write a song that will change the course of the island, he would have never subverted the power dynamic that no one had dared to challenge. He gains his hope from the children he inspires, and the clarity that he has about the power relations and oppression that goes on on Guava Island.
A few discussion questions I have are:
Do you believe that the musical element added to the magic of the story, and do you believe music is an effective method of subverting commonly held beliefs?
Do you feel as though allegorical tales work as well as those that are set in the present/”real world”? Would Guava Island have been more or less effective set in America?
See ya’ll soon 🙂
Emma