http://know.wingyounghuie.com/image/43014362678
The link above is attached to a photo taken by Wing Young Huie titled Young
Girl Wrapped in Dora the Explorer Blanket which was taken
in South Minneapolis, MN in 2012. He put this photo in a collection or a
blog of photos he labels "We are the Other" which he says is
"new work presented as a serialized photographic novel that infuses
several concepts to connect people who don’t know each other well or at
all." The photo, not venturing far from its creatively stressed and hard
to come by name, features a Latino girl getting out of a minivan with a Dora the Explorer blanket wrapped around
her (most likely for warmth). Wing Young Huie’s caption says that he was photographing
“members of Light of Faith and Hope in Jesus Christ, a small storefront church
where most, if not all, of the members are Latino.” What one can get from this photo
on surface level is that people of the same race, culture, or heritage tend to
convene with each other, especially with an event on a religious level. Looking
deeper in to this, however, we can see that the Dora the Explorer blanket becomes more significant and is the main
thing that Wing Young Huie is trying to point out.
We can see that the fictional character Dora
the Explorer has been or still is her idol for an extended period of time.
Who can blame her? Dora the Explorer
was probably the only main character of a show that wasn’t white and/or was her
race or heritage. I don’t know if she could or can speak Spanish, but the show
is halfway spoken in Spanish. She has someone to relate to and can envision
herself being. Wing Young Huie says that growing up that there were little to
no Asian main characters airing on television.
All there was in that time of television was mostly Caucasian Americans.
In the sense of the “American standard”, where everyone or the majority of
America is composed of Caucasians, Wing Young Huie presents this Latina girl as
an “other” in society’s eyes. Margaret Atwood also shows a societal other in
this book by present Offred and other handmaids as objectified or “another
household chore”.
It is interesting to look at how representation in the media can affect a culture. There certainly has been progress made, which is seen in TV shows such as Orange is the New Black (Laverne Cox, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Samira Wiley, Selenis Leyva, and many more), but there is still a long ways to go. However, if these immigrants don't speak English, their access to these movies, no matter how diverse, will be much more complicated. This brings up the language debate over the 'official language' of the US.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margaret's comment and your assessment of the image, Xavier. It is really neat to see and explore a young girl wrapped in a blanket that features someone who looks so similar to her- does the child like Dora because of the show or because of her appearance? We naturally gravitate towards those who are like us- a great connection, if you will, to othering. I especially appreciated the information you provided about Wing Young Huie's childhood and how that might perhaps parallel the narrative behind the image.
ReplyDeleteI wish you had treated both texts equally- in what ways is Offred herself an other? By simply being a handmaid, she is part of a group.
I really like this photograph because it outright shows othering. Like Mrs. Genesky said, I wish you would have talked more about The Hanmaid's Tale because so many connections were begging to be drawn. Do you think that when people gravitate towards their group of "others" it perpetuates the idea of othering? How do you think the cycle could be altered or stopped? I liked how you said that even if the girl didnt speak Spanish, she could still relate to Dora not only because Dora's awesome but also because she looks like her and has the same culture as her. I also agree with Margaret in saying that just because a few shows have shown progression, there is still work to be done, especially for Huie's culture, of which the only shows that have Asian main characters are Nihoa Kai-Lan and Sullivan & Son, which are relatively new shows. But, overall you did an awesome job!
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