Are you saying this in support of her and the film because you liked it? I'm being totally neutral here.
I thought the film was fine but no masterpiece. I don't see how what I thought of the quality of the movie itself would result in me dismissing racism if I legitimately felt there was ample evidence of it.
The affair played a major role in her decision making throughout the film again remember she said about being there in the first place was that she owed him that, the exact words being “I owed him, so I went in." and that is when they cut away to the sex scene. The black guy(Daniel) alluded to them having an affair for an extended period of time and was even still pursuing her in the beginning and sold the affection better than Portman. In their final scene together she was cold as if that was the one night stand when they have been carrying it on for awhile.
Yes, in the screenplay her character did feel she owed her husband because of her betrayal. That's logical, it makes perfect sense. We never got to see how the affair developed between her and Daniel, what led to it, etc. But that's okay. What this film pretty much alludes to is that in the mind of Portman's character the affair was a mistake and she has moved on from that whole thing. She's not apologetic enough about it to tell her husband what had occurred, but she's leaving that part of her life behind. Daniel, even though he was still married to, has not moved on. With her husband's disappearance he probably has renewed hopes that they can initiate the affair again. This suggests that he may have always had more fondness for what they shared than she ever did, that he has emotionally connected to her more than she did him.
That is not progress my friend, would you call the movies we talked about prior as progress. Again this is one of the comfort levels with some of them. Take away the interracial would you be okay if hollywood wanted to keep screen time to black co-stars at a minimal and call it progress. Be careful what you are good with as it could very well stay like that and matter of fact that is one of the reasons why you still have some producers in Hollywood doing IR between black men and white women how they see fit, especially with lead roles. What you would call progress they could very well turn into and HAS turned into "The Ceiling", another barrier.
Not feeling you with this. You tell me to not be lulled into being fooled about what is progress but I think I'm as acutely aware of what is happening in the industry as anyone on this site. If this type of interaction between a black man and a white woman had been going on in the same manner for the past ten years that we see in Annihilation for the then you would have a stronger argument. But as I pointed out before the suggestion of any type of intimacy between relatively young white women and black men, even as friendship, has been so scarce for the last four or more decades that this history between Lena (Portman) and Daniel is almost revolutionary (as a first step) by comparison. Take the scene in which we first see Daniel. He is talking to Lena, expressing his concern about her mental state, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to guess that MOST people who watched the film initially, would have never thought that Daniel and Lena had had an affair. It would have been more of a possibility of foregone conclusion that this was a possibility if Daniel were white because audiences always give white guys the benefit of the doubt of being able to woo leading ladies, win the affections of women or be accepted as sexually desirable. But a black man in a scene with a white chick, particular the lead white chick? Unless the overtones were explicitly obvious or unless the black guy was played by a huge star like Idris Elba, audiences are going t be caught off guard by a plot point that deals with this black guy engaging in an affair with a white woman. And audiences will likely be caught off guard because that is not the type of scenario they expect so far as black men are concerned. Say what you want about Daniel he at least has a libido. Not the insinuation of beastly lust that used to be depicted of black men with white women in all forms of the media. No, this was something more human and adult. Daniel had an unapologetic sexuality that Denzel Washington in his prime wasn't allowed to infuse within his characters. Which further proves to me that the character wasn't black when originally written into the script. That's just my opinion.
Racist are good for putting up barriers. Do you really think they would've done it the same way if it was a white man she was cheating on her LATINO husband with.
Yes. Because such scenes have been done like that for decades even with all white casts. You act that this is the first time directors have pulled such a stunt. Hell, for all any of us know there is an extended version of this scene that is more physical that may have been cut for time (something else that happens a lot)
That could very well what they want you to believe, be careful what you turn a blind eye to.
Trust me I'm good.
Filmmakers has mastered the art of illusion and psychological advantage over their audiences. On the TV show Life Sentences her character had a fantasy of having an affair with a white Doctor on her black husband and they filmed the fantasy sex scene between her and the white doctor she had feelings for with kissing, fondling and clothes being tore off. So think about that, brotha.
Why do I need to think about it? Are you trying to actually educate me on the double standard when I've been raging about double standards for ever on this site? I can list plenty of examples that support what you are saying for sure. Nonetheless it is arguably unfair for you to compare two totally different types of work in two totally different type of mediums by two totally different type of creative teams who made it for two totally different type of audience. You might as well as compared the latest Power Rangers to this movie. Also Life Sentence is an hour weekly show which means it has more time to go into the details and sow moments that a motion picture can't. Plus that show is a bit of a soap opera which counted on relationships and romantic triangles to keep things interested and viewers engage.
By the way I must ask that some of you guys need to step back from the ledge so far as Life Sentence is concerned. You get way too upset at a so-so show which despite your complaints did have an attractive black male-white female couple as the main focus. Since we hadn't gotten much of that previously that too is progress.
And Natalie Portman, what you just said was kind of a contradiction(I highlighted it.) if you could buy her being uncomfortable with sex scenes as to reason why it was filmed the way it was then that means her demands were met.
They're not mutually exclusive.
Plus again she had an intimate scene with the guy playing her husband; in her panties, him shirtless frolicking around and kissing each other. She's not shy from love scenes.
Man, I don't even recall those sex scenes which sows you how much they didn't stand out to me.
Now you could point to the fact she was nude from behind in the sex scene, then why not argue that with the producers? Again if her comfort demands were being met? Some say the "sex scene" was unnecessary and I see a attempt at a sex scene that was done poorly due to behind the scenes issues... because the the affair was presented to the audience in such a poor way! And that's why some people like you guys probably think it was unnecessary, not paying attention to her and David Gyasi's mysterious scene in the beginning where he invited her to a cookout over his family's house, their long affair being mentioned and her alluding to the affair with Daniel which led to the sex scene. They had to give the audience something about that encounter with Daniel(David Gyasi) in the beginning and give meaning to what she meant by she owed him that, as that was the reason why she went into the shimmer. That was the main reason why she went in. This was just done poorly so I understand how some missed it and didn't understand the "sex scene."
You'er pretty much providing reasonable explanations yourself why possibly they did the scene the way they did. Here's my further thoughts. They made a decision to show the last night of the affair, just before it was ended. By it being at the final night between them, with her probably knowing it was going to stop after this last romp, there was no need for any presentation of hot, lustful sex. That's better suited for the earlier part of an affair. There was no need to show her being happy or anything because we can ascertain she probably always ad guilt about the affair and she never loved Daniel in that way. She needed some human contact for the times she got lonely. Her seeking out sex outside of her marriage made her more human because she was flawed. Making Lena more three dimensional and giving her a credible reason why she thought she owed her husband so much was likely why the affair with Daniel was written in the first place.
Now with all that out of the way you still haven't provided enough evidence IMO to back your assertions regarding racist overtones in this film. There are so many legit examples in so many films that I'm curious that you would go after this movie. I still doubt Daniel was envisioned as black when created for the screenplay so all of the faults of the character in terms of how he is viewed would have been there even if he was white. So all that's left is debating whether racism had a role in how the sex scene was portrayed.
