Pariah

I don’t believe that artists can only make work featuring characters who have similar life experiences to their own. That’s limiting and negates the ability for artists to empathize with other people. What I do believe is that the most moving, true and generally best depictions of characters who have a specific life experience will be made by artists who have shared those experiences. Pariah is a great representative of this. The film is about a young, black lesbian and its writer/director Dee Rees is herself a black lesbian. Pariah hits on a lot of truth about the intersection of these two identities. It’s an exceptional film.

Pariah follows teenage Alike as she comes to terms with her identity of being a lesbian. However, once Alike herself has accepted this facet of her identity, there is still the issue of her family and the community at large. Alike struggles to keep her identity from her less than open-minded parents and tries to find a place in her world where she feels that she is free to be herself.

Pariah really excellently deals with issues of race. There is certainly something to be said for having films that have women of colour whose narrative and character is not dependent on them being such. However, there is also major necessity for films like Pariah in which Alike’s place in an African American community does inform her worldview and experiences. It is important, especially for viewers like me who are melanin deficient to recognize how other factors in someone’s life such as ethnicity can impact their queer identity. Pariah does all this while keeping an engaging narrative and well rounded characters.

Pariah is just exceptional. Dee Rees’ writing and directing are masterful. Especially as a first feature, it shows a staggering amount of talent and confidence. Adepero Oduye also shows great talent in the lead role. The cast is rounded out by an equally talented group. In particular, Alike’s parents played by Charles Parnell and Kim Wayans. Everything in this movie works. Go watch Pariah. It’s a phenomenal and important movie.

Overall rating: 9.1/10

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