Marlon Riggs, December 5th

Queer Voices: Marlon Riggs (Austin & Molly)

     In my head I can hear the resonance of Marlon Riggs on Tongues Untied state, "I will swallow the hurt, I will swallow the hurt, I will swallow the hurt." After showing my self-portrait, you mentioned how you were elated to begin with Marlon Riggs due to our connection and similarities; now, I can see it. Austin mentioned how in a viewing with his mother, he could not sit with her because he was ashamed of the way he felt, but when his mother saw it, she was just as upset as her son because she did not understand the depth his pain. After showing this film to my mom and dad, there first reaction was just as Marlon Riggs's parents. I believe Marlon Riggs and I used film in a similar manner to most experimental filmmakers; as a confessional. Though the medium of cinema, the words of pain we have muttered over the years were transported into a medium that visualized it in a way which translated perceptually the tantamount of feelings. In his final film, Black is... Black Ain't, I was stunned to see the correlation to my previous statement and, "We need to start talking about how we hurt each other." Pain is a device which can be realized in cinema. On a happier and much lighter note, I really have not been able to stop snapping. I am beginning to discover a passion for snapthology.