First she takes off her fitted hat, her du-rag and polo. She then puts on her earrings, fixes her bun and ultimately transforms herself. Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), the main protagonist in the contemporary drama “Pariah,” straddles the intersections of gender, sexuality and religion.

The contemporary drama was featured in Tuesday’s LGBTQ film series in BCC 200. The coming-of-age story about a young African American lesbian is the debut feature of writer and director Dee Rees.

Philip Bahr, reference and media librarian, chose the academic film because of its complexity and its authentic portrayal of the diverse experience of coming out for people of color, of different socioeconomic backgrounds and of varying feminity or masculinity.

The film received many awards such at the GLAAD Outstanding Film award and the Excellence in Cinematography award. The actress Adepero Oduye has also received much attention from her roll as Alike. Time magazine recently featured her in their gallery of Great Performances issue. The actress succeeded in capturing the character’s emotional turmoil, strength and wisdom.

The film is the daughter of the queer cinema era, but it is a rarity to hear an African American lesbian account of coming out. Even Dee Rees is unique as one of the few African American females who is both a film writer and director, according to Bahr.

“If this film had been done years ago, it would have been too straight forward and not as complex,” said Bahr during the discussion portion of the showcase.

While there is a strong tragic element to the film, it ends with the promise of a bright future.

All of the intersecting forces that Rees included in Pariah made the film groundbreaking. Students like Laura Garnica ’14 had never seen anything like it. “I didn’t know [coming out] was that hard,” said Garnica.

Garnica had a friend come out, but his family, unlike Alike’s, was more accepting. Garnica said that moments of violence in the film shocked her and changed her perception of what coming out means to different people.

One of the main themes of the film was agency. This theme was captured by a phrase Alike used at the end of one of her poems: “I am not running. I am choosing.” Alike’s poem described how “a breaking” does not mean she is broken. “I am not broken. I am free,” read Alike in the film.

Alike knew what she wanted and set goals for herself, explained Garnica. The struggles Alike faced pushed her to great heights. Alike perservered and found her escape through school, said Garnica. The audience also mentioned Alike’s strength in forgiving her mother and moving forward with her life rather than waiting on her approval or acceptance.

The film had one major message for Garnica: “You should never assume people’s lives are easy.” The complexity of human experiences can’t be generalized into a universal. Each coming out process is different. Coming out isn’t just about a person’s sexuality, but it is about embracing themselves entirely. It is about breaking, rebuilding and finding freedom.

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