This image depicts Hai and Melanie at the Blue Ox Coffee Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The image was taken by Wing Young Huie in 2012 as part of her "We are the Others" album. The image shows Hai standing inside of Melanie's coffee shop that stands across the street from his barber shop. The interaction between them was the first time they had spoken to each other, but Melanie had seen Hai many times before and had already made many assumptions about him. She had believed that he was Vietnamese and had moved to her street in the United States to get away from the atrocities of the Vietnam war and he then has to see a man stabbed to death just a few steps from his store.
When first looking at the image and the text that explains the image, we can see that the majority see others who are not like them, Hai being of a different ethnicity, and we alienate them. We allow our imagination to make up stories or assumptions that puts distance between each other. Then, when we examine deeper into the image/text we see that the minority, Hai, are more connected into our society than we know. For example, Hai went over to Melanie's store and bought a cup of coffee one day when she was not there to support his neighbor store. This shows that he wants the community around him to thrive and he is not as disjointed from society as people think the minority is just because they are different.
Margarette Atwood and Wing Young Huie present the concept of "othering" through image and imagery. They both try to depict the concept of "othering" by putting an image in the audiences head that will show that their is a difference between classes to emphasize how this physical difference alienates people or groups. Atwood does this through imagery of describing the handmaids as wearing red dresses. This alienates the other women in the society, such as the wives, because they are visually different than the handmaid class and that alienates the wives from the handmaids and presents a mental/physical gap making all the women who are not the handmaids to be the "others" to the handmaids. Huie also uses image to depict the gap between groups and people creating the "othering" by showing the contrasting difference in physical appearance between the coffee shop owner and the barber. The barber is classified as the other because he is alienated by not being the same ethnicity and being an immigrant in Minnesota. This result of "othering" in the image is seen when Hai holds a sign that does not have proper grammar and Melanie seems to have a condescending look behind him. This is similar to Atwood because the "othering" in The Handmaid's Tale creates negative feelings between the classes with gaps between them due to the "othering"
In the United States community is very key, I think something that is special about our society is the fact that we are entirely made up of minorities and these minorities can easily be integrated into society. Ryan, you did a great job relating the othering in THT to the othering in this photograph and I think relating the color of clothing to different jobs was a great idea.
ReplyDeleteRyan, I agree with the example of "othering" you included from The Handmaid's Tale. The color of a woman's dress in the Republic of Gilead truly serves to distinguish between classes. In Huie's photograph, however, I don't think that Melanie is viewing Hai in a condescending manner. Instead, I feel that the clothing of the two people is a better demonstration of the "othering" in this picture. While Hai's clothes are not clearly representative of a particular culture, the symbol on Melanie's shirt shows that she is supportive of a particular sports team or corporation.
ReplyDeleteOverall I agree with what you're saying, I really liked the fact you added a summary of the exert of the picture to give it some back ground and also add a little personal touch. The idea of bringing the idea that we make assumptions based of the way people look ( race, ethnicity) and relating it to the color of the dress in THT was a great idea. It really showed how the way people are represented or how the look lets people assume and other them from society. Basically judging a book by its cover.
ReplyDeleteStrong examination and comparison of others; I would have liked to have seen more of a smaller-level annotation of the photograph. Think about the Big 5 to make sure you've touched on basis elements before moving into your analysis.
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