(Frantz) Fanon
Apr. 19th, 2025 12:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dhampyresaTo be clear: The movie is simply titled "Fanon". It's just that that's also a word and I wanted this entry title to be not confusing.
I just saw this 2025 movie by Jean-Claude Barny. It's only come out in very few French theaters (for... some... reason...) but I hope it ends up getting a wider/international release.
It's really good! It covers Fanon's life from 1953 to his death in 1961. It's mostly about his work as part of the pro-Algerian independance resistance and anticolonialism/antiracism activism rather than his work as a psychiatrist. I didn't know he was so hands-on with the resistance.
Fanon's social status as a Black French citizen is really interesting, because the film makes the very deliberate to only show scenes in North Africa. Fanon is a Black man, which makes him a victim of anti-Black racism, but the main form of racism he lives within is racism directed towards people of Maghrebi/North African origin[1]. He's a Black man but he is also a French citizen, which gives him rights and protections many of his friends don't have -- he doesn't have to obey a curfew and can't get arrested by the army, for two relevant examples.
[1] Tbh this is the main form I see racism in France take -- this isn't to say there are no other forms of racism in France, simply that the biggest racialised minority in France is people of North African descent.
I was wary of Josie, his wife, taking a completely passive role in the story. She never becomes an active character but she is still a person in her own right. I liked the scene where she quotes back more of the poem he was quoting back at Ramdane while Fanon is like ._.
One thing that really stuck out to be was how the French army was filmed. They were filmed like... Well, like Germans. As in, like how the German army is filmed in WW2 films. I don't know how else to put it? Maybe it's the thudding of the boots or the crispness of the uniforms or something but it was noticeable.
Besides the obvious warning for racism, both anti-Black and anti-North African (including one use of a slur directed at each), I should also point out that there is a somewhat graphic surgery scene at one point, an onscreen strangulation and at least two occasions of people being shot, as well as implied/offscreen torture, murder and bombings.
I just saw this 2025 movie by Jean-Claude Barny. It's only come out in very few French theaters (for... some... reason...) but I hope it ends up getting a wider/international release.
It's really good! It covers Fanon's life from 1953 to his death in 1961. It's mostly about his work as part of the pro-Algerian independance resistance and anticolonialism/antiracism activism rather than his work as a psychiatrist. I didn't know he was so hands-on with the resistance.
Fanon's social status as a Black French citizen is really interesting, because the film makes the very deliberate to only show scenes in North Africa. Fanon is a Black man, which makes him a victim of anti-Black racism, but the main form of racism he lives within is racism directed towards people of Maghrebi/North African origin[1]. He's a Black man but he is also a French citizen, which gives him rights and protections many of his friends don't have -- he doesn't have to obey a curfew and can't get arrested by the army, for two relevant examples.
[1] Tbh this is the main form I see racism in France take -- this isn't to say there are no other forms of racism in France, simply that the biggest racialised minority in France is people of North African descent.
I was wary of Josie, his wife, taking a completely passive role in the story. She never becomes an active character but she is still a person in her own right. I liked the scene where she quotes back more of the poem he was quoting back at Ramdane while Fanon is like ._.
One thing that really stuck out to be was how the French army was filmed. They were filmed like... Well, like Germans. As in, like how the German army is filmed in WW2 films. I don't know how else to put it? Maybe it's the thudding of the boots or the crispness of the uniforms or something but it was noticeable.
Besides the obvious warning for racism, both anti-Black and anti-North African (including one use of a slur directed at each), I should also point out that there is a somewhat graphic surgery scene at one point, an onscreen strangulation and at least two occasions of people being shot, as well as implied/offscreen torture, murder and bombings.
305 | list challenges: 100 books & 100 games!
Apr. 12th, 2025 08:09 amstraightforwardlyI’ve been having so much fun with that book/lists meme that has been going around, and last night I finally finished one of my own! …And then promptly went on to make a second one that same night. And then started a third one that I haven’t finished yet, whoops.
First: 100 Books That Impacted Me In Some Shape Or Form! Deliberately excluding manga/graphic novels because I feel like that could be a whole list on its own.
I spent so much time fiddling with this list, debating on what it means for a book to be impactful, where exactly the difference between “impactful” and “enjoyed” lies, and where any particular book I chose would fall on that scale… do not ask how many hours I poured into this, lol. (And then, of course, after forcing myself to stop thinking about it and just post it, I immediately thought of like 5 more books that really should have been on this list! Isn’t that how it goes.)
After making that list (and sharing it with some people), I started thinking about making a list for games I’ve played as well. Since I do much less gaming than reading, I figured I’d make it easier for myself and aim for 50 games instead. So I opened up my backloggery, began making my way through, and… ended up with 75+ games without even really trying asdfghjkl; haha.
And thus: 100 Games Beloved By Me, featuring many visual novels and indie games, because I am who I am. I had to add so many of these to the database… But also plenty of jrpgs, because, again, I am who I am and I love what I love, haha. <3
All of these are games I really enjoyed at the time I played them; I make no promises about how they hold up now.
I would really love to hear how much overlap we have on either or both of these lists! As well as any more specific thoughts you might have on the books and games featured there <3
(As mentioned above, I have started a third list—for beloved/formative manga reads—though it’s slower going due to the amount of fan translations I read as a teenager that I no longer remember titles for… If I ever do finish it, I’ll share here! Also contemplating making another list for anime… but that will also have to wait.)
First: 100 Books That Impacted Me In Some Shape Or Form! Deliberately excluding manga/graphic novels because I feel like that could be a whole list on its own.
I spent so much time fiddling with this list, debating on what it means for a book to be impactful, where exactly the difference between “impactful” and “enjoyed” lies, and where any particular book I chose would fall on that scale… do not ask how many hours I poured into this, lol. (And then, of course, after forcing myself to stop thinking about it and just post it, I immediately thought of like 5 more books that really should have been on this list! Isn’t that how it goes.)
After making that list (and sharing it with some people), I started thinking about making a list for games I’ve played as well. Since I do much less gaming than reading, I figured I’d make it easier for myself and aim for 50 games instead. So I opened up my backloggery, began making my way through, and… ended up with 75+ games without even really trying asdfghjkl; haha.
And thus: 100 Games Beloved By Me, featuring many visual novels and indie games, because I am who I am. I had to add so many of these to the database… But also plenty of jrpgs, because, again, I am who I am and I love what I love, haha. <3
All of these are games I really enjoyed at the time I played them; I make no promises about how they hold up now.
I would really love to hear how much overlap we have on either or both of these lists! As well as any more specific thoughts you might have on the books and games featured there <3
(As mentioned above, I have started a third list—for beloved/formative manga reads—though it’s slower going due to the amount of fan translations I read as a teenager that I no longer remember titles for… If I ever do finish it, I’ll share here! Also contemplating making another list for anime… but that will also have to wait.)