Madagascar and African American Queerness
And if I say that under the surface of Madagascar is a story of black New Yorkers exploring their identity as Americans and Africans. Specifically Marty expressing the desire to find where he’s from and hopefully find something in himself he feels he’s missing living in America. While Alex is absolutely in love with New York and has only ever considered himself to be American and specifically a New Yorker.
But through Alex’s strong negative reaction to Marty’s expressed desire to leave New York, even if only temporarily, also begins the themes of queerness in the movie. As Alex doesn’t know that he loves Marty in that way and doesn’t realize his strong aversion to the idea of him leaving is him unconsciously knowing he will miss him. Though he chalks it up to “Marty is insane to want to leave New York and go to “wild” country’s, that’s dangerous and he’s going to get hurt”. Also kinda showing at how Alex has bought into the American propaganda about African country’s.
I don’t quite know what them getting sent out by the people to represent (possibly deportation but it’s really literal and I don’t subscribe to that fully) but once they get to Madagascar, this kicks of the second act.
Madagascar is not the right country. While we can see the characters as animals clearly from Southern/mid Africa, they as zoo animal characters, do not.
Marty tries it out and talks to the native people who live there and finds them fun but doesn’t learn as much about himself or his identity as he was hoping.
Alex on the other hand learns ALOT about himself here but not about his identity as a black man but as a Queer man.
Away from the western culture, fast paced, distracting life in New York, Alex is forced to sit with feeling he would otherwise not think much about. He dreams of eating steak and licks Marty’s butt that one time. He doesn’t understand why he does this or what it implies about himself. But we the audience clearly see that Alex is a carnivorous animal that “eats” others. But Alex himself doesn’t know that.
As the film moves into the third act, all the characters come to key realizations. That they don’t fit well in Madagascar and that Alex desires to eat other animals and is now an “other” at the moment he fully tries to eat Marty because he is starving.
Alex takes this the hardest and self isolates from everyone for “eating” others because it is shameful and wrong and he doesn’t want to hurt his best friend even thought that IS nature.
But by the end where he saves Marty from the Fusa and the penguins arrive with the boat, he learns that being a carnivore is not shameful and doesn’t mean he’s dangerous to his friends (he can eat fish). He also meets Marty where he’s at, expressing that traveling to learn more about yourself is probably a good thing.
Obviously I’ve been expressing that Alex’s carnivorous nature to be the allegory to same sex attraction. And while I also think Marty is queer his character is rooted in him learning about his racial identity and so his animal species reflects that narrative and comes more into play in the second movie.
And speaking of the second movie I could write about ten times I did here about that, as the themes of queerness and reconnecting with your roots are not as subtle in that movie but that might be saved for another day.
