blogpost 3
Oftentimes, individuals depict horror and fear that result from external forces. Horror is not capable of permeating through one’s own home. A home is believed to be a safe space-- a place where one can find sanctuary and stillness amidst the horrors of the world. The film, Eve’s Bayou places a focus on family life and how sometimes it is the people and places one seeks solace in that can scar you the most.
Through social nuances and norms, we are taught to believe that nothing is thicker than blood- that family should always be forgiven. Through this ideal, many individuals carry a pain within them that offers no resolution or retribution. Eve’s character is one that defies all of these beliefs. As her aunt, she is blessed with the gift of clairvoyance-- with the gift of sight. By utilizing magic realism, this film exposes the thin line between spirituality and reality. Eve is not only capable of predicting events, such as the death of her uncle, but she is the only family member that sees all. She carries an omniscient view of the world, but more specifically her family. That is the true horror in this film. At such a young age, it seems that she aged too quickly. In essence, she lost her childhood. The loss of her childhood was not brought upon to her by any external force, it was within her home, her family dynamics that causes her to live with a burden that is too heavy for a child. Secrets and their cover-ups run fluid in her home that ultimately result in the untimely death of her father. While horrific, it is rooted in reality. Eve’s Bayou serves as a reminder that within a home and within a family there must be transparency. What is left in the dark gives rise to assumptions, thoughts, and feelings that are not actively dealt with. It leads to isolating feelings-- believing that the world is on your shoulders and it is your sole duty to fix it. Most of the black women in this film feel like this. As a black woman, it often feels like the weight is on our shoulders, and most times we carry it with grace and get the job done. Eve, her sister and mother highlight this in the film. They all carry the same fate and feelings yet handle it in different ways. In sharing our pain, it is possible to stop it from being transmitted. Most individuals' first scar came from within their families, and they carry this with them for their whole life whether it is ptsd, attachment styles-- it starts in the home. All it takes is one secret, one event to change the course of one’s life and one’s mind. Sometimes horror isn’t bloody or overt, it is silent and comes in the form of someone you love.
