‘Passing’ | Netflix | Tessa Thompson & Ruth Negga

[Jello Biafra]

I thought Rebecca Hall did a good job with the direction of the movie and Ruth Negga was great in her role but the movie itself was so meandering and that ending was a total head scratcher.
Plus Tessa Thompson was not good. Its like she was trying too hard to act like the way they did back in the 40s and 50s that it came off as forced.

 

[Ahadi]

In

 

[Amerikan Melanin]

Ruth Negga looks just like my grandmother she ain’t passing for shyt but black.

 

[mastermind]

I didn’t understand the movie

 

[mastermind]

Why do people on the internet love to act as if the only thing that moves ca.n be about are plot?

I agree, but this movie was all over the place that it was confusing as to what it wanted to say.

 

[Drew Wonder]

I remember reading the book in college but I forgot what happened. Reading the description again seems like the movie was pretty faithful to it.

My interpretation

Spoiler

Irene was both attracted to Clare but also extremely jealous of her. I think a part of Irene wanted to "pass" as white as well. The beginning scene hinted at this when she was passing at the hotel. You could see the mixture of guilt and exhilaration she had when she realized people thought she was white. But she couldn't fully commit to it. And even though she didn't deny her blackness, was married to a black dude and was raising two black boys she still had a few tendencies. Like her refusal to talk about the "racial problem" with her kids and how mad she got whenever her husband told their kids about what was really happening to Black folks. Also, the fact that she had a black maid and how close she was to her white associate.

Irene was also jealous of Clare's ability to both pass as white and enjoy that privilege while still being able to mingle with black folks. Finally, she was jealous of her relationship with her husband and how it seemed like her husband was more attracted to Clare. You mix that in with the fact that she was lowkey attracted to Clare as well and you could see why she was so conflicted. And I like how they left the ending ambiguous, how you weren't sure if Irene was trying to protect Clare from her white husband or if Irene was the one who pushed her out of the window on purpose or if it was a mixture of both, added to her conflicting feelings.

Overall, I appreciated the fact that the movie didn't spoonfeed things to the audience and kept it ambiguous and open to interpretation. I'd rather it do that then try to force a message or be overly didactic, especially considering the fact that a white woman wrote and directed it.

 

[Jello Biafra]

Why do people on the internet love to act as if the only thing that moves ca.n be about are plot?

Great acting performances can overcome a mediocre plot. American Hustle is a perfect example of that happening because the plot was a middling mess but the performances by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence elevated the film past that deficit.

 

[KingofthePenguins]

Great acting performances can overcome a mediocre plot. American Hustle is a perfect example of that happening because the plot was a middling mess but the performances by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence elevated the film past that deficit.

Everything about American Hustle is unimpressive so lol at you bringing that up to exemplify anything

 

[Jello Biafra]

Everything about American Hustle is unimpressive so lol at you bringing that up to exemplify anything

You having bad reading comprehension while also picking fights when people agree with you is probably something you should sort out about yourself.

 

[Cuban Pete]

I refuse to believe that cac Americans were that racially illiterate that they couldn't see these two Betty boop face broads we're mixed

 

[mastermind]

I remember reading the book in college but I forgot what happened. Reading the description again seems like the movie was pretty faithful to it.

My interpretation

Spoiler

Irene was both attracted to Clare but also extremely jealous of her. I think a part of Irene wanted to "pass" as white as well. The beginning scene hinted at this when she was passing at the hotel. You could see the mixture of guilt and exhilaration she had when she realized people thought she was white. But she couldn't fully commit to it. And even though she didn't deny her blackness, was married to a black dude and was raising two black boys she still had a few tendencies. Like her refusal to talk about the "racial problem" with her kids and how mad she got whenever her husband told their kids about what was really happening to Black folks. Also, the fact that she had a black maid and how close she was to her white associate.

Irene was also jealous of Clare's ability to both pass as white and enjoy that privilege while still being able to mingle with black folks. Finally, she was jealous of her relationship with her husband and how it seemed like her husband was more attracted to Clare. You mix that in with the fact that she was lowkey attracted to Clare as well and you could see why she was so conflicted. And I like how they left the ending ambiguous, how you weren't sure if Irene was trying to protect Clare from her white husband or if Irene was the one who pushed her out of the window on purpose or if it was a mixture of both, added to her conflicting feelings.

Overall, I appreciated the fact that the movie didn't spoonfeed things to the audience and kept it ambiguous and open to interpretation. I'd rather it do that then try to force a message or be overly didactic, especially considering the fact that a white woman wrote and directed it.

Everything you said, I picked up on that. I just don’t think it was a good movie. What is it trying to say?

 

[Playaz Eyez]

I refuse to believe that cac Americans were that racially illiterate that they couldn't see these two Betty boop face broads we're mixed

Nah, they’re that stupid and tone deaf. Just like the older white dude that was describing the looks of the black dudes dancing with Claire, where it was almost like he wanted them himself, that depiction is very accurate.

 

[OfTheCross]

Did they put it in black-and-white to hide the fact that neither of these two pass?

 

[Dad]

I watched 30 min. then it hit me the same the chick that was in The Town & Godzilla directed it and stopped.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

I watched 30 min. then it hit me the same the chick that was in The Town & Godzilla directed it and stopped.

What you got against The Town and Godizilla?