Wednesday 7 December 2011

White Girl

What does 'White Girl' say about identity, youth, modernist and post modernist cocepts of identity?

'White Girl' shows how concepts of identity have changed over time. Whilst the main character, Leah, has a post modernist concept of identity, the older generations have a more modernist concept of identity and believe that Leah should inherit her identity from them. Michel Maffesoli's view that people 'try on' different identity's is demonstrated in 'White Girl' when Leah turns to religion and becomes a muslim, showing her identity through her head scarf that she wears. The rest of her family disagree with what she is doing and believe she is embarrassing them because she is different to what they believe she should be like. This shows that youth's identity fits with Mikhail Baklin's view that identity is never finalised. We are forever changing and it is a journey that we go through.

'White Girl' shows that identity is a narrative of the self. It demonstrates both Paul Ricoeur and Anthony Giddens, showing that we create a narrative for our lives and follow this is find our identity, trying on others in the mean time. Giddens said that we keep evolving our identity, this is demonstrated throughout 'White Girl' in the way Leah changes from being forced to be a drug dealer, becoming a muslim and then being with her family in the end. Her identity changes throughout the film and she shows this through the ways she dresses and behaves, which takes on a post modernist concept of identity. Leah's identity is a reflexive project which she works on through out the film to find her identity.