Race and Racism

The story's conflict is really a conflict over race and representation: Granny believes that the filmmakers have no right, uninvited, to shoot footage of her, her family, and her home; the filmmakers, meanwhile, are attempting to use her life to make a political and social statement, sponsored by the state government, about the black rural poor. The filmmakers, then, want to see the family as "representative" or "typical"; Granny sees herself and her family as individuals. This difference in attitude is demonstrated in the first dialogue between the filmmakers and Granny. When they first approach Granny, they fail to greet her. She interrupts them with an ironic "Good mornin." They respond sheepishly, with a guilty, hangdog expression. They continue, though, referring to Granny as "aunty," a condescending, stereotypical term used for older black women. Later in the story, when Camera repeats the appellation, Granny snaps backs...