Pariah

Plot

A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Release Year: 2011

Rating: 7.0/10 (496 voted)

Critic's Score: 79/100

Director:
Dee Rees

Stars: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis

Storyline
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Cast:

Adepero Oduye
–

Alike

Pernell Walker
–

Laura

Aasha Davis
–

Bina

Charles Parnell
–

Arthur

Sahra Mellesse
–

Sharonda

Kim Wayans
–

Audrey

Shamika Cotton
–

Candace

Raymond Anthony Thomas
–

Mack

(as Ray Anthony Thomas)

Afton Williamson
–

Mika

Zabryna Guevara
–

Mrs. Alvarado

Kim Sykes
–

Mrs. Singletary

Rob Morgan
–

Sock

Nina Daniels
–

Gina (a.k.a. Butch Woman)

Jeremie Harris
–

Bina's Boyfriend

Chanté Lewis
–

Fast Girl #1

Taglines:
Who do you become when you can't be yourself?

Details

Official Website:
Official Facebook |
Official site |

Release Date: 3 Jan 2011

Filming Locations: Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Opening Weekend: $48,579
(USA)
(1 January 2012)
(4 Screens)

Gross: $692,615
(USA)
(19 February 2012)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

USA: 86 min

Quotes:

Mika:
Yeah I like girls. But I LOVE boys.

User Review

A collection of great debuts

Rating:


Newcomer Adepero Oduye plays Alike (Le for short), a seventeen-year old
high-schooler living in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She's
smart and creative, much to the approval of her parents; but to their
dismay, unbeknownst to them (or due to their unwillingness to accept
and/or approve), she's also a lesbian with a masculine persona, or
simply a Pariah.

Alike lives with her much more girly sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse)
and parents. Kim Wayans, best down for her broad comic
characterizations from the 1990's In Living Color, shows off her
dramatic chops as Alike's mother Audrey, a Christian-valued matriarch
who doesn't have so much an agenda, but an affliction. She wants the
best for her daughters, but her religious subscription limits her
ability to love her eldest daughter completely. Unlike most black men
in films about black women, Alike's father Arthur (a stalwart, yet
relaxed Charles Parnell) doesn't always have his daughter's (or wife's)
best intentions in mind, but he's neither shiftless, emasculated,
physically abusive or non-existent as is every man in The Color Purple
and the like.

In an ironic twist, Audrey introduces Alike to the daughter of a
coworker, in hopes of steering her away from the butch influence of her
best friend Laura (a cool, thoughtful Pernell Walker). Though her time
with Bina (Aasha Davis) assumes a predictable route, it doesn't end as
one might expect. To boot, the magnetic personalities of the characters
are sufficient enough to make the trip worth it. As well, their shared
love of alternative music provides one of the best film soundtracks in
quite some time.

In the film's social environment, women who dress as men and love other
women are considered pariahs. Feminine lesbians don't fare much better,
but they, as well as others, view themselves as bisexuals who are going
through a phase. They are not a threat, because of their
non-confrontational gender qualities and the belief is that they'll
eventually assume a more traditional place in society. It's one of the
many conundrums that test Alike and help her become a stronger and
better person, as well as writer.

The inevitable confrontation scene between Alike and her folks arrives
unannounced without much of a consistent buildup. Yet, steering away
from cheap sentimentality, it also avoids any hints of condensation.
There are no martyrs or villains, only fully rounded characters.

It's difficult not to compare Pariah to the recent Precious, as there
are so few films made about African-American women. Lee Daniel's
popular directorial effort was dark, gritty and pulled no punches. And
while it over-indulged in a broad range of emotions, it saved face with
its sharp social commentary. However, along with the newly released The
Help, one had to wonder if the best the marketplace had to offer in
intelligent fare about black women is located at the lower rungs of
society. It's not that those films are unacceptable and not to be
appreciated, but the ghettoization gets to be monotonous.

That being said, Pariah's setting doesn't necessarily break the cycle,
but it's a fine example of compelling storytelling. Directer Dee Rees
is an exciting new filmmaker with great promise. Moving beyond her
personalized debut, I stand in anticipation of where she will go from
here.