The Bluest Eye Video

I was disappointed to learn that there was no "The Bluest Eye" film, so I decided to make my own trailer. I cast Quvenzhane Wallis as Pecola. Of course, Quvenzhane Wallis is an objectively pretty child, and Pecola is supposed to be "ugly". However, I don't believe that Pecola is ugly in the literal sense. I think her poverty makes her "ugly", as in, painful to look at; to digest. Pecola perceives herself as ugly because she doesn't have blue eyes, she isn't white, and she doesn't have the nice clothes or long hair like Maureen.

I included lots of symbolism in the video clip from the novel. The obvious one being the contrast of the blue eyes and black eye which are crucial to the novel. There are clips of Hedy Lamarr, who is mentioned in the novel as having hair to be envious of, therefor she symbolizes this unattainble Eurocentric beauty standard that Pecola craves to reach. There are also clips included from the film "Imitation of Life", which is also mentioned in the novel as Maureen's mother's favorite film. There are clips from both fim adaptions of Lolita. Lolita is a story of a young girl who is repeatedly raped by her step-father in a story which has some similarities but the obvious differences in the tales are illustrated by the film adaptions: Lolita is pretty and Lolita is romanticized. Though I don't believe a romanticized Lolita was either Nabokov's nor Kubrick's nor Lyne's intent-- a large number of Lolita fans glorify the rape of this young girl as love; as something beautiful. Both blue-eyed actresses playing Lolita can be seen with sleepy, pretty expressions as they gaze at the villanous stepfather. This is why Pecola is "the ugly Lolita": her story could never be romanticized. Her story is raw, and real, and the gut-wrenching scenes of her abuse are some of the ugliest in existence. Other Lolita-esque movie scenes are included as well for contrast. Scenes of a forest followed by a man kissing a woman's neck are recreations of the scene of Cholly and Darlene that is a defining moment for him. There is a scene in which a Black hand blurs the reflecton of a conventionally attractive White woman in a pool of water, symbolizing Pecola's daydreaming of being beautiful and being White. I've included a handful of scenes featuring blooming flowers, symbolizing Pecola going through puberty, as detailed in the book. One flower scene features a daisy covered in drops of blood. This is a scene from the Czech film "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" in which Valerie discovers her first period has started when she notices blood on the daisies she was walking through. This, of course, symbolizes the start of Pecola's own menstruation, which was key in the novel. Two clips of Shirley Temple are featured, which I added in as Shirley Temple was mentioned severall times in the book as a source of rage and violence for Claudia, which is why I included a clip of Shirley Temple laughing, followed by choking. I added a couple clips featuring black cats--like the black cat in the scene in which Pecola is blamed for its death. The grim reaper, gravemarkers, storms, and ghost are all representations of the death of Pecola's baby.