Black Girl/ And so Angels Die - Cait Collins

I have to say outright that I absolutely loved the film and the layers within it that can pull in people of varying backgrounds. I found that aspect to be absolutely stunning, I was utterly drawn in and saw a piece of myself with the main character. She represents all of us, anyone who has been mistreated over something trivial such as skin color, gender, ethnicity, class level, education level. Her employers act as if they are her liberators. They see themselves as giving Diouna opportunities that she never would have had back home, yet they refuse to see how much they have taken of her, how much of her soul they have slowly stolen away.


The mask that Diouna gives her employers represents so many things, perhaps it is a symbolic olive branch that represents bygones over the negative influence of the French in the past when they colonized her home. The mask could symbolize her culture that the employees objectify, look at with whimsy, see as nothing more as a passing interest; something they wish to absorb for themselves. Lastly the mask could symbolize simply an element of Diouna. The mask represents a piece of herself that she is willing to share with her employers. In the beginning she is willing to share apart of herself because her employers were fair and treated her with respect. When she takes the mask away it shows that she is no longer willing to share this part of herself anymore, her employers have taken more than their fair share, and Diouna won't stand for anymore of it.


Diouna's suicide is a rejection of her soul, her personhood being taken away by people who treat her like property. As I mentioned in class, I think Diouna's suicide represents the idea that her employers should realize they are no better than her. She will bring down her employers to the level they have placed her at. Instead of cleaning the filth of her employers she will make them clean after her. Diouna didn't choose a clean way to die, it was messy. Her employers will never be able to wash their hands of the suffering they caused to another person. I found the death to almost represent a Shakespearean level of drama. One part of Macbeth comes to mind when I think of Diouna's employers having to relive her death...


"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t.

Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie!

A soldier, and afeard?

What need we fear who knows it,

when none can call our power to account?

—Yet who would have thought the old man

to have had so much blood in him". (her)



It's almost as if her employers will respond "Out out damn spot" every time they look at that tub. They will always see the blood dripping down the side of the bath even after it has been washed away. They will always have to know what they had driven her to. Their money wasn't enough for her to sell her soul to them, it wasn't enough to take away who she was. Her refusal to comply was a statement for which she says "I will not let you destroy me".


For as much as I liked Black Girl, that's how much I disliked And so Angels Die. And So Angels die represents another form of clashing ethnic backgrounds and belief; we become aware of the conflict that Mory faces between living within the French society and trying to resolve the issues that his ethnic background of being from Senegal brings. Mory's wife is oblivious to the fact that he may not be able to hold down a job due to the fact that the French society does not give him the respect or opportunities he deserves. Secondly his step-father who is only aware of the social constructs within Senegal is frustrated that he is not taking a second wife which is custom. Mory is left to attempt to mesh these two greatly differing elements of his life together. He finally comes to terms with the fact that he will never be able to fulfill the expectations of either society due to trying to appease both, he must remove himself from the situation and find a way to make himself happy.

And So Angels Die seemed to lack a lot of the depth that Black Girl possessed, rather instead of focusing in depth at the difficulties living within two culture, it focuses on the trivial issue of trying to make two people with two ideas happy, which leaves the person trying to make happiness for others in a state of being absolutely miserable. I’ve observed other films that have represented the culture class issue much better ( ex. Entre les murs), this film didn’t bring the struggles of this issue to its fullest depth.