The Politics of Race in American Film: Episode 3, Class, Gender and Freedom at the Edges of American Society

The Politics of Race in American Film

Contributor(s): Melanie Hoyes, Dr. Luisa Heredia | In this episode of The Politics of Race in American Film, Dr. Clive James Nwonka hosts a conversation with Melanie Hoyes (British Film Institute), Dr. Luisa Heredia (Sarah Lawrence College), and Dr. Shelley Cobb (University of Southampton) about the films American Honey and The Florida Project. Each film examines the experiences of people on the fringes of American society: for Star, American Honey’s protagonist, joining a traveling group of magazine-selling teenagers offers her the freedom of the road. For Mooney and her mother Halley, freedom is harder to come by as they live in the shadow of one of America’s most potent cultural icons, Walt Disney World. This conversation explores the films’ themes of economic precarity, the absence and ineptitude of the state as a site of assistance, and the communities that form outside of that system. The discussion also explores depictions of Latinidad, biracial identity, gender and white femininity. Contributors: Melanie Hoyes, Industry Inclusion Executive, British Film Institute (BFI); Dr. Luisa Heredia, Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy, Sarah Lawrence College; Dr. Shelley Cobb, Associate Professor of Film, University of Southampton; Dr. Clive James Nwonka, Fellow International Inequalities Institute, LSE