Dancehall Queen Analysis

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Recommended: Jamaican cultural aspects

Released in 1997, the film, Dancehall Queen, provides an excellent insight into the intricate culture and class divisions contained within Jamaica. Many concepts that we discussed, both in class, and in the readings regarding the post-British-Colonial Caribbean, are directly paralleled in the film. Among several concepts, a few in particular, hold a great amount of significance to the film’s portrayal of “modern day” Jamaica and the underlying conflicts within its society. Hegemony, popular culture, and the embrace of beauty as a cultural construct are constantly conveyed as essential themes throughout the film.
Heavily discussed in Christine Ho’s writing, “Popular Culture and the Aestheticization of Politics”, the concept of hegemony is regularly …show more content…

Historically, wealthier women with fairer skin lived uptown, while the downtown held a stigma of having more poverty and less attractive, darker- colored women. By offering the opportunity for upward mobility, the ruling class is able to completely control how a person acts and dresses. The more this occurs, the more a given activity, attitude, or way of dressing becomes ingrained in popular culture. This can occur to the point of an entire culture or identity being lost, polluted, or convoluted. Chevannes’ writing addresses the unique aspects of many Jamaican religions. Over the last century, most of these have become lost to the melting pot of different cultures and religions, and the ruling classes’ hegemonic …show more content…

Some individuals know of her true identity, causing her to fear appearing in front of the dancehall’s crowd. The idea that without all of the fake hair and makeup, Marcia is a nobody, exemplifies the film’s ongoing theme of the importance of maintaining individuality, despite the enormous cultural pressure to conform. Concepts such as hegemony, beauty as a cultural construct, and popular culture all circle around intertwine in Dancehall Queen, providing a glimpse into a unique and often neglected place and period of time in

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