Three Toe

 

After watching, “Brother from Another Planet,” I found there to be some really interesting takes on Afrofuturism that we have not seen yet. A slave from another planet gets dropped off in Harlem where he has to find his way about a completely different way of life. I found a  interesting parallel between him coming from a place that treated him so poorly and getting dropped in a place that so recently in time, he would have suffered a similar fate. Another interesting element I found in the film are the men in black. Their aesthetic of dress reminded me of the movie, “Men in Black,” but this movie came far before. This made sense to me as these men in black, although not human, were focused on ridding the “aliens” and more specifically returning them to where they came from. Their movements almost mirrored each other and gave a very robotic effect. Another element of the men in black that I found interesting was how they screeched at each other when they made a discovery or were communicating with each other. It truly startled me! It was hard to tell what their intention was behind it, but I was not expecting such a brutal noise. I think this represents how shockingly frightening the white man has been and still is to so many people of color and almost anyone who does not fit that description. This is shown in the white woman who houses the three toe alien man as a kind act. She finds more safety away from white men and white community, which is telling about how prejudice and judgmental white culture can be. Lastly, I found the relationship between the alien and the young boy very sweet and hopeful. I found this connection to be representative of the innocence of youth.