Review: The Watermelon Woman
Cheryl Dunye has built a career off of one moral concept – making sure to tell stories she cares about, that anyone and everyone can care about as well. Written, directed and starring Dunye herself, The Watermelon Woman is about Cheryl Dunye’s character, a young black lesbian filmmaker, who probes into the life of “The Watermelon Woman”, a 1930s black actress who played 'mammy' archetypes. This film is special in many ways. From the direction style, the mirroring story telling of “The Watermelon Woman’s” life to Cheryl’s personal life, but also how the film’s reflexive storyline is also a representation of how some black lesbian women may feel about their lives today and in the past. Dunye’s personal story and feelings are important because she herself has made an emphasis of wanting to highlight representation in the film industry over her long, successful career.
“The Watermelon Woman”, whose real name was Fae Richards, was a beautiful black woman who grew up in the city this film is based in, Philadelphia, which is also the same city that Liberian born Dunye grew up in as well. Dunye, through her own story and through trying to tell Ms. Richards’ story, inadvertently gives the audience a brief lesson into the history of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is of course a very historic city, having one of the richest histories in the country, but what she chooses to focus on is the black film history of the city, while still making it about Fae Richards. Fae Richards grew up in Philadelphia and was a singer in clubs. She wanted to become an actress and was introduced to a director, Martha Page, who then cast her as “The Watermelon Woman” in her films. Richards would work with Page, get involved with her sexually, be type-casted continuously as a “mammy” figure (‘mammy’ meaning the black, caretaking maid who’s supportive and jovial for no particular reason), until she finally chose to return to Philadelphia because she wanted to make films that meant something to her. Unsurprisingly, Philadelphia did indeed have a black film scene in the 1930s and 40s, but the films were never screened because theaters knew they wouldn’t make any money from black films.
This history lesson we’re given is very real. Black actors and actresses being type-casted for specific racial roles is very real, however, there was never a watermelon woman. Dunye’s brilliance in this film is how she came up with the idea for the film. She claims that she would always see black actors and actresses in films of those times that would never be given a proper name in the cast. No real name, just something to describe what they did/were. So, she came up with “The Watermelon Woman” a common stereotype and used her to show how these actors were real people, with real stories of their own and real lives of their own. Not only that but attaching her to a white woman who used her sexually and for her films, applies to what Dunye goes through as well in this film as she falls in love with a white, lesbian film buff that visits the video store Cheryl works in.
It’s not easy to do what Dunye did with this film. It would be one thing to have her storyline go along with her making a documentary about a real person in the history of film, but to be able to write a fictional documentary that seems so true, while she mirrors the same thing in her personal life is truly incredible. Dunye is also able to show how interracial couples are seen in society as well, straight or queer. She does this by having her best friend, Tamara (played by Valarie Walker), play the necessary devil’s advocate. Tamara immediately distrusts Cheryl’s relationship with Diana (played by Guinevere Turner). She asks the tough questions about Diana’s infatuation with black people and why she’s so fixated on Cheryl. Cheryl is blind to all of it, but as Fae Richards’ story develops, as does Cheryl’s realization. Truly incredible writing on Dunye’s part.
An ingenious plot and the will to push representation lead to Cheryl Dunye’s breakthrough into the film industry. Dunye had made several short films before The Watermelon Woman, most of them related to black female and queer representation, but this is truly her breakout film and it has had a lasting impact. The film was the very first feature film directed by a black lesbian woman and was only done so on a $300,000 budget. This film was released in 1996 and Cheryl Dunye has continued to see success in her film career, the way she sees fit. She has directed episodes for The Chi, Queen Sugar, andLovecraft Country. She continues to push for representation in the film industry and we should all continue to thank her for her efforts.
