Locations of the M/othership: Black Women as Fugitive Archetype of Resistance

The basic concept underpinning Jamika Ajalon's short film Locations of the M/othership—based on an audiovisual art gallery installation featuring cyclical repetition of avant-garde imagery, eerie musical chords, and cryptic sentences spoken by an authoritative, disembodied voice—is a reconsideration of the role of black women in science fiction films. Unfortunately, what might have been a fascinating experiment in its original setting (where viewers could move throughout the installation) fails when shoehorned into the cinematic medium. Ajalon's thesis is that women of color play a dual role as an alien force and a symbol of a home planet, but none of the clips shown—including footage of Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura from Star Trek, Gloria Foster's Oracle from The Matrix, and Gina Torres' Helen from Cleopatra 2525—offer anything to confirm her assertion. Also included are photos of Harriet Tubman and 1960s radical activist Angela Davis, plus solarized footage of the sun moving through the sky, all of which is backed by monotonous music and a repetitive commentary track ostensibly about African American women in film. A well-intentioned but confusing foray into experimental filmmaking, this is not recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)