Event: Dirty Computer Screening by Janelle Monae

One on campus event I went to this semester was a screening of Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer in Gaige 100. Dirty Computer is a visual album or an “Emotion Picture”. While I had watched it before, on my own laptop, watching it projected onto the big screen in Gage 100 was a completely different experience. The film focuses on themes of race, sexuality, gender, and an overall criticism of American Society.  The film follows the character of Jane 57821 as she is captured by the government and her memories are being wiped away since she is a “dirty computer”. As this is happening her memories play and you see her partying with her friends, being stopped by cops, her relationship, and ultimately her arrest, all with a song critiquing the overall issues which are occuring playing. Following the screening, there was a discussion led by Pegah.
 The first aspect discussed was how there are so many layers and details in the film relating to each of the themes, both through the lyrics and the visuals that there is always something new to notice. Also, there was a lot of discussion on the identity aspects discussed throughout the film. Janelle monae herself is a queer woman of color, and each of those identity aspects are touched upon through her character. In addition to this, other key identities can be seen throughout the other characters and themes in the film. This is the aspect of the film and event which most ties to our class, through the anchor of Identity. Dirty Computer is rooted in the different identities in our society, and how any that go against the dominant ideologies are seen as lower, wrong, or dirty.
The discussion then went on to discuss the rise of music video films to make comments on society, such as Beyonce’s Lemonade and Childish Gambino’s This Is America, in addition to Dirty Computer.  There was also then a discussion on how the commentary in each of those videos is different and the vibe and story they are telling. While both This is America and Dirty Computer are critiquing our society, in This is America the dancing and partying aspects are portrayed as a distraction from the issues in our society. Contrarily to this, Dirty Computer utilizes these aspects to portray the identities and issues that are arising, and to provide a sense of hope.