I have questions about Skin. It was so pleasant to watch, the quality of the images and the way the bodies of the rich interviewees moved was gorgeous.

Documentaries should help us interrogate society. So may I ask?

👇🏿
1a. Why were the rich interviewees presented like art but the poor ones presented like pity cases? The camera already told me how to interact with the subjects...adore Hilda, Eku and Beverly. But pity sex worker and unmarried bleaching cream seller.

Be intrigued by Bob.
1b. Milk baths, dance-like shots, beautiful hair movements from the rich interviewees. In a well-lit studio. Topless interviews to show how gorgeous their skin is. Both light and dark.

But the poor ones...🙄
2a. The owner of Cookie Skin said that she leaves the terms 'whitening' on her products to encourage people looking for those bleaching products to use a healthy and safe 'toning' product which doesn't bleach but actually brings out everyone's brighter shade...
2b. ...then she says she has no problem with whitening being on her products but would consider removing the term for her daughter because she doesn't want her thinking she should be lighter.

Why was she not questioned along these lines? It would have made for some depth.
3. It would have been lovely to have everyone share their experience either with discrimination or privilege based on their skin color. Instead Hilda was given the role to admonish. So much could have been gleaned from her experience.
4. Apart from Bob, whose existence in the documentary was a breath of fresh air (Bob answered questions honestly and gave us insight we did not know before), no other 'rich' person who had bleached and stayed bleached was interviewed. Lots we could have learned from that.
5. Why was the lady who was mixing 500 Naira products crying? After comforting her, we could have learned what moved her to tears. It was a very powerful move for the director to leave it open and up to our assumption but there are so many different reasons why she was crying.
6. What did the trip to the village add to the story? That may have been a new documentary; not sure it was cohesive with Skin.

Thanks to @BeverlyNaya and Etim Effiong for this documentary. We haven't seen it before. And kudos for exploring this topic 💪🏿
You can follow @funmioyatogun.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:

By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.