“I think sometimes laughter is the best way to talk about serious issues, because it stays in your head longer. Dramas are great and I’d like to do one, but at the moment I’m loving laughter.”
Tight Jeans (2012) directed by Destiny Ekaragha is a light comedy that addresses wider topics and attitudes towards individuals from different cultures and experiences due to differing identities. The three friends address these topics in a very comedic manner, attributing many of these differences which tie in with racial tensions and divides to somewhat comedic sources. The film expertly explores the ignorances we can hold inside as the boys notice a white guy walking in skinny jeans as they wait for their friend, which prompts them to ask “how can a man wear jeans that tight?”, leading to further discussions.
Mise-en-scene
The characters are largely shaped by the use of mise-en-scene, in specific, costume and style. The initial shots of the market environment and use of vibrant colours creates an engaging and diverse landscape, the range of shots being used to show the variety of styles of clothing present. Even these establishing shots are used to convey the importance of style and clothing, and what one's fashion choices can say about them in broader cultural, socio-economical and political ways.
In the shot of the 3 black teenagers, first there is a close up of their shoes, Nike trainers worn by all of them, consequently showing how they are together all being youths in the black British community. Through this, Ekaragha conveys how their similar taste in shoes , jeans and hoodies is a symbol of their shared racial and ethnic identity, further leading on to how they might also share similar opinions.
This use of clothing as a medium through which to represent differing identities is further reinforced by the tracking shot of the white character wearing skinny jeans, demonstrating that he is separate from the group, and instead in his own white British community and experience, his ‘tribe’ is different (emo). His converse, tight jeans and zipped up dark hoodie as well as band tshirt are all intentional choices. This being the medium through which dialogue arises in the group of friends, as to why these differences exist.
Dialogue & Subtext
Dialogue is used in the short film to address wider topics concerning race, history, slavery and attitudes towards individuals from different cultures that arise due to these elements. The short film encompasses a conversation stemming from what wearing tight jeans says about an individual, leading to further discussion as to why white people are able to wear tight jeans and black people are not, the characters attributing this to anatomical differences in the sizes of their ‘package’.
This initially comedic conversation,although maintaining its essence throughout the short film, addresses serious matters such as slavery and sexual politics in a light manner. The young man in the striped orange hoodie argues that slavery originated due to white men being threatened by the masculinity and anatomical superiority of black men, afraid that their wives would leave them for the other. Although mostly incorrect and light-hearted, they still address the subject matter and subtext in an engaging way, making it more memorable for the spectator. The character in the blue hoodie also states that he does not like and would never be with a white woman, a statement which is argued to be possibly racist, however his justification of white women wanting black fathers for their children as to have a mixed race baby contains truth to it. Similarly, the statement of how lots of people have roots in Africa due to civilization starting in Africa is also a seed of truth, ‘we populated the whole planet’.
Sexual politics are also relevant for the dialogue and structure of the film. Destiny Ekaragha having written and directed tight jeans as a young black woman makes the reasoning present within the short film much more satirical, however had the writer and director been a young black man, this could have been a more literal interpretation of events. Just some food for thought.
Comedy: Can you make a serious point using comedy
Although the short film is structured around the young men having a conversation around the size of their ‘package’ and its ties to historical events and realities, which does create a sort of ‘nonsense’ element to Tight Jeans, creating a comedic tone where the spectator is both laughing with and at the characters (due to the nature of the screenplay being by a young black woman who has probably been exposed to many a conversation like this before), there are also serious elements of truth to their conversation. Consequently, I believe that comedy can be used to make a serious point without stripping the point of any validity or significance. For example, even when one of the boys argues that slavery was due to having ‘bigger dicks’, there are ties with slavery and anatomical differences, therefore serious subjects being explored in a comedic way. Ultimately, the film does contain socio-racial-economic truths, little moments which highlight actual issues, the comedic explanations making you think about it longer.
