Abstract
This chapter discusses Lars von Trier’s Manderlay and what he exposes about race in the United States. What seems like an uninteresting critique of white, American liberalism really gets to the heart of the all-encompassing aspect of whiteness that permeates the drama and by extension the culture of the United States. This meditation reflects upon this thesis by examining several aspects of the film including the stage set and lighting, the storyline, the plot, the main protagonist’s liberalism and fetishization of black experience and bodies, and the denouement. In the end, what von Trier reveals in Manderlay is a white universe of the United States that is foundational, ordering, perpetual, and irrepressible even as it seems to have disappeared or receded into the background going seemingly unnoticed.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Anker (2016) makes a similar point in the context of the second emancipation.
- 3.
Bainbridge (2007) provides a nice reading of Manderlay which offers similar insights.
- 4.
Anker’s second and third emancipations can be read as critiques of liberalism, see also Lloyd (2008).
- 5.
For interesting discussion of agency in Manderlay , see Doughty (2007).
- 6.
For an analysis of Manderlay that focuses the black body, particularly from a Lacanian lens, see Elbeshlawy (2014).
References
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Bainbridge, Caroline. 2007. The Cinema of Lars von Trier: Authenticity and Artifice. London: Wallflower Press.
Bradshaw, Peter. 2006. Review of Manderlay (film), directed by Lars von Trier. The Guardian, March 3. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/mar/03/2.
Doughty, Ruth. 2007. Manderlay (2005): Lars von Trier’s Narrative of Passing. New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 5 (2): 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1386/ncin.5.2.153/1.
Ebert, Roger. 2006. Review of Manderlay (film), directed by Lars von Trier. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/manderlay-2006.
Elbeshlawy, Ahmed. 2014. Lars von Trier’s Manderlay: The Black Body as a Cinematic Gift. Sexuality and Culture 18: 719–734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9235-4.
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Lloyd, Vincent. 2008. Law, Grace, and Race: The Political Theology of Manderlay. Theory & Event 11 (3). https://doi.org/10.1353/tae.0.0012.
Wilmington, Michael. 2006. Von Trier’s Trilogy Tackles U.S. Racism in Stylish ‘Manderlay’. Chicago Tribune, February 17. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-02-17-0602170261-story.html.
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Haro, J.A. (2019). Manderlay and the Universe of American Whiteness. In: Haro, J., Koch, W. (eds) The Films of Lars von Trier and Philosophy. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24918-2_4
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