Muñoz Identifications
Although The Devil Finds Work goes on to discuss Baldwin’s powerful identifications with Hollywood’s small group of black actors, this mediated and vexed identifications with Davis is one of the most compelling examples of the process and effects that I discuss here as disidentification. The example of Baldwin’s relationship with Davis is a disidentification insofar as the African American writer transforms the raw material of identification (the linear match that leads towards interpellation) while simultaneously positioning himself within and outside the image of the movie star. For Baldwin, disidentification is more than simply and interpretative turn or a psychic maneuver, it is most crucially, a survival strategy.”(Muñoz 18)
In this passage, Muñoz establishes Baldwin’s book The Devil Finds Work as Baldwin’s connection between an audience and the actors as a representation of black actors establishes his existence as a black person, but it is shown through the striking and reductive associations that are shown with Davis. Specifically, this association is to represent this idea of disidentification. The disidentification shows how an African American writer’s identification as it relates to himself from and outside the image of the movie star. Baldwin highlights this idea as a survival strategy from the culture’s ideology’s values or through interpellation.
The use of phrases and words like mediated and vexed and insofar, more than, while demonstrating the elongated layers from how the passage states the definitions of identifications posed to disidentification and the importance of interpellation. The intersection of the African American identity is important to Baldwin’s relationship with Davis as she’s a white actor. More specifically, she is described to be ugly and acts stereotypical of the stereotypical black man’s behavior. Through this identification, he sees how he positions himself and the parallel of positioning himself outside the image of the movie star as these connotations of the black man are not approved or justified. Thus, the disidentification is attuned with interpellation. Thus, I think, in general, my key to the passage is the ideas in which Baldwin’s strong identifications with black men and mediated and vexed identifications intertwine with the importance of disidentification. However, the lock is to understand the idea of disidentification as a survival strategy and how the visual aspect of her lips can portray such a thing. In addition, with the aspect of the survival strategy, I feel conflicted that this strategy involves the demeaning outlook of being labeled as a “disaster” (Muñoz 15), so my question comes to how this affects the way how this view comes to if disidentification can come with both strengths and flaws.