Blog 16: Scene Response

I have viewed the film O about three or four times now, and I liked it better this viewing because I noticed more of the film techniques. I want to discuss the montage where Odin watches Desi and Michael, looking for signs that they are more than friends. There is a point where he looks at them through a doorway that he doesn't enter, through a window where Desi sees him but he doesn't acknowledge her, and through a gate onto a patio. I really like this sequence because all of the threshholds involved indicate that Odin is again seeing himself as an outsider at this school. His race and class differentiate him, and the status he has gained as a basketball player has masked his difference for awhile, but now that he is unsure of Desi, he is reminded that there is a door between him and his white classmates that might be closed against him at any time and might even now be shut. So, his questioning of Desi's loyalty is more than merely her fidelity; it's about his own worth and his own ability to succeed in a white world.