Since dabbling in video editing at DVU, I've occasionally made videos outside of my direct coursework. These are some of my favorite videos, including a video essay about gender identity in the film Woman Demon Human, an interview about hunting with Rohynn Gallagher, and a Masking PSA. You can find my other work on my channel.
[0:18] Gender expectations are becoming increasingly irrelevant as people realize they're not the only aspect of someone's lived experience. Typically, when we see this behavior in film, it focuses on a queer-coded character. But this isn't only relevant or exclusive to queer people, as every person lives somewhere on a spectrum of identity and expression. Woman Demon Human is a film that bends these expectations: we follow Qiu Yun as she deals with the struggles of existing outside the binary as she navigates her opera singer/actor career. Her role as Zhong Kui heavily influences her view of herself and how others view her, starting at a young age.
[1:00] The film utilizes visuals to metaphorically show Yun's inner dialogue, often through cryptic scenes from Quelling the Demons (the opera he's from). This disconnect also represents a dissatisfaction within herself, separated from parts of her identity due to societal expectations of who she should be as a woman. The film begins in a space separated from reality: a version of Qiu Yun preparing for a performance of Zhong Kui, split by varying distorted reflections (the exaggerated features lend to physical expectations demanded of her). The film ends rather abruptly (in this same no-space) after she confronts Zhong Kui, finally accepting that part of herself that lives outside of the norm.
[1:47] When Yun first expressed to her father that she wanted to play male roles, his support came with the caveat that he would 'train her like a boy'; implying that in order to play the part, her physical self must be more aligned with the strength and attitude of a man. So -- already as a kid -- she must alienate herself from the traditional stereotypes of femininity. We see her continually wrestle with this part of her identity as she gets older, trying to keep her stage performance separate from her personal life.
[2:17] This scene is soon followed by her being kicked out of a restroom because others thought she was a boy, regardless of how much she and her friends insist they're mistaken. This leads to a crowd (of primarily men) demanding that she "prove it", trying to strip her of her autonomy for the sake of conformity. Society tends to sexualize young girls, this event probably contributed to her withdrawal from masculine and feminine traits (as both have negative consequences).
[2:47] As she gets older, we see Yun's behavior is outside what's expected of her, specifically how she treats her opera teacher, Zhang. The other girls she's with also exclusively refer to her as "tomboy", further isolating her from them. This lack of respect for authority is typically seen as 'boyish' behavior, setting her apart from other girls as a teenager. She's one of the few -- if not only -- student that mocks him. But, she still has a moment after being told off where she vows to curse off anyone who calls her a tomboy, revealing that part of her wants to blend into typical femininity.
[3:25] After this interaction, we see her applying feminine makeup, an attempt "to recover her feminine beauty", when Zhang approaches her. He tells her she looks beautiful and could play female roles if she wanted, but is made for the "kung fu part". This causes her to reflect on who she wants to be, believing the "role she plays will reflect her gender identity" and wanting to embrace her femininity; she believes that her identity and expression must match -- both on and off stage.
[3:56] While Zhang, in contrast, found her beauty to be in the fact that "gender and costume retain their distinctions", finding Yun's separation of the two attractive. A while later, he finds her again (this time in the fields) practicing kung fu; this time he professes his love to her before she exclaims against and leaves. This sequence, in particular, shows her internal conflict, expressing "her fear of returning to a female identity". She's already so far outside of what's expected of her, surely there's no way to return to that, right?
[4:30] One of the last pivotal moments is in response to a potential sabotage of her performance: she spreads red, white, and black paint on her face. This is also the first time we see Yun and Zhong share the same (figurative) space. This is the moment of self-acceptance for Yun, while it may be out of rage, she feels that her existence is a performance switching between masculine and feminine. By smearing the paint on her face, she's not only obstructing the audience's view of her, but the colors themselves represent Woman, Demon, and Human.
[5:02] Throughout the film, Yun is constantly at odds with her identity, specifically with gender. For her, masculinity and feminity were masks that she couldn't wear in tandem, but by the end of the film, she realizes that her gender expression can lie between the two. Overall, it allows her to be comfortable outside of the norm without a mask.
[5:24] Gender expression is a spectrum, and in the eyes of society, how one presents themselves changes how they're treated, which can drastically affect someone's self-view -- by extension. Qiu Yun's Journey throughout Woman Demon Human shows how femininity and masculinity are both attributes of a person that can coexist, rather than be at odds with each other.
[0:08] Well when I was a kid I lived in western Pennsylvania. In western Pennsylvania back then you took hunter safety school, hunter safety courses in middle school. And I think it was in fourth grade maybe, maybe younger, took a riflery class in school. And that was part of the public school system. You know they really taught you how to prepare to be a safe hunter. And the schools out there closed on the first day of deer season every year because hunting was a big part of how people out in western Pennsylvania at that time got their food.
[0:48] So I was exposed to it from very very early on. And there were a lot of, a lot of reasons with my family not really being able to provide that well. We didn't have a lot of food in the cabinets. And so even early on I would go out, I would hunt frogs, skin them and eat them for my dinner. So I learned how to be self-sufficient. It's always been a meaningful part of my life is being able to provide for myself and for my family.
[1:21] I did stop for a while when I was late teenager in my early 20s because where I lived it wasn't practical. I've never liked going off into state game lands. I have a couple times but I prefer being able to hunt on private property as well. So I just, I've always been a little bit nervous around the groups that form on the state game lands. That's where most of the accidents happen. I try to avoid it. Once we moved here with all these woods around us it just was kind of obvious to get back into it, and start hunting again.[2:07] Well I used to use all rifles and then um when I moved here there's no rifles allowed to be used around here, no rifles or shotguns with slugs, it's archery only, and I always liked using a bow but because of surgery I had on my wrist years ago, I have a difficult time drawing a bow back and holding it steady. So when crossbows became legal I just picked it up and I haven't gone back.
[2:50] We have pizza.