Killer
of Sheep, directed by Charles Burnett, provides a picture of
African Americans living in Los Angeles post Watts Riots. The beginning of the
movie establishes the code of manhood that is carried throughout the film. During
the scene that starts at 1:00:30 and ends at 1:03:30, the concept of manhood
that was instilled in him is questioned.
The
scene starts with Stan entering his home and pushing down the boys outside
standing on their heads. The pushing of the children emphasizes how Stan does
not have time for childhood or other childish things like simple games. Stan
figuratively pushes his childhood away as he enters his house as a man coming
home from a hard day’s work. Also when Stan’s eldest son slams his chair as he
leaves the table, all Stan does is gaze after him. The violent domination of
Stan’s parents is absent in the way that Stan approaches his own son. His son
is allowed to leisurely stretch, slam the chair into the table, and not even
clear his plate without any word from Stan. This lack of strict parenting may
be seen as a refusal to maintain the code of violence displayed to Stan by his
own parents.
Stan
is so disengaged from his family that he barely looks at his wife through their
conversation. The wife, however, keeps her eyes locked and pleading on Stan’s
face. Stan mentions his want of another job and she responds with “let’s go to
bed.” Stan’s desire for a new line of work and his resistance to his wife’s
offer illustrates how he wants something more than a life rife with poverty for
the children that he has already and someday may bring into this world. Stan
does not want his children to become like the sheep, being corralled and forced
through a chute to their deaths by a society that does little to help.
In
a previous scene in the movie Stan’s wife asks him why he will not smile. But
in the scene from 1:00:30 to 1:03:30, Stan does get a chance to smile. The
small, delicate nature of Stan’s daughter as she stands before him and then
proceeds to rub his shoulders offers Stan comfort that his wife is unable to
give. His wife sees his rejection of her as something possibly related to her
age as she watches her young daughter rub his shoulders. The wife and the
daughter make eye contact frequently while the daughter massages her father’s
shoulders. This connection highlights the wife’s desire for her lost youth as
well as a possible attempt by the wife to imagine that she is in her daughter’s
place gaining affection from her husband who has long since seemed to have lost
interest.
This
scene shows how Stan has been broken by the standard of a violent and rigid
manhood that leaves no room for delicate men. While his wife may assume that
Stan rejects her because she is no longer youthful, he is really trying to
protect his children and possible future children from a dangerous society. Stan’s
call for help to be saved from the oppressive force of the preconceived notions
of manhood place upon him by society comes in the form of saying that he needs
another job. The violence he endures at the slaughterhouse tears away at his
spirit until there is nothing left but a man who cannot sleep or make love to
his wife. While Stan does not fit in the typical version of manhood, he can still
find comfort in the delicate disposition of his daughter providing him a chance
to truly be happy and smile.
While this image is not directly from the scene I chose, it does illustrate Stan's disconnected nature and his wife's pleading.
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