Review of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Movie Review (Movie Review Sample)

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“Their Eyes Were Watching God” Film Analysis
The Role of Speech and Silence in the Film “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
Speech is an important aspect of all human interactions as it helps in bringing out one’s personality and emulate strength and power. Counter to that, silence is also a useful tool to emulate weakness, powerlessness, and self-assertion. Therefore, both speech and silence form an important mechanism of control and a vehicle for liberation. Such dichotomy of speech and silence is evident in the film and novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” as Janie voices out what is within or chooses to stay silent. The film tells the story of a powerful, self-reliant woman who struggles to express herself as she is always silenced in her journey to self-discovery. However, she eventually acquires a “voice” which transforms her into an independent, mature, and articulate woman. Therefore, the film employs speech and silence to symbolize Janie’s revolution from a woman with no identity to one that understands herself and role in the world.
Janie’s silence in the film begins when she lives her life as per the expectations of her nanny. Having taken the hard road herself, she tries to give Janie a happy life by setting her up with Logan Killicks. Logan is an older man but his possession of sixty acres of land takes centre-stage in the conversation between Janie and her nanny. Although she has the best intentions for Janie, her dream man does not match up with Janie’s expectation due to the age difference and lack of romance. Despite this, Janie obliges to marry the old man despite her need for a blossoming relationship. She keeps silent even though she is uncomfortable being Logan’s wife. It is after spending time married that she finally speaks out when she tells him that she will leave. In so doing, she develops a speech temporarily which is later cut short when she marriages Jody who dominates her leading to the former silence in the midst of oppression.