Spaces of Critique & Transformation in Bande de filles
distant wall behind her , quite out of focus , is a soft institutional cream with a thin mauve stripe running horizontally across its entirety . She looks slightly off-camera right , a classic shot / reverse-shot set up — save for the lack of a clear interlocutor . That clarity never comes ; the entire scene , Marieme converses with a disembodied female voice , one that calmly , firmly , and anonymously declares the “ rules ” of Marieme ’ s future with a series of denials and challenges . The young woman ’ s grades are too low to continue high school ; she has to select some kind of vocational training . Marieme objects , but no , she can ’ t repeat this year of school a third time . No , it ’ s not the school ’ s fault . No , pleading won ’ t help . When Marieme refuses to even consider choosing a vocational school , she pleads “ I want to be like everyone else ,” she says . “ Normal .” The voice replies firmly : “ Well , you should have thought about that before now .” Cut to — a bland and anonymous hallway , darkly lit with the same institutional cream paint and chipped blue accents . There are no posters , no other students or faculty ; the only sign visible simply marks the exit with a bland green pictogram . Angrily , Marieme continues to obey the contract , pushing through the exit doors and then , cut to — a long shot of the school ’ s exterior courtyard , empty of people , containing only inflexible concrete , steel and glass .
It is important to note that labeling somewhere a non-place can also be subjective . What is just another Starbucks to a customer can be a vital place of belonging to a long-time employee . For Marieme and her friends , the shopping mall and a hotel room they visit are what I call “ ironic ” non-places . Purely through Augé ’ s lens , a mall ’ s squawking televisions , mass-produced goods , and quietly racist store employees are clear evidence of its quiet , anonymizing power . Yet for the bande , it ’ s an outing of excitement , joy , bonding , and economic resistance . Equally , the hotel room they stay
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