"Vanille" or the struggle to keep up with timely issues

I've been hearing about “Vanilla” [t/n: original title in French is Vanille] since the beginning of the year and I thought I’d get to see it two years from now, hopefully, if I’m lucky. So you can imagine how happy I was to read the announcement that it would be broadcast during a week dedicated to overseas content on the channels of the France Television group. Directed by Guillaume Lorin, this 30-minute medium-length film is a 2D animated film intended for all audiences.

Vanilla, a little Parisian girl freshly landed in Guadeloupe, will jump into an exotic adventure tinged with mystery, meeting picturesque characters and a magical flower, all spiced up with a zest of Creole language. This is a holiday that promises to be full of surprises!

After the delight that Battledream Chronicle by Alain Bidard was (Episode 1 of my podcast), I was predisposed to enjoy “Vanilla”. This film had all the ingredients to please me: an animated film, a story in Guadeloupe, a female main character. However, the viewing session left me more questions than enthusiasm. Important issues were addressed but I don't understand the message in response.

An animated film

This is probably the only element on which I have no reservation. This is a work of quality when you look at the Steven Universe-like drawing, the contrast between colors, the nature sounds and songs, everything from a technical point of view is great. The mix with real images underlines the beauty of "the bright and tropical nature of the butterfly island". Even though I found that there was a “Ponyo” atmosphere specially at the end, the drawing style is recognizable. At a time when the French mainstream media is just discovering the world of Afrocentric animation, it is important that the creators develop a unique yet identifiable visual style.

A story set in Guadeloupe

The representation of heaven-like Guadeloupe with the Soufrière vulcano differs from the usual representation focused on the beach and the coconut trees ... Nevertheless, all we see is a rural Guadeloupe, out of the 21st century. We hear about a village while administratively speaking of Vieux-Habitants has enough inhabitants to be called a city. Given the persistence of the use of the word “village” to describe any city of Guadeloupe (take the synopsis of Simeon by Euzhan Palcy, for example), I still wonder if this is not a way to deny any modernity to this island. I know that the technological environment is not as developed as in megacities like Paris, Tokyo or Seoul, but it is still part of everyday life now.

I appreciate the fact that the dialogues in Kreyol aren’t subtitled... Even if I have the impression that it was just so that the non-Kreyol speaking viewer could relate to Vanilla who doesn’t understand what people say but manages to communicate with her gaze and other non-verbal signs. The ability to speak Kreyol is part of the elements creating the gap between Guadeloupean people living on the island and Guadeloupean people living in France, what must the Kreyol-speaking audience feel while watching a little girl rejecting part of her culture? No one holds against Vanille the fact that she can’t speak and can’t understand Kreyol, but the further I dived into the film, the more the question became clearer in my mind: what place is given to Loïc her White father in the construction of his daughter's identity?

“Vanille” is "a coming-of-age journey allowing us to meet colorful characters, rich in their diversity. They lull us to the rhythm of the Creole language and music, and plunge us into the dazzling, tropical nature of the Butterfly Island", says the press kit. The language, the cuisine, the music, the tales... These are important elements of any culture, but I have the impression that as soon as we talk about Guadeloupe, it turns into exoticism and performance for the other. Still, in the press kit, it is even written that "many characters have music in their skin" [it’s the literal translation to say that Black people are instinctively good dancers] and that "the Creole language comes to spice up the dialogues" ... It is a story in Guadeloupe but who is it for? Vanilla is indeed in "unknown" territory, there is a part of her identity that she does not know. In 2015, we could have been satisfied with a simple observation, but in 2020, we would also like to address why Vanilla has no connection to her Guadeloupean identity and why she even rejects it. Because she was young when her mother died? All right, so the next question is: what did the daddy do to help Vanille figure out the Guadeloupean side of her identity? You cannot not wonder when he runs a restaurant called "A Ka Loïc" [t/n : “At Loïc’s” in Kreyol] in Paris but his daughter never seems to have eaten accras.

A FEMALE MAIN CHARACTER

Vanilla is a "little Parisian girl"... I guess if she can flat iron her hair on her own, slam the door and answer rudely to adults, she’s probably 11 or 12 at least. It is important that children also have young heroes and heroines to identify with.... Nevertheless, in the press kit, she is described as a "strong girl, poto mitan" [t/n: “poto mitan” means pillar woman in Kreyol]. I am puzzled. Vanilla reminds me of Chihiro (minus the insolence) in Spirited Away. She is an intelligent child, who doesn't hesitate for a second to put herself in danger to save her aunt and the other women of the "village". So I don't understand at all the poto mitan reference... Does she help out around the house? Apparently not. Does she have to take care of one or more brothers and/or sisters? No. She is an only child, adored by her family... And that's what's important. To see a little girl loved and pampered by everyone. Not that she is "strong" in situations that don't even require her to be. She's a child. And on top of that, she's a pretty rude kid without making clear why she's so hostile. Guadeloupean women of previous generations were already protesting against the glorification of the "poto mitan" woman, and the generation of Aunt Frédérique, my generation, continues to speak against this myth that dehumanizes women by forcing them to sacrifice themselves for everyone else without expecting anything in return.

Staring a story with a scene where the main female character fights her hair is so 2015 cliché... I understand, I did it myself. But the difference here is that Vanilla is mixed/biracial : black mom and white dad. In terms of representation, I find it interesting that the question of natural hair is approached with a character whose usually used as an example to describe “good hair”. Biracial girls are often associated with the idea of long, curly or even frizzy hair, but certainly not kinky. Their hair is expected to be uncomplicated and easy to style like Mary-Ann's 2020 version of “The Babysitter's Club” (see my Twitter feed on this topic). Having said that, what concerns me here is the representation of Guadeloupean women's hair. I found the hair design rather undefined, even though it's the heart of the plot. The hair textures are identical. So where is the diversity in representation? ... In the teaser above, Vanilla says clearly that she doesn't like her hair, that it's "too ugly" and her aunt tells her that it's pretty and that she "just" needs to showcase it with style. And by that, the aunt seems to mean she ties up Vanille’s hair. What is the message? And most of all, when are we going to ask why a little girl with this kind of texture hates her hair? In the last minute of the film, her father says he likes her hair "like that" meaning her Afro... So does this mean he wasn't even aware that his daughter hated her hair? Again, as a white parent, how does he perceive his role in building his child's self-esteem? I know the answer is complex, but if the world embraced Zuri's father having to do his daughter's hair for the first time in “Hair Love “ (2019), I think the world is more than ready to see a loving father who, even if not able to accompany his daughter on the journey of self-discovery, is at least aware that she has that journey to make.

Vanilla is a film with beautiful visuals. Anyone can enjoy it. It was interesting to take the point of view of a girl from France, but as a Black, Afro-Caribbean, Guadeloupean and French woman, I didn't feel like I was the target audience. Which is okay. Nevertheless, the representation of Guadeloupean culture and population is what can bring debate... And it’s a discussion to be expected for an episode of season 3 of Karukerament.