Olive Juice

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Look up the lyrics to Rich James "Super Freak", the music played for Olives Miss Sunshine dance performance. How do these lyrics, Olive's dance, and Olive's affection for her grandfather configure a family romance subject to possibly unsettling interpretations? Do not repeat what students have written in prior log entries.
--Before Professor Zita brought it up in class, I had never seen the incestual undertones between Olive and her grandfather. The lyrics of "Super Freak" to a young girl aren't particularly sexual, in Olive's mind I'm sure the line, "She's a very special girl, the kind of girl you want to know. From her head down to her toenails..." meant that the woman in the song must have been a great woman, and that she should be proud to dance to the song. The dance moves that Olive's grandfather taught her were suggestive, such as when Olive had her back to the audience and she was slapping her derriere and waving it around like a private dancer. Olive spent a lot of time with her grandfather, because he was the only one around all of the time to take care of her. She looked up to him, and admired him, and most importantly to this question, she valued his opinion above all other family members. The influence that her grandfather had over her showed in her performance, because he was her coach and choreographed her routine and chose her music. The sexuality of "Super Freak," outside of the mind of a child is undeniable. Her grandfather knew what he was doing by picking the song, because of the consequential choreography. A disturbing sexual/romantic relationship could be created through these examples in the film, due to the power he had over Olive in mind and body.

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This page contains a single entry by Joan Collins published on November 6, 2011 9:01 AM.

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