The Proximity of Other Skins: Ethical Intimacy in Global Cinema

260 Pages·2020·4.164 MB·English

by  Celine Parreñas Shimizu

The Proximity of Other Skins

The Proximity
of Other Skins
Ethical Intimacy in Global Cinema
CELINE PARREÑAS SHIMIZU
1
3
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ISBN 978– 0– 19– 086586– 3 (pbk.)
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With so much love
for Bayan Parreñas Shimizu
who enlightens my work
and illuminates my life

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction: Subject/A bject Relations in Those Long Haired
Nights (2017) and Call Her Ganda (2018) 1
2. (Rich) White Women, (Poor) Brown Men, and Sexual
Settings: Political and Libidinal Economies in Heading South
(2005) and Never Forever (2007) 42
3. The Compassion of Shared Spectatorship: Annihilation and
Affliction in Brillante Mendoza’s Tirador (2007), Serbis (2007),
and Ma’ Rosa (2016) 87
4. Intimate Eruptions and the Embodied Montage: Performing
Roles and Breaking Rules between Masters and Servants in
The Housemaid (2011) and The Handmaiden (2016) 137
5. The Ethics of Representing Oneself and Others: Ramona Diaz’s
Imelda (2005) and David Byrne’s Here Lies Love (2010– 17) 183
6. Epilogue: Memory and Death (2013–P resent) 219
References 225
Index 233

Acknowledgments
I write this book in the aftermath of my son Lakas’s sudden and unexpected
death, within 24 hours from a common virus that attacked his heart. I could
not read anything much less write. Even movies could not touch me. I am
thankful for my community of colleagues, friends, and family. This book is
possible with you.
First and foremost I thank J. Reid Miller for encouraging bigger thinking
and deeper digging throughout my reading, writing, and living. To be born
in this time so we can do great things together makes me so happy. I am
thankful for his bottomless knowledge that makes me work harder to get
here. I am intensely grateful to Bakirathi Mani, who read every chapter as she
wrote her own forthcoming book. Her bright and brilliant responses ignited
me and pushed me from start to finish. We did it! Historians are needed
in one’s life and work, and I am fortunate for Shelley Lee in mine. Jennifer
Brody gave immensely insightful feedback in developing specific chapters.
I am grateful to Jane Park and Helen Lee for replying to an earlier draft of
Chapter 4. I interviewed the filmmaker Ramona Diaz and the actors Jaygee
Macapugay, Melody Bitiu, and Belinda Allyn. Their work makes this book
richer. I thank them for sharing their time, insights, and talent with me.
The filmmaker Brillante Mendoza graciously agreed to share his beautiful
work for the cover of this book. The scholar Linh Nguyen joined me at Here
Lies Love in critical absorption of the experience. Theo Gonzalves encour-
aged me to write about Here Lies Love, and for this I send thanks. Brian Hu
from the San Diego Asian Film Festival embodies generosity as a scholar and
curator, and really helped me as I pursued the leads to make this book better.
Masashi Niwano of the San Francisco Asian American International Film
Festival responded to my questions attentively. With her characteristic spirit
of making things happen, Melissa Michelson connected me to the editors at
Oxford University Press. James and Lien Percy talked with me about the me-
chanics of the body in various poses, which assisted me in writing. Pauline
Masterson supported me throughout the writing of this book with her tech-
nical expertise.