10 - Viewing the World in Black and White: Race and the Melodrama of the Unknown Woman

Summary

In Contesting Tears, Stanley Cavell identifies a genre of romantic melodrama he calls “the melodrama of the unknown woman” (taking this name from Letter from an Unknown Woman, one of the definitive films of the genre). The films he identifies as members of this genre include Blonde Venus; Camille; Stella Dallas; Show Boat; Now, Voyager; Gaslight; and Letter from an Unknown Woman. The starting point of this essay is the observation that all of these melodramas that are set in America – and innumerable other American melodramas as well – include at least one African American in their cast. Some play minor roles. Some are all but invisible. They are nonetheless present. Starting from the hypothesis that this is not a coincidence, but rather constitutes a significant feature of a genre of American film melodramas, in this chapter we explore some implications of this feature on our understanding of classical genres and broach the question of the relation of gender and race within the American cinema as a whole.

I wish to emphasize the exploratory nature of this essay, which raises more questions than it answers, and barely scratches the surface of complex, and sensitive, matters. In speaking about race in our culture, even more than in speaking about gender, it is best to proceed with caution, and with humility. Who has standing to speak about such matters, and on what grounds, are questions all Americans must take seriously.