The Watermelon Woman
Encyclopedia
The Watermelon Woman is a 1996 feature film by filmmaker Cheryl Dunye
about Cheryl, a young black lesbian working a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical "mammy" roles relegated to black actresses during the period. It was the first feature film
directed by a black lesbian
.
lesbian
who works in a video rental store in Philadelphia
with her friend Tamara. They earn extra money by making professional home video
s for people. Cheryl becomes interested in films from the 1930s and 40s which feature black actresses. She notices that these actresses are often not credited. She watches a film called Plantation Memories with a black actress who is credited simply as "The Watermelon Woman". Cheryl decides to make a documentary
about the Watermelon Woman and find out more about her life.
Tamara tries to set Cheryl up with her friend Yvette, but Cheryl is not interested. Cheryl meets a white woman in the store called Diana who, to Tamara's annoyance, flirts
with Cheryl.
Cheryl starts interviewing members of the public, asking them if they have heard of the Watermelon Woman. She interviews her mother who does not remember the name, but recognises a photograph of her. She tells Cheryl that she used to hear the Watermelon Woman singing in clubs in Philadelphia. Tamara's mother tells Cheryl to get in contact with Lee Edwards — a man who has done a lot of research into black films. Cheryl and Tamara go to see Lee, and he tells them about 1920s and 30s black culture in Philadelphia. He explains to them that in those days, black women usually played domestic servants.
Cheryl meets her mother's friend Shirley, who turns out to be a lesbian. Shirley tells her that the Watermelon Woman's name was Fae Richards, that she was a lesbian too, and that she used to sing in clubs "for all us stone butch
es". She says that Fae was always with Martha Page, the white director of Plantation Memories, and that Martha was a mean and ugly woman.
When Cheryl and Tamara get caught ordering video tapes under Diana's name, Diana takes the tapes and tells Cheryl that she will have to come to her home to collect them. Cheryl goes to Diana's house, stays for dinner, and watches some of the tapes with her, telling her about her project. They have sex, and Cheryl decides that although Diana is not her usual type of woman, she likes being with her.
Cheryl meets cultural critic Camille Paglia
who tells her about the Mammy archetype
, saying that it represented a goddess
figure. Cheryl goes to the CLIT archive of lesbian material, and finds photographs of Fae Richards, including one given by Fae to a June Walker. With Diana's help, Cheryl manages to contact Martha Page's sister who denies that Martha was a lesbian.
As Cheryl and Diana grow closer, Tamara makes it clear that she dislikes Diana and disapproves of their relationship. She accuses Cheryl of wanting to be white, and Diana of having a fetish for black people.
Cheryl telephones June Walker, learning that she was Fae's partner for 20 years. They arrange to meet, but June is taken to hospital and leaves a letter for Cheryl instead. In the letter she says that she is angry with Martha Page, that Martha had nothing to do with what Fae's life. She urges Cheryl to tell their history.
Having separated from Diana, and fallen out with Tamara, Cheryl finishes her project, never managing to make further contact with June.
and the first by a black lesbian. It was made on a budget of $300,000, financed by a $31,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA), a fundraiser, and donations from friends of Dunye. The photographic Fae Richards Archive, documenting the fictional actress' life, was created by New York City-based photographer Zoe Leonard. Made up of 78 images, the collection was later exhibited in galleries and as a book.
d at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival
and went on to play at several other international film festivals during 1996 and 1997, including the New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, L.A. Outfest, the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
, the Créteil International Women's Film Festival
, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
, and the Toronto International Film Festival
.
The film was released in the United States
on March 5, 1997, distributed by First Run Features
. It was released onto Region 1 DVD on September 5, 2000.
for Best feature film at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest.
of The New York Times
called the film "both stimulating and funny". He praised Dunye for her "talent and open-heartedness" and enjoyed the film's moments of comedy. He said that the film "lets you find your own way to its central message about cultural history and the invisibility of those shunted to the margins." Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle
, Ruthie Stein had a similar opinion to Holden, saying that, despite the seriousness of the film's topics, it "never takes itself too seriously." She praised Dunye's "engaging personality" and said that she "has infused [the film] with a lightness that seems to match her spirit." The Advocate
s Anne Stockwell said that "this rollicking, sexy movie never gets self-important." She praised the "footage" of Fae Richards and Zoe Leonard's work on the photo archive of the fictional actress as "one of the film's joys".
Emanuel Levy
rated the film as a "B", saying that it was "only a matter of time before a woman of color made a lesbian film." He said that while "[p]oking fun at various sacred cows in American culture", it "makes statements about the power of narrative and the ownership of history." In a review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten called the film "smart, sexy [...] funny, historically aware, and stunningly contemporary."
, describing the sex scene between Cheryl and Diana as "the hottest dyke
sex scene ever recorded on celluloid". On June 14, Julia Duin wrote an article for The Washington Times
, quoting DeLombard's review and questioning the $31,500 grant given to Dunye by the NEA.
Representative
Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee's
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, also read DeLombard's review. It prompted him to criticize the NEA's funding of projects (including The Watermelon Woman) that "a majority of Americans would find offensive". Citing Duin's article, he tried unsuccessfully to get Congress
to deduct the sum of $31,500 from the NEA's budget. On January 16, 1997, Hoekstra wrote a letter to Jane Alexander
, director of the NEA, expressing his shock that taxpayer's money had been used to help fund the film. In his criticisms of the works funded by the NEA, Hoekstra focused on a small percentage of projects, mainly gay, minority
or female recipients. A spokesperson for Hoekstra said that he had no problem with gay content, just those that contained explicit sex.
Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye is a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye is a lesbian and her work often concerns themes of race, sexuality and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians.Dunye was born in Liberia...
about Cheryl, a young black lesbian working a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical "mammy" roles relegated to black actresses during the period. It was the first feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
directed by a black lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
.
Plot
Cheryl is a young, African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
who works in a video rental store in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
with her friend Tamara. They earn extra money by making professional home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
s for people. Cheryl becomes interested in films from the 1930s and 40s which feature black actresses. She notices that these actresses are often not credited. She watches a film called Plantation Memories with a black actress who is credited simply as "The Watermelon Woman". Cheryl decides to make a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the Watermelon Woman and find out more about her life.
Tamara tries to set Cheryl up with her friend Yvette, but Cheryl is not interested. Cheryl meets a white woman in the store called Diana who, to Tamara's annoyance, flirts
Flirting
Flirting is a playful, romantic, or sexual overture by one person to another subtly indicating an interest in a deeper relationship with the other person, and can involve verbal communication as well as body language...
with Cheryl.
Cheryl starts interviewing members of the public, asking them if they have heard of the Watermelon Woman. She interviews her mother who does not remember the name, but recognises a photograph of her. She tells Cheryl that she used to hear the Watermelon Woman singing in clubs in Philadelphia. Tamara's mother tells Cheryl to get in contact with Lee Edwards — a man who has done a lot of research into black films. Cheryl and Tamara go to see Lee, and he tells them about 1920s and 30s black culture in Philadelphia. He explains to them that in those days, black women usually played domestic servants.
Cheryl meets her mother's friend Shirley, who turns out to be a lesbian. Shirley tells her that the Watermelon Woman's name was Fae Richards, that she was a lesbian too, and that she used to sing in clubs "for all us stone butch
Stone butch
A stone butch is a woman who is strongly masculine in character and dress, who tops her partners sexually , and who does not wish to be touched genitally. Not all stone butches identify in female terms, some are known to identify with male pronouns, and many stone butches do not identify themselves...
es". She says that Fae was always with Martha Page, the white director of Plantation Memories, and that Martha was a mean and ugly woman.
When Cheryl and Tamara get caught ordering video tapes under Diana's name, Diana takes the tapes and tells Cheryl that she will have to come to her home to collect them. Cheryl goes to Diana's house, stays for dinner, and watches some of the tapes with her, telling her about her project. They have sex, and Cheryl decides that although Diana is not her usual type of woman, she likes being with her.
Cheryl meets cultural critic Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
who tells her about the Mammy archetype
Mammy archetype
The mammy archetype is perhaps one of the best-known archetypes of African American women. She is often portrayed within a narrative framework or other imagery as a domestic servant of African descent, generally good-natured, often overweight, very dark skinned, middle aged, and loud...
, saying that it represented a goddess
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
figure. Cheryl goes to the CLIT archive of lesbian material, and finds photographs of Fae Richards, including one given by Fae to a June Walker. With Diana's help, Cheryl manages to contact Martha Page's sister who denies that Martha was a lesbian.
As Cheryl and Diana grow closer, Tamara makes it clear that she dislikes Diana and disapproves of their relationship. She accuses Cheryl of wanting to be white, and Diana of having a fetish for black people.
Cheryl telephones June Walker, learning that she was Fae's partner for 20 years. They arrange to meet, but June is taken to hospital and leaves a letter for Cheryl instead. In the letter she says that she is angry with Martha Page, that Martha had nothing to do with what Fae's life. She urges Cheryl to tell their history.
Having separated from Diana, and fallen out with Tamara, Cheryl finishes her project, never managing to make further contact with June.
Cast
- Cheryl DunyeCheryl DunyeCheryl Dunye is a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye is a lesbian and her work often concerns themes of race, sexuality and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians.Dunye was born in Liberia...
as Cheryl - Guinevere TurnerGuinevere TurnerGuinevere Turner is an American actress, writer and director. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She is best known as the screenwriter of such films as American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page and for playing the lead role of the dominatrix Tanya Cheex in Preaching to the Perverted.-...
as Diana - Valarie Walker as Tamara
- Lisa Marie Bronson as Fae 'The Watermelon Woman' Richards
- Cheryl ClarkeCheryl ClarkeCheryl L. Clarke is a writer, educator and lesbian Black feminist activist, born in Washington DC in 1947.-Writing:Raised in Washington DC, some of her earliest work reflected the troubled times of the 1960s and the rebellions that ripped through the District of Columbia following the...
as June Walker - Irene Dunye as herself
- Brian Freeman as Lee Edwards
- Camille PagliaCamille PagliaCamille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
as herself - Sarah SchulmanSarah SchulmanSarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, historian and playwright. An early chronicler of the AIDS crisis, she wrote on AIDS and social issues, publishing in The Village Voice in the early 1980s, and writing the first piece on AIDS and the homeless, which appeared in The Nation...
as CLIT archivist - V.S. Brodie as Karaoke Singer
- Robert Reid-PharrRobert Reid-PharrRobert Reid-Pharr is a critical essayist and Distinguished Professor of English at the CUNY Graduate Center . He has frequently collaborated with noted science fiction author Samuel R. Delany at panels and through writing...
Background
The Watermelon Woman was Dunye's first feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
and the first by a black lesbian. It was made on a budget of $300,000, financed by a $31,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(NEA), a fundraiser, and donations from friends of Dunye. The photographic Fae Richards Archive, documenting the fictional actress' life, was created by New York City-based photographer Zoe Leonard. Made up of 78 images, the collection was later exhibited in galleries and as a book.
Distribution
The Watermelon Woman premierePremiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and went on to play at several other international film festivals during 1996 and 1997, including the New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, L.A. Outfest, the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
The Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is an international film festival for sexual minorities held in Tokyo.The festival began in 1992 and is held every year in July at the Spiral Hall in the Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo....
, the Créteil International Women's Film Festival
Créteil International Women's Film Festival
The Créteil International Women's Film Festival is an annual event in Créteil, Paris, France founded by Jackie Buet in 1978 to showcase the directing talents of female filmmakers who, at the time, had difficulty getting their films adequately distributed. The first festival was held in 1979 in Sceaux...
, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival takes place every spring in London, England. It began as a season of gay and lesbian films at the National Film Theatre in 1986 and 1987 under the title "Gay's Own Pictures", curated by Peter Packer of the Tyneside Cinema, and was renamed the London...
, and the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
.
The film was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on March 5, 1997, distributed by First Run Features
First Run Features
First Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City. First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film...
. It was released onto Region 1 DVD on September 5, 2000.
Awards
In 1996, The Watermelon Woman won the Teddy AwardTeddy Award
The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
for Best feature film at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest.
Critical
Critical reviews of the film were generally positive. Stephen HoldenStephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film "both stimulating and funny". He praised Dunye for her "talent and open-heartedness" and enjoyed the film's moments of comedy. He said that the film "lets you find your own way to its central message about cultural history and the invisibility of those shunted to the margins." Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Ruthie Stein had a similar opinion to Holden, saying that, despite the seriousness of the film's topics, it "never takes itself too seriously." She praised Dunye's "engaging personality" and said that she "has infused [the film] with a lightness that seems to match her spirit." The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
s Anne Stockwell said that "this rollicking, sexy movie never gets self-important." She praised the "footage" of Fae Richards and Zoe Leonard's work on the photo archive of the fictional actress as "one of the film's joys".
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor.-Life:Emanuel Levy began his studies at Tel Aviv University, where he received B.A. in sociology, anthropology and political science. He did graduate work in sociology, film, and culture studies at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D...
rated the film as a "B", saying that it was "only a matter of time before a woman of color made a lesbian film." He said that while "[p]oking fun at various sacred cows in American culture", it "makes statements about the power of narrative and the ownership of history." In a review for The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten called the film "smart, sexy [...] funny, historically aware, and stunningly contemporary."
Criticism of NEA funding
On March 3, 1996, Jeannine DeLombard reviewed The Watermelon Woman for Philadelphia City PaperPhiladelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
, describing the sex scene between Cheryl and Diana as "the hottest dyke
Dyke (slang)
Dyke is slang terminology referring to a lesbian or lesbianism. It originated as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists. However, some attempt to use it in a manner they see as positive, or simply as a neutral synonym for lesbian...
sex scene ever recorded on celluloid". On June 14, Julia Duin wrote an article for The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, quoting DeLombard's review and questioning the $31,500 grant given to Dunye by the NEA.
Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee's
United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce
The Committee on Education and the Workforce is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. From 1947 until 1994 and again from 2007 to 2011, during Democratic control of the House, it was known as the Committee on Education and Labor.-History of the Committee:Attempts were...
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, also read DeLombard's review. It prompted him to criticize the NEA's funding of projects (including The Watermelon Woman) that "a majority of Americans would find offensive". Citing Duin's article, he tried unsuccessfully to get Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to deduct the sum of $31,500 from the NEA's budget. On January 16, 1997, Hoekstra wrote a letter to Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
, director of the NEA, expressing his shock that taxpayer's money had been used to help fund the film. In his criticisms of the works funded by the NEA, Hoekstra focused on a small percentage of projects, mainly gay, minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
or female recipients. A spokesperson for Hoekstra said that he had no problem with gay content, just those that contained explicit sex.