Popular Culture Review Vol. 14, No. 1, February 2003 | Page 79

Miss Em’s Voyeuristic Gaze of P in k y

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one black. This position, which she associates with indeterminancy, of being nei
ther black nor white, fascinates her. While the film attempts to give preeminence
to the mulatto, it is really Miss Em’s story that is told.
Miss Em’s desire for blackness is plausible in that the film renders mulattoes
problematic—their mixed blood causing a disruption in the racial hierarchies that
normally establish white supremacy. This allows whites to fantasize about being
black. Pinky embodies access and becomes symbolic of desires that Miss Em ei
ther has been denied, has repressed, or would like to enjoy. These desires are ap
parent in the dichotomies created between the two characters on the basis of race
or ethnicity, age, class, and sexual desirability. With respect to class and wealth,
although Miss Em’s wealth has lessened, her position nonetheless contrasts sharply
with Pinky’s de-privileged non-white status. For Miss Em the de-privileged status
associated with Pinky provides an element of intrigue. Miss Em is elderly and in
declining health, while Pinky signifies youth, beauty, and physical well-being.
Another attraction for Muss Em must certainly be Pinky’s sexuality, which
conceivably provides fascination for an elderly woman. Pinky’s sexual desirabil
ity propels Miss Em into a longing to reclaim her own declining sexual appeal and
sexuality, which she can only achieve vicariously, through Pinky. Interestingly, the
film portrays Pinky as hypersexual, which it attributes to her blackness, as black
women were rendered actively explicit sexually, while white women were denied
expression of their sexuality since such expression stood to destroy their purity
image. Pinky’s hypersexuality becomes a rationalization for her objectification by
two white males who attempt rape. Yet even this victimizing of Pinky, does not
keep Miss Em from a vicarious longing.
Pinky becomes a site through which Miss Em engages in an articulation of
colonial discourse as she seeks both pleasure and desire in her transformation,
which is both physical and psychological. Though much of the evidence to sup
port this assertion is not overt, it is implied; it can be deduced from the fact that
Miss Em develops a deep affection, strong affinity, and enduring commitment to
the mulatto character. Pinky exemplifies Miss Em’s desire to transform the self
into the Other.
Miss Em's will is a tangible demonstration of the fusion between herself and
Pinky. Not only does she disengage herself from the inheritance pattern expected
(the blood-tie angle and/or the racial angle) by not leaving her estate to her cousin
Melba; she also does not leave it to the woman who has been her life-long friend
and support. Dicey. Instead, Miss Em, desirous of the racial access afforded the
mulatto, leaves her wealth to the woman she wishes herself to be— Pinky.
Miss Em’s Transformation
Viewing Pinky as her Other, Miss Em is transformed into Pinky in a merging