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Figurative Language In Looking For Langston

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In the film, Looking for Langston at the end scene, where everyone is dancing, a person says the following lines while images of the characters dancing moving were shown, “dancing on the edge of fire….i saw you last night in the basement…the occupants are never found.” During this scene, there are two voices saying different things at the same time, which makes it hard to truly distinguish exactly what both of them are really saying. But during this scene, some phrases were slightly clearer than others.
I believe that the film intentional made it difficult for the audiences to be able to distinguish the words that are being said to create a confusing/disorientated, fast paced, and hectic feeling. For example, in addition to both of the voice …show more content…

I believe that the phrase, "…dancing on the edge of fire…” is symbolic of their lifestyle. As I have mention prior, being gay in the black community during this time period is not seen as a positive thing and therefore by showing affection towards someone of the same gender they are in a sense playing with fire and are likely to result in a bad outcome if they are caught. This line is soon follow by “I saw you last night in the basement”. If this line is taken literally, the idea of a basement is a room that is underground and to some extent hidden from view. Therefore, this line could be taken as, because being gay is not accepted, they will only meet and/or they have to meet each other in hidden places, away from view. This phrase is then follow by “…the occupants are never found.” Therefore suggesting that the people in the community will remain hidden and a secret. Just like how when the mob finally breaks into the club, everyone disappears and the music changes to one that seems to be representative of heterosexual. For instance, the music change from a hype/party type of music to a calm one of a man talking about a woman name rose and a man name David. Therefore, changing the atmosphere and making it as though the club was never fill with gay man partying. There traces seems to be completed erase and only they are the ones who know of what had happen, just like how the phrase said “…the occupants are never

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