Agathe Clery

Most of the movies that are being shown currently in the theatres had gotten me so fed up already that is why it is kind of inevitable for me to have this strong urge to watch a foreign film lately; just to free myself from the monotony and unoriginality that I had been getting from those hyped movies. However, I do not have any idea where to watch one until I saw The Picturehouse located at The Cathay near the Dhoby Ghaut station.

The Picturehouse prides itself for showcasing award winning movies and best cutting edge film both locally and externally. And to my delight, they are currently showing a French musical comedy film entitled Agathe Clery (on the 2nd and 3rd day of March).

“She is white. She is racist. She will become black.” 

Basically, the movie tells the story of a 40 something, marketing director of a cosmetic company which specializes on clearing skin. Agathe resembles a protagonist you love to hate but entirely could not for she is more than you ever dream of. She’s smart, successful and wealthy as hell but her being a prima donna and a snob makes her quite unpopular to her colleagues. Moreover, she is a die-hard racist. She is always in for people who have fair complexions and never does she like people who have a darker complexion than she has. She thinks that foreigners are plagues and her outward repulsion to them leads to the point that she automatically turns down black candidate applying as her subordinate in the company she’s working for, regardless how exceptional a candidate he is. But all of that changed, as she experience the biggest irony of her life.

Her colleagues first took notice of her different glow but she never took it as more than just a compliment. But day after day, she observed that her skin also gets darker, and as the skin darkens, the more she is feeling nauseous and weaker. A trip to the doctor confirmed that there is indeed something wrong with her; she has an Addison disease which manifests in the skin primarily by hyperpigmentation and is a rare disease that  the movie claimed Kennedy also had. In the case of Agathe, she becomes black and it was said that she will become black forever.

Agathe did not take the news fully without much kicking and screaming hard. She promised herself that she will not be black in her entire life and she might as well commit the taboo than to live with a dark complexion. She bought hundreds of products that she believed would help in counterattacking the darkening of her skin. But of course, whether she likes it or not, the inevitable is still bound to happen.

In the process, all of the things she once had had one by one got lost. She lost her prestigious job as the owner of the company indirectly dismissed her for being black. Her “lover” have not touched her ever since and had completely disappeared from her life claiming that it was because he could not bear to see her like that. He also added that she will be still his honeybunch no matter what and he will just be there waiting for her to emerge out of her new colour. What a jerk really. One of her friends, upon knowing that Herve the lover was already out of her life, conspired against her and stole her boyfriend. Moreover, she almost got kicked out from her apartment because of the same issue of being black. Good thing, she still had the sanity and confidence to stand up for her self.

She also tried to find a job but to no avail. Because of the depression that she is currently acquiring, people who stuck up with her taught her to eliminate the negative connotation that she had built about being black and just to live the most out of the situation; to not fight against the current but to work and go about it.

As the truth began to sank in her and as she realize that her whining would not take her anywhere, she began to accept the truth wholeheartedly. In the process, she found a job in an all black company as a marketing director and found true love in the image of her boss. The thing that she had considered before as a curse had served as a door to her new and happy life. However, since her lover hates white people, which is mainly because of some white Caucasian woman who had trashed his CV just because he had been born black and who had been the main reason why he built an all black company, and since she could not testify her true self without explaining much and arising confusion, white lies clogged up her new life. After all, she immediately knew she was the main inspiration of her lover’s company, not that he knows of of course, which made it even harder for her to come up with the truth.

Just as all movies need to reach a climax, the movie’s count on that is when she had noticed that her original colour is already beginning to emerge. She might have felt like Charlie Gordon from the Flowers for Algernon as she was fighting to retain the life that she was made to savour temporarily but surely loved.

The movie reached a happy ending. It was good to know that what she had with her boss is a true and everlasting love after all. A change of attitude, from being a stuck up bitch to being someone far flung from the former, had been mortalized. And most of all, truth that she would otherwise not know in her entire life emerged.

The movie is more than just about racism. Though it was apparent that the use of the concept here had already reached a different level of offensiveness to those people and races involved, I still deem that racism in this movie is utilized as a tool to make a point rather than being the main point of the movie; much like it is better to view racism in this movie as something figurative and metaphorical rather than literal. Going back, I think this movie is just a comical depiction of the truth that you will only know who your true friends really are in times of adversities.

On a more literal side of racism, even with the growing number of famous people coloured by the Creator with a hue other than white taking up a remarkable space in the global scene and taking into consideration the rise of the first American black president of the United States, I think that the issue of racism still chose to remain blind and deaf on the truth that all of us has a significant worth in this world. Yes, it is not anymore that pronounced as compared to previous decades but it would be an outright lie to say that racism is now obsolete; there are still bits of it scattered around the world, directly inflicting both minor and major pain to those involved.

This clip from the movie made me really smile. So clever to incorporate Michael Jackson’s dance moves. I am in search of a same video but with English subtitles. Could not find one as of the moment but I think this would suffice for now.

In all fairness to Valérie Lemercier I am quite amaze by her ability to dance and I totally love her for that!