http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/08/throw-the-baby-out-the-window/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/08/throw-the-baby-out-the-window/comment-page-1/#comment-92660 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:03:24 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=9679#comment-92660 Absolutely! I think that has been the case in Toni’s two Mardi Gras days as well, as Back of Town discusses http://backoftown.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/hearing-everything-backwards/. She was struggling with a depressed husband last year and now an estranged teenager–she needs to take a hard look at her own avoidance and denial tendencies. Her efforts to put a good face on it and enjoy MG day has failed both times. But it’s telling too that the white woman’s pain is psychological, while the black woman’s is that plus physical, bearing the brunt of her losses: brother, bar, community, physical autonomy, confidence, maybe identity even.

]]> http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/08/throw-the-baby-out-the-window/comment-page-1/#comment-91733 Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:41:39 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=9679#comment-91733 I am struck by your assessment of Ladonna as the embodiment of the city’s struggles. Over the course of two seasons, she has experienced loss, separation, displacement, economic challenges, and violent trauma. For her, Mardi Gras is no longer the same. In fact, if Mardi Gras does offer the possibility of a utopian, communal experience, it’s one that LaDonna rightfully mistrusts and rejects in favor of the security of that beige Baton Rouge couch and whiskey glass. Some problems even Mardi Gras can’t transcend.

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