The Evolution of "Without You I'm Nothing"

It really took me quite a while to wrap my head around the idea of this film. It was so strange and out there and even after our discussion today, I am still reveling in the strangeness of the film. I really am grappling with the idea of how the film opened. We saw an old colonial man in a white powdered wig playing some sort of old fashioned piano. Slowly, the camera panned over, as if passing time, to a modern woman playing piano. I feel that this is a representation of how far America has come with the ideas of immigration, equality and unity.

Sandra truly represents many personalities throughout the adventure of the film. From the "perfect Catholic family", to Diana Ross, to Barbara Streisand and even the posers of Fifth Avenue, she represents many walks of life. In a way, by Sandra playing all of these people or groups, she encompasses them all into one body, thus creating equality within the melting pot that is America.

I'm still attempting to figure out what the young African-American model represents. I feel that she may represent the oppression of equality. Perhaps it's a ploy into the fact that no matter how hard you are working to show that there are different personalities in the world, there is always going to be someone doing the same thing as you but in a negative way. That may be a stretch but I feel that it is supported by the fact that she wrote "Fuck Sandra Bernhard" on the table. In Sandra's declaration that we are all the same being through dancing naked on stage, I feel that the model was trying to discredit that declaration. The classical music comes up again as she walks out and somewhat encompasses the fact that America will always have to jump through hurdles simply because we are all different. We cannot be encompassed as one being. But Sandra Bernhard really brings about the idea that we may be able to do so. I suppose it just prompts the question, "Are we all equals in America? Even today?"