Distribution Agreement In presenting this thesis or dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Emory University, I hereby grant to Emory University and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive, make accessible, and display my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, including display on the world wide web. I understand that I may select some access restrictions as part of the online submission of this thesis or dissertation. I retain all ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. Signature: _____________________________ ______________ Rhea L. Combs Date Exceeding the Frame: Documentary Filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs as Cultural Agitator By Rhea L. Combs Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts ______________________________________________________ Matthew H. Bernstein, Ph.D. Advisor ______________________________________________________ Rudolph P. Byrd, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________________________________ Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D. Committee Member Accepted: ______________________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School ___________________ Date Exceeding the Frame: Documentary Filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs as Cultural Agitator By Rhea L. Combs M.A., Cornell University, 1994 Advisor: Matthew H. Bernstein, Ph.D. An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2009 Abstract Exceeding the Frame: Documentary Filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs as Cultural Agitator By Rhea L. Combs Exceeding the Frame: Documentary Filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs as Cultural Agitator argues that Marlon Riggs was a crucially important nonfiction filmmaker, whose outspoken work in African American cultural production, and “promiscuous” approach to documentary practice make him a cultural agitator, one who used his craft as a tool of resistance to interrogate the politics of identity, specifically the notions of masculinity, sexuality, and race constructed and disseminated in American mass media. Between 1981 and 1994, the prolific Riggs produced eight films and videos. Before dying from AIDS-related complications at 37, he also wrote numerous scholarly articles and held interviews on identity, politics, art and censorship, African American cultural production, and documentary film practice. As the first scholarly examination of Riggs’s entire body of video and film works, this interdisciplinary project focuses on Riggs in a social and artistic context, arguing for his cultural significance in relation to prevalent understandings of inter- and intra-racial identity, HIV/AIDS, and black masculinity, as well as documentary film practice, during the height of the culture wars of the 1980s and early 1990s. I analyze his more traditional documentaries: Long Train Running (1981), Ethnic Notions (1988), and Color Adjustment (1992); his most controversial and innovative work, Tongues Untied (1989); and his more hybrid and essayistic works: the posthumously produced Black Is…Black Ain’t (1995), along with the experimental shorts Affirmations (1990), Anthem (1991), and No Regret (1992). I examine Riggs’s oeuvre using his biography, critical analysis, and reception studies to demonstrate how his work formulates, in cinematic terms rather than verbal discourse, the vital notion of Americans’ multiple identities. Exceeding the Frame: Documentary Filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs as Cultural Agitator By Rhea L. Combs M.A., Cornell University, 1994 Advisor: Matthew H. Bernstein, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2009 Acknowledgments A dissertation is often written in solitude but it takes an army of support to make this endeavor possible. I must first thank my committee. Dr. Matthew H. Bernstein, my dissertation advisor— your kindness, patience, dedication, and generous spirit inspire me to consistently do my best; but more than that, your commitment to excellence and scholarship is something that I strive to emulate. I will always be grateful to you for your encouragement of my work and abilities. Dr. Rudolph P. Byrd, the stalwart scholar—your tremendously keen listening ability and piercing focus helped remind me how passionate I am about the work of Marlon Riggs. Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the fiercest feminist and most grounded down-to-earth scholar I have had the pleasure of knowing—thank you so much for your excitement and support of my research. I am truly grateful for your generosity of time and willingness to be a part of my committee. Thanks are also extended to professors Nina K. Martin, Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, and all the professors and administrators in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts. I also must thank my cohort, particularly Michelle Hite with whom I have developed a lasting friendship. Gratitude is extended to Stacy Boyd as well, along with Emory colleagues past and present, namely: Miriam Petty, Donna Troka, Angie Cotton, Brittany Cooper, and Pellum McDaniels. Emory professors and staff whose guidance and counsel have helped me along the way include: Drs. Leslie Harris, Leroy Davis, Dwight Andrews, Elizabeth Goodstein, Eddie Chambers in the Art History Department, and Emory’s wonderful African American Special Collections curator, Randall Burkett. The ILA’s Tracy Allen Brandon and Film Studies’ Annie Hall were the glue that held it all together. Thank you! This dissertation would have been even more difficult to complete without financial support. I am grateful to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) for the American Dissertation Fellowship I received at a critical stage of research. The several years of support from the Emory University Film Studies Travel Grant also provided much needed research funds essential to completing this project. Additional funding came from the Pre-Doctoral Fellowship at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. A most sincere thank you is extended to: Provost Jane Atkinson Mooning, Dean Julio DePaula, Associate Dean Jane Hunter, and Gender Studies Department Chair Deborah Heath, as well as Lewis & Clark colleagues in the Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies Departments. I must thank my mother, Rita Combs-Sterrett, for instilling in me the importance of an education and always supporting me. Special recognition goes to my sister, Dedra Combs, nephew DeSean Davist, and niece Deonna Payne, along with my beloved in-laws, particularly James and Audrey Brown. This process would have been particularly steep without your continuous love, support, and prayers. Thanks also go to the following: my close friend and fellow Howard University alumnus, William Jelani Cobb; my mates from “across the pond”—the UK crew, particularly Kojo Boateng, Grace Boateng, Joel Karamath, Suj Summer, and Susan and Darren Wallace; the ATLiens, Jon Goode, J. Warren, Matt Boykin, Deitra Shedrick (vis-à-vis New Orleans), Chezon Jackson, Tamera Hill, Alita Anderson, and my friends and colleagues at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Ann Collins Smith, and Makeba Dixon-Hill; my New York comrades, Elissa Blount- Moorhead, Bless ji Jaja (Courtney Long), Melanie Faye Hart, Nicole McGeachy, Veronica Smith Albertine, dream hampton, CJ Harris, and Kiini Salaam. I would be remiss if I did not give particular thanks to Greg Tate for the many hours of dialogue on the state of blackness, film, music, and basically all things culture: from sci-fi to hip hop, politics to literature, and design—you were always down to make connections with how Riggs fit into the mix. Thanks man! I am particularly grateful to Meghan McDermott and the Global Action Project, a wonderful youth media organization in NYC I’m proud to be affiliated with. Their commitment and dedication to social justice and change reminds me that the dreams and passions of Marlon Riggs live on. Additional thanks goes to my new Portland community: Theresa and John McDowell, Sara Ohgushi, Lisa Moore, Crystal Williams, Naiomi Cameron, Jade Fair, Priya Kapoor, Habiba Noor, Jason Scott, Nicole Bragg, and Carolyn Walker for all their encouragement, compassion, and friendship. I must also thank my longtime friends and extended family who have shared a laugh, a listening ear—and much more—throughout this process: Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Carol and Henry Roberts, Leah Roberts, Anjanette Miller, Ewunike Akpan, Nona Mitchell-Richardson, Valerie Cassel Oliver, Asante Salaam, Sabrina Shange Amani, Amina Dickerson, The Smith Family (Nicole, John, Bailey, and Kendall), Rhea Almeida, Lisa Dressner, James Wilson, and the prayers and support from countless other friends and family. Sincere gratitude goes out to the individuals who allowed me to interview them for this dissertation. Kudos go to Jack Vincent, Cornelius Moore, Nicole Atkinson-Roach, Brian Freeman, and Bobby Sheppard, as well as Mable Haddock, Jacquie Jones, Claire Walls, and all my friends and colleagues at National Black Programming Consortium. Gratitude is also extended to filmmakers Thomas Allen Harris, Byron Hurt, Camille Billops, and Orlando Bagwell. Particular thanks go to Vivian Kleiman