Director: Rebecca Hall
Writer: Rebecca Hall
Stars: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp
Synopsis: Irene Redfield, a refined, upper-class 1920s woman, finds breezy refuge from a hot summer day in the grand tearoom of New York City’s Drayton Hotel. Across the room, she spots a blond woman staring her down.
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What does it mean to pass? After the war of 1812 and during the American Civil War, Black and brown enslaved people would pass as white in a desperate attempt to avoid racist violence and disenfranchisement. Based on the novel of the same name written by Nella Larsen, Passing (2021) is set in 1920’s Harlem and centers on two childhood friends, Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Ruth Negga). Both women are Black but with one key difference, Clare has chosen to pass as white. They meet years later by chance and Irene barely recognizes her; Clare’s new identity is initially very convincing.
What follows is a subtle exploration of the politics of racial identity and the ways we are all trying to pass as something we are not. Written and directed by Rebecca Hall, Passing is shot in black and white and it’s fortunate that Hall fought for this aesthetic. By shooting in black and white, as an audience, particularly a Black audience, we are unable to exact the ‘’internecine violence’’ that we do to one another when it comes to colorism. We do not get to decide who deserves to ‘pass’ as white or not as Irene and Clare both appear white on screen. Save for Clare’s blonde hair, there is little difference between them and this forces us to question how Clare has managed to hide her true identity for so long.
Clare is adamant that she has everything she wants but as the movie progresses we see how profoundly lonely she is and she laments that she misses ‘’Negroes’’ and wants to laugh and be in their company. The material gains are not enough, she longs for community. However, Irene accuses Clare of not having sacrificed anything which is a grave misjudgment of the situation as Clare has sacrificed belonging to the Black community. She is still on the outside of the white community despite passing and worst of all she doesn’t have community even with herself – the unavoidable consequences of self-rejection. Her husband (Alexander Skarsgard) is a white man who is oblivious to her Blackness, has no qualms about voicing his hatred of Black people all whilst affectionately nicknaming her ‘’Nig’’ and this cements Clare’s loneliness. Not only is she lonely but every day she is in imminent danger of her true identity being discovered.
Irene in her own way is also passing. She passes for a woman in a happy marriage who is free and safe. Safety is a theme that repeatedly comes up. Irene is desperate to protect her sons from the realities of growing up in racist America. However, her husband, an educated Black man, a doctor no less, places no value on their sons’ innocence and childhood. Sex is a joke and lynchings make for bedtime reading. This scene is a frank depiction of the ways young Black children are forced to reconcile with issues that are beyond their comprehension. It is a vain attempt to be better equipped them to endure the harsh realities of living in a racist society with little understanding of the effects on their psyche.
‘’We’re all passing for something. Aren’t we?’’
The men in Passing are walking contradictions. John and Brian (Andre Holland) both claim to hate what the other represents – whiteness and superiority, Blackness and inferiority. However, John is married to Clare who he doesn’t know is Black and Brian gradually becomes enamored with Clare knowing she is passing for white. Irene astutely alludes to this phenomenon during the dance scene in the following dialogue: ‘’It’s just plain exoticism. An interest in what’s different. Something you feel in the presence of something strange, even perhaps repugnant to you…’’. John and Hugh’s (Bill Camp) ignorance largely speaks to the ignorance of white people regarding the social construct of race. They invented it but cannot see it when it’s right in their face.
Thompson portrays Irene’s unraveling facade of safety, happiness, and freedom with controlled authenticity. The pot boiling over with white froth, the white confederate teapot that she intentionally drops, and the black crack in the ceiling. Irene is losing control and the only power she has is knowing she can out Clare’s secret at will.
The present participle of the title is deliberate. This seemingly little detail highlights that what Clare is doing and what so many Black and Brown people were forced/pressured to do is a continuous dangerous fraud with no end in sight. It is a lifelong commitment. It evokes that there will always be a chance that they’ll be caught and they will no longer be passing, they would have failed.
Passing is a nuanced exploration of the prison of pretense. It is an exercise in futility pretending to be something one is not. The privileges are short-lived and come at great cost. To successfully pass, to deceive oneself and others, one has to kill what one is trying to hide. It is the ultimate sacrifice to reject oneself in the hopes that the system will accept one as its own. The music will stop sometime and we will all have to stop dancing and face up to the secrets we keep hidden. After all, we’re all passing as something, aren’t we?
