As we know, societal expectations and norms can challenge individuals in many ways. Societal expectations
can sometimes create pressure to conform to certain norms or standards, which can lead to a lack of authenticity.
In Giovanni’s Room (1956) by James Baldwin discussed in class, and the film that I watched called You People (2023), both stories deal with the aspect of pressures from societal norms and the obstacles that come with it when trying to fulfill desires and being true to yourself.
To quickly summarize, the movie You People goes through the struggles of an interracial and interreligious couple consisting of a white Jewish man named Ezra and a black Muslim woman named Amira and the cultural barriers that come from the families. The relationship was completely normal and they had envisioned this perfect wedding until Ezra goes to Amira’s father to ask for permission to marry her, and the father claims that he is the wrong person for her daughter because he wants her to marry a Muslim man. This is where the societal expectations and norms come into play, as in past generations it was expected that a Muslim woman marries a Muslim man, and would often be forbidden that a Muslim woman marries someone not following the same religion. In You People, Amira’s father creates challenges and makes their relationship harder than it needs to be simply because of cultural differences and the fact that these two groups of people are not typically expected to be married. Amria’s father constantly tries to make Ezra look bad to prove to Amira that he is not good enough for her. For example, he makes it his goal finds ways to lower Ezra’s self-confidence, by criticizing Ezra's decision to quit finance for podcasting. There are also clashes between the families in terms of religion, where one night they had an argument over Farrahkhan’s antisemitic views. Because of these interventions coming from the parents, it prevents Ezra and Amira from experiencing a true wedding. The actions of the parents cause this awkwardness between Ezra and Amira as they are steered away from being their true selves, as they start to fight and even have doubts that the marriage could even work out because based on how their parents were acting, they were afraid for how the rest of the outside world would react. For example, Ezra was always so focused on being a great husband and he sacrifices many things for that, but now he has to worry about pleasing Amira’s father. Instead of preparing for the wedding, Ezra has to play well in a pickup basketball game to impress Amira’s father. He is usually an outgoing and expressive person, but because he is going against societal norms and Amira’s father already doesn't see him as husband material because he is not Muslim, Ezra also has to watch everything he says and does, and that includes not participating in any activities at his bachelor party. Ezra and Amira on their special day even need to have an intervention and explain to the parents that they are going to start ignoring their opinions on the wedding. To summarize, in You People, the cultural differences between the two families and the societal norm that these two types of people typically do not get married cause people from outside of the relationship (the parents) to intervene and prevent Ezra and Amira from having a normal relationship and a perfect wedding that they had dreamed about.
In Giovanni’s Room, societal norms also play a role in how the character David lives his life and fulfills happiness. In You People, the people from outside of the relationship prevent Ezra and Amira from being their true selves. However, in Giovanni’s room, David resists his authenticity and mental temptations before he even gets a reaction from the outside world because he is scared of how everyone else would react. He struggles with his feelings for Giovanni because he refuses to accept he is gay because in the 1950s, society dictates that homosexuality is frowned upon and immoral. Because of this, David acts very differently than his normal self and lives his life not doing what he desires. He feels obligated to conform to the societal norms and expectations that he is supposed to be attracted to women, even though he is not genuinely attracted to them. For example, he dates women such as Hella and Sue, as a way to fulfill societal expectations and hide his true desire for men. Because of these actions, David experiences a great deal of emotional distress and internal conflict and his decisions ultimately lead to great loneliness as he chooses Hella over Giovanni and afterward never ends up getting the chance to express his feelings for Giovanni. To recap, because of societal norms and the lack of acceptance towards homosexuality at the time, David prevented himself from being his genuine self and reaching the true happiness which he would have had with Giovanni, which he realized at the end of the novel.
To conclude, both You People (2023) and Giovanni’s Room (1956) show how societal norms create challenges and find ways to complicate things, as they can limit genuineness and authenticity. Although these two stories showed this aspect in different ways, they showed similar effects and how these societal expectations prevent people from living life to their true desires.
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