Realism as Resistance: The Case of Wadjda (2012)

Marguerite La Caze (University of Queensland)

Abstract: In philosophical and political terms, cinematic realism can be associated with reinforcement of the status quo or propaganda for an oppressive regime. This paper explores the contrary potential of realism to portray resistance to oppression. In Wadjda the director, Haifaa Al Mansour, focuses on the everyday desire of a young Riyadh girl, Wadjda, to own a bicycle. The film uses a realist style to show the restrictions on women’s lives in Saudi Arabia and simultaneously affirm hope in gradual change through the natality, in Hannah Arendt’s sense, of a child who does not see these constraints as insurmountable obstacles. I argue that the realism of the film demonstrates the importance of small advances in politics and realistic film-making’s capacities to anticipate those advances.  

Bio: Marguerite La Caze is Professor of philosophy at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on European philosophy, philosophy of the emotions and philosophy of film. Her recent books include Ethical Restoration after Communal Violence (2018), the edited collections Contemporary Perspectives on Vladimir Jankélévitch, with Magdalena Zolkos (2019), Truth in Visual Media, with Ted Nannicelli (2021), and Hannah Arendt and the History of Thought (2022), with Daniel Brennan, and Film and Everyday Resistance (2024).

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