Ghost stories aren’t always frightening faces in windows or doors slamming closed by themselves;sometimes it’s only the idea of a ghost that elicits terror. That kind of ambiguity is what drivesMariama Diallo’s debut filmMaster,whereRegina Hallplays Gail Bishop, the first Black “master” or dean atan elite New England university. As Gail struggles to navigate the politics of the mostly white staff and faculty, a freshman student, Jasmine (Zoe Renee), also faces countless microaggressions from the school – and begins to believe thata ghost is haunting her dorm room. The supernatural horrors aren’t necessarily at the front and center ofMaster, but the deeply uncomfortable interactions Jasmine and Gail have with their peers are guaranteed to make you squirm, especially since the movie draws inspiration from a very real and very shocking case of extreme cultural appropriation.
The Haunting in ‘Master’ Isn’t Just From a Ghost
When Jasmine moves into her new college dorm, she quickly learns of a disturbing legend surrounding her room.A local woman was once hanged as a witch and now haunts the dorm in revenge. Jasmine doesn’t think much of it at first and is more bothered by the awkward interactions she has with her mostly white classmates. These include being “flatteringly” compared to random Black celebrities and being suspected of stealing from the library.But the most uncomfortable momentcomes from drunken frat boys and sorority girls singing along to an explicit rap song at a party Jasmine is attending. They practically scream the n-word as they circle around one of the only Black students at the party (and seemingly the school). It’s an extremely tone-deaf moment that exacerbatesJasmine’s feeling of being otheredby everyone around her whenshe’s just trying to live a normal life. Things escalate to the point of a burning cross appearing in front of her dorm, and she also starts having nightmares about the ghost; the two experiences merge until she fears that the ghost really is trying to harm her.
Regina Hall Fans, December Is the Month for You
Hall is set to star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Battle of Baktan Cross.’
Meanwhile, Gail is havingher own nightmarish visions, ranging from a Black maid sobbing in her house tomaggots pouring out of the mouth of Gail’s own portrait. The key difference between Gail and Jasmine’s experiences is that Gail’s are explicitly tied to racism, while Jasmine’s ghost has virtually nothing to do with it. While this feels a bit like a missed opportunity, it does help keepthe movie’s supernatural aspects more ambiguous, as there’s an implication that Jasmine’s haunting is being manufactured by a living person. And because Gail’s experiences are so tied in with her ongoing struggle to navigate Ancaster’s mostly white population and Jasmine’s issues, her visions could be seen as her mind trying to tell her thatAncaster is indeed “haunted” by its own past.
‘Master’ Parallels a Real-Life Incident of False Identity
Masterdrives its main point home about the still-persistent creep of racism in our supposedly tolerant society with a mind-blowing reveal at the end. There’s a strong implication that a Black character in the movieisn’t who they say they arein more ways than one. First and foremost, they may not be Black at all and instead have two white biological parents; for whatever reason, they have been presenting themselves as African-American and using that perception of themselves to “fight” against discrimination, possibly evenusing accusations of racism to further their career. It’s extremely similar tothe case of Rachel Dolezal, a woman claiming to be Black and even becoming a chapter president of the NAACP before it came out that she had two white parents. Dolezal eventually resigned from her position in the NAACP, but still maintains thatshe “identifies” as Black and “transracial,”leading to numerous discussions of modern blackface, white privilege, and cultural appropriation.
WhileMasternever confirms if the Dolezal-like character has been lying about their race, there’s another disturbing implication that, despite claiming to be an advocate for racial equality,they are more than willing to put other POC lives at riskif it means getting what they want.It leads to a very dark endingthat is hard to forget, especially because of Regina Hall’s performance as her character becomes more and more disillusioned with her time at Ancaster. Like the maggot infestation in her home on campus, Gail’s interactions with Jasmine and the rest of the school make her realize thatsomething is rotten underneath the veneerof tolerance and acceptance. She is appalled that the faculty may have been unable to recognize a white person posing as a POC, and realizes that even as “master” she is no more than another maid hired to clean up the mess of an institution still steeped in racism.
The ghostly elements of the movie can feel muddled and only half-realized, butMasterdoes an excellent job of pointing out how our society is still haunted by the sins of the past, even if they hide themselves in subtle microaggressions.
