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If This Ain't Heaven

Black Lives • 27m

Directed by Roberta Cantow • Documentary • With Jacob Gaymon and Africa, his cat. • 1983 • 28 minutes

If This Ain't Heaven offers a portrait of an African American man that may very well challenge any number of sterotypes and assumptions about masculinity and African American men. The film shows us the very private side of Mr. G, a seemingly ordinary man, by allowing us inside his home where he interacts in a most loving, charming and humorous way with his cat, Africa. It is a kind of performance, and Mr. G — who speaks to and for his cat — becomes the "ventriloquist/artist par excellence." One can debate whether Mr. G is lonely or not, but his life is most assuredly enhanced by the story that he has invented about himself and the cat, and the manner in which he has filled in the details.

Tags
african american male, african-american studies, american studies, americas, animal behavior, animals and animal rights, anthropomorphism, biology, black culture, black stereotypes, black studies, black vernacular, cats, challenging the image of masculinity, communication and media studies, creativity, cultural and ethnic studies, doc, documentary, experimental, experimental film, expository, feminine stereotypes, film and video studies, folkart, folklore, gender studies, human animal bond, if this ain't heaven, masculine stereotypes, masculinity, men's studies, mid-atlantic, new york city, ovid, performance, pets, portrait, portraits of individuals, roberta cantow, science and technology, sociology, sociss, stereotype, talking animals, the, united states, urban life, urban sociology, ventriloquism, women’s studies, world regions

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