Creating a Character Through Fashion: Detroit
Graphic by Margeaux Rocco. Image via Black Girl Nerds, Glamour
Tessa Thompson’s character, Detroit, is a performance artist in Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. As the girlfriend of the main character, Cassius Green, Detroit is a major character who contributes heavily to the political themes of the film.
As a performance artist, Detroit is independent, assertive, and very political. She uses her body as a canvas, with her clothing, makeup, and accessories working together to make various statements.
Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of Detroit’s styling is her infamous earrings. Throughout the film, she dons various self-made earrings with bold statements such as “Tell Homeland Security we are the bomb,” “Bury the rag deep in your face,” and the always-poignant “Murder murder murder, kill kill kill.”
Image via Racked
Not only are Detroit’s earrings a political statement, they also function within the narrative of the story. The phrase “nice earrings” is repeated by several different characters throughout the movie, to which Detroit always replies that she made them herself. By doing so, she takes authorship over the statement her earrings are making and displays her personal involvement in political art. The phrase “nice earrings” draws the audience’s attention to Detroit, but also reminds them that the other characters are aware of her earrings, and thus her politics, as well. Her expression is not only for the audience’s sake, but affects the world of the story and how she is perceived by the other characters around her.
Image via Vox
Although Detroit’s earrings are extraordinary, they should not overshadow her makeup and fashion, which play equally important, if more subtle, roles in the expression of her character.
Stylist Kirsten Coleman cited Afropunk as an important influence on Detroit’s style, which she defined as, “a really edgy, progressive style of wearing fashion and makeup by doing things you wouldn’t normally do.” Throughout the film, Detroit rocks vibrant eyeshadow and gemstones, political graphic tees, and various layers of color and pattern. Coleman also explained the styling team’s focus on change and evolution; Detroit’s style is never stagnant, she is always adjusting and adding to her look. There is one scene in the film in which Detroit is with Cassius and other characters in a bar, and as they talk, she continuously adds stickers to the back of her hand. Coleman explains, “She’s constantly vibing on her look, because she’s constantly changing as well.” Detroit’s ever-changing nature reflects the way a political landscape is always changing — progress is always moving forward, not remaining stationary.
There has been much debate online about Detroit’s character since the movie’s release; many people praise her as a heroine and a radical, while others criticize her apparent hypocrisy. At one point in the film, as tensions build within their relationship, Cassius calls out Detroit, claiming that her art is funded and purchased by the same wealthy people she claims to rebel against.
I stumbled upon an interesting article published by the blog Black Girl Nerds, which argues that Detroit critiques “fake wokeness” by at times revealing her own political shortcomings. The article questions Detroit’s performance near the end of the film, in which she stands on stage, reciting a poem as her audience is encouraged to throw cellphones and balloons full of sheep’s blood at her. The article asks, “what do we mean when we have solidarity marches? When we photo campaign? When we hashtag? When we change our profile pictures? When we wear T-shirts with the African continent colored in red, green, and black? Do we mean it? Or are we like Detroit at her show, playing the role, loudly insisting on our authenticity, and just not realizing how fake it all looks?” The article agrees with Cassius, who calls Detroit’s performance pointless; her audience is not learning anything, and she is enduring physical harm and humiliation for seemingly no purpose.
Image via Black Girl Nerds
I think this article is much more nuanced and interesting than reviews that simply write Detroit off as a “badass” or a “strong female character,” when in reality she is much more complicated. I believe she was meant to be a character who sparks controversy; she starts discussion on art’s role in politics and how effective it is as a form of protest. Detroit teaches us that good characters are often more complex, and more interesting, if they are not perfectly good. She has flaws and hypocritical moments, but like her clothing and makeup, Detroit is always growing and evolving who she is, and never settles for taking the easy way out.