If Barbie-Q were a short film

First of all, Barbie-Q could not be adapted into a film because it is very short and expanding the story would be meaningless. Instead, I have framed this scene as part of a short film which would be maybe 5 minutes long at the most. Read below.

If I were to adapt a scene from the story Barbie-Q, I would adapt the scene where the two girls are walking through the flea market. I think that it offers a lot of possibilities in terms of how to adapt it and I love that. First, let's address the characters in the scene. There would be vendors selling goods and some people roaming around the flea market. There would also be two girls around the age of maybe 5-7 who look like sisters and two parents accompanying them to the flea market. The two girls start out walking beside their parent and one runs off to be chased by the other, like a game of tag. The mother just looks at them but doesn't chase them as they are still in her line of sight. Then, one stumbles upon the two Mattel Barbie boxes on a vendor's table and they both beam their eyes despite the poor condition of the dolls. They start talking very excited about the clothes that are on the doll. Then, they beg their parents in a pleading voice (imagine a child saying "Please, Please, Please!!!") and after a little bit they give in a buy the two dolls. The two girls then smile and bounce around as they hold the burnt Barbie Dolls in their hands. 

Now, for the actual setting of the scene. First, the area would be a little rugged, not a dump, but worn down. It would be a relatively big flea market, judging from the amount of different dolls they see in the story. The vendors would be sprawled out on the outside of the street selling their distinctive items they sell. In the background, a cloud of smoke hovers in the air from the fire that occurred at the toy factory the other day. There would be small bots of trash scattered about, but not very much. 

That's how I would set the scene but there are probably some minor adjustments one could make to some of the aspects of the scene and it would still be a valid interpretation. 

Isolation

"This is What it Means to Say Phoenix Arizona" was one of my favorite stories we read this semester. After reading it, I didn't immediately see any connections with the current COVID-19 epidemic. However, after taking a closer look at the story I see a connection between the character Thomas Builds-the-Fire and how some people feel during quarantine. I saw that his character exhibited some of the characteristics people have during quarantine, namely isolation.

As a quick reminder, Thomas Builds-the-Fire is the one who travels with Victor, the main character, to go pick up Victor's dead dad. They aren't exactly friends, but they were at some point when they were both kids. The main thing that Thomas is known for is telling stories, however, he doesn't have a lot of friends in the reservation so he mostly spends time by himself, like in this quote, "Thomas would remain the crazy storyteller who talked to dogs and cars, who listened to the wind and the pine trees." He doesn't have a lot of people to share his stories with, so when he hears that Victor's dad died and he needed money, Thomas pitched in some cash and told him that we wanted to come with, for some company. 

I think that Thomas has some similarities to the current COVID-19 situation because his isolation sort of reflects our isolation during social distancing. For example, Thomas spends a lot of time by himself instead of with other, just like people are having to do now with social distancing. He has to get by by talking to himself as he wants to tell stories just like some people now are watching a lot of movies or playing video games. There is a small difference here though, as we do have means to virtually communicate with others which is something Thomas can't do, as people just ignore him. Another thing that Thomas shares with us is how he acts during the trip. For example, he talks for pretty much the entire plane ride with an Olympic gymnast because "people talk on planes." He loves this because he gets to tell his stories to someone who hasn't heard them before. This is similar to when people have opportunities to connect with other people during quarantine, they love the opportunity. 

Overall, the isolation Thomas faces is similar (not the same) as the kind we are facing now. 

Alternate title for Girl

The story Girl is about a girl who is being taught different life skills she will need as a housewife. For example, she is taught how to wash clothes, salt fish, sweep the house, and iron clothes. She is also taught proper etiquette and behavior, such as how to "walk like a lady" and "behave in the presence of men." Intermixed between these teachings, there is also talk of not becoming "the slut I have warned against you becoming." However, it is never directly stated who is speaking to the girl and telling her these things. A reasonable assumption for who this character is could be that its the girl's mother. For this reason, I think that an alternate title for the story Girl is Mother. 

It is a reasonable assumption to assume that the person speaking to the girl is her mother because of what specifically they talk about. The chores that this person teaches the girl how to do are all traditionally done by a housewife or a female member of the household. They also specifically talk about the father, such as in how to "iron father's khaki pants," but they never do that about the mother, which could be an indication she is the one talking. Another thing they talk about is how to act in front of boys. It wouldn't make a lot of sense for the girl's father to be telling her how to this as he is a male. The best person to do this would be her mother because she had to learn how to do that as well. Also, they talk about how to love a man which seems to be something a mother would know best how to do. Overall, there is a lot of evidence and subtext backing up the idea that the mother is the one speaking to the girl. 

The reason I feel that Mother is an appropriate, alternate title for the story Girl is that, with a shift of focus, one can frame the story so that it focuses on the mother's directions to her daughter instead of how her daughter hears her mother's instructions. It is very subtle, as it just changes the point of view a little bit. This is still an accurate reading of the story because the story solely consists of the mother's commands, which means you can read it from either perspective. This new title also shifts the story from how the daughter views the expectations of her mother to what the mother expects of her daughter, such as how the mother expects her daughter to be a married woman instead of a woman who only wants sex. I like both title's and both have an effect on who's point of view we see the story from.