Cindy Sherman, "Nobody's Here But Me"

At the beginning of the film Sherman talked about the image of women’s roles in society and she talked about how she sort of resented these ideas. The movie also talked about how she would try to transform herself (like she does in her photographs) even when she was young. I found these things really interesting because it seems to suggest that Sherman was trying to figure herself out by posing as the subjects in her photographs. The title of the movie is “Nobody’s Here But Me”, and I think this suggests that Sherman was expressing different aspects of herself in all of her works. I think that this also shows her reluctance to fit into a pre-destined ‘mold’, like the one that woman in the 1950s were expected to fit into. Sherman talked about using the camera to lie, but I think that is an over-simplification of what is really happening in her work. It seems to me that each photograph helps define a different part of who Sherman is. It is possible that I could be reading too much into her work, but I think that it adds even more depth to her photographs. It makes her work seem like a type of rally against and support for stereotypes. I think that it highlights the struggle that a lot of women face; a need to be independent and unique while fighting or accepting a desire to be a part of the social norm.

I didn't like all of the works that were talked about in the film, but I am very interested in Sherman’s thought processes. I am interested in the macabre, and those types of creepy or morbid subjects are always my favorite pieces of art. So I thought that her work with the fairy tales and with the babies was the most interesting (although I wouldn't recommend eating while you watch the movie because some parts of it are a little gross). However, Sherman’s interest in these things seems to come from her interest in horror movies, and I personally don’t like horror. I prefer to romanticize or incorporate images of death or fear into lovely or sweet images because I think it creates a powerful emotional response. Sherman seems more interested in the creepiness of the stories, but this still makes for some really interesting images.