FILM : ' MORE THAN A WOMAN ' : AALIYAH MEMORIAL HONOURS

AALIYAH'S turn as a vampire in the nu-metal film Queen of the Damned is an often overlooked part of her legacy.

Black women's influence on metal and connected sub-genres is still often overlooked. 

As part of my research into Black women in pop culture. I've looked at the relationship between race, gender, onscreen portrayals of immortality and nu-metal.

Nu-metal, popularised in the early 2000s, is known for combining the mood of metal with riffs and hues of rap and hip-hop. The genre drew on the creativity of Black artists, singers and musicians across different genres and generations.

My research on this has involved reflecting on the nu-metal themed film Queen of the Damned [ 2002 ], based on Anne Rice's enduring Vampire Chronicles books.

It starred the singer Aaliyah as the powerful vampire Akasha. It was to be her final acting role before her death, aged just 22. Shortly before, she had also signed to appear in the sequel to The Matrix, another nu-metal franchise.

Aaliyah doesn't sing in Queen of the Damned, but her hip hop stardom is still central to the film, as is suggested by the emphasis on her image in the marketing.

Aaliyah being foregrounded in a nu-metal film paired with the limited dialogue and plot development of her character, reflects how Black women in alt and rock music and accompanying media are sometimes treated as simply there to be seen, not heard.

With a 17 percent '' tomatometre '' score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.8 star ranking in Letterboxed,  Queen of the Damned is generally seen as a flop.

But despite this, the film remains influential, particularly due to Aaliyah's poised presence as a hip-hop star in a fictional vampire and nu-metal world.

The character of Akasha can be criticised for representing stereotypical ideas of a Black women as being dangerously seductive. Still, Aaliyah's portrayal made an impression.

In recent years, the film has received renewed attention, sparked by the resurgence of nu-metal and the creation of AMC TV show Interview with the Vampire [ 2022-present ].

The World Students Society thanks Francesca Sonade, a Reader in Digital Media Studies at the Cardiff University in the UK.