The Last King of Scotland' renews debate about racial point of view

[almaty 19]

e stories are familiar: The Great White Hunter arrives on the Dark Continent. A Bible-toting missionary becomes entranced by native rhythms. A selfless aid worker delivers food to a famine zone. An American corporation sends mercenaries to overthrow a tribal warlord.

Hollywood rarely has made a movie about Africa without filtering it through an Anglo character's perspective.

This season, Africa is a trendy topic, and a new spate of movies again raises old questions about stereotypes and cultural imperialism. In "The Last King of Scotland," which opened here Friday, the bloody reign of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is seen through the eyes of a Scottish doctor played by James McAvoy.

In "Catch a Fire," which opens Oct. 27, Tim Robbins plays a white South African detective hunting a militant black member of the African National Congress. And in "Blood Diamond," scheduled for December, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a white adventurer pursuing a priceless gem in the midst of civil war.

Even in the real world of journalism, stories about Africa often require a white intermediary before they gain traction. The deaths of millions of blacks of genocide or starvation don't merit attention on the evening news. But when Bono or "Brangelina" go on a mission of mercy, the paparazzi follow.

Filmmakers say that casting white stars and the choice of newsworthy subject matter are factors in getting a project financed. In a documentary about the making of the "Last King of Scotland," director Kevin Macdonald says the fictional character of the white doctor helps connect the Western audience to a story that was aching to be told.

"Up until Nelson Mandela, Idi Amin was the most famous African ever," Macdonald says. "With the stories about his cannibalism and witchcraft and multiple partners, he represents all that is worst and most savage about the Dark Continent."

That's why Amin was good copy in his lifetime and why Forest Whitaker has such a show-stopping role in the feature film.

If Hollywood is going to focus on famine and war, then the white characters must bear their share of the responsibility, says Niyi Coker Jr., a Nigerian who is a professor of African and African-American studies at the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

"Africa was colonized by the British, the French, the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch and the Belgians," Coker says. "Most countries in Africa did not become independent until the 1960s, so, naturally, some of them are still struggling.

RELATED LINK

REVIEW: Whitaker dazzles in 'Last King of Scotland'

"It's appropriate to have a movie about Idi Amin, but we should balance it and say why those things occurred, what are the legacies of colonialism and who are the people backing these corrupt regimes."

"The Dogs of War," a movie based on a novel by Frederick Forsyth, understood colonialism, Coker says.

"It's about how an oil company puts together a paramilitary force to go into Africa and seize control of a country," he says. "Another one was 'Lord of War,' with Nicolas Cage as an arms trafficker. During the Cold War, these newly formed governments were receiving arms to fight communists when people in Africa didn't even know what communists were. Those weapons are still killing people."

Bobbie Lautenschlager, a local film producer who worked as a medical missionary in Uganda during the period depicted in "The Last King of Scotland," was disappointed that the movie focused so much attention on the fictional white doctor.

"It was silly to insert a subplot about the doctor having an affair with Amin's wife," she says. "I saw Idi Amin in person at a parade in Kampala, with his own picture printed on his dashiki. There was enough drama swirling around him, with his expulsion of the Asians who were the backbone of the economy, that the movie didn't need to invent any."

Coker says many Africans regard Hollywood depictions of their continent as "a big joke" because filmmakers don't do the most basic homework in geography, history and language.

"In 'The Air Up There,' Kevin Bacon recruits a basketball player who is supposed to be Kenyan. But half of the characters speak with South African accents," Coker says. "To Hollywood, Africa is just one big, confused continent. As long as there are people in grass skirts beating drums, the audience is supposed to understand that it's Africa."

Lautenschlager says Hollywood rarely depicts working-class or professional Africans, people who are in control of their own lives.

"At a film festival, I saw a wonderful movie called 'Drum,' starring Taye Diggs as a South African journalist in the 1950s," she says. "It showed black South Africa as a culture that was rich and vibrant and totally its own. It was a remarkable film -- and it never got released to the general public."

A rare release with a black African protagonist was "Hotel Rwanda." As the nation descends into a genocidal chaos that a UN contingent, led by Nick Nolte, is powerless to stop, a hotel manager played by Don Cheadle saves hundreds of refugees.

"The world needs to see that there are black heroes," Lautenschlager says.

Local audiences will get to see a different kind of black hero when "Son of Man" screens at the St. Louis International Film Festival in November. The film re-imagines Christ as a black man in contemporary South Africa. Like "U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha," a modern version of the Bizet opera in the Xhosa language, it was directed by a white Englishman, Mark Dornford-May.

While white South African Gavin Hood won the foreign-language Oscar last year for directing the hoodlum drama "Tsotsi," black Africa is still waiting to tell its story. Nigeria has a large movie industry, dubbed Nollywood, but most of its output is simplistic melodramas shot on video.

Until Africa is able to export a more truthfully positive image of itself, the world will continue to be duped by Hollywood, Coker says.

"I've taken a lot of white students to Africa and, when they get there, they realize they've been lied to," he says. "They are shocked to see normal life -- people driving cars, eating in restaurants, going to clubs. They see a different level of humanity than they get in the movies."

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Very perceptive article...

And they even had the nerve to pirate the title for the film from Bob Marley

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Interesting read. Hotel Rwanda's lead character was incredibly complex...great movie!

[Mirorgate 0]

I look forward to viewing both those movies. I like Tim Robbins as an actor.. leonardo de craprio though... bleh... but supporting cast looked good.

also, for those that havent.. James Earl Jones in Cry the Beloved Country is a good movie. Set in south africa... still in or just after aparteid era. it's awesome to see the growth between JEJ and his counterpart in the movie near end.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

also, for those that havent.. James Earl Jones in Cry the Beloved Country is a good movie. Set in south africa... still in or just after aparteid era. it's awesome to see the growth between JEJ and his counterpart in the movie near end.

Very much in middle of (I think the movie was made during the time of either Verwoerd or Vorster--who were definitely not wishing to end it; definitely both novel and movie before Botha or DeKlerk) apartheid. Didn't actually see the movie, but did have to read (and write report on) the novel in 12th grade.

Yeah, the Jarvis-Kumalo growth towards the novel's end did provide a ray of hope.

Edited October 14, 2006 by CherryXS