Characters as foils for the white working class male hero
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Machine Gun Preacher
jamal89 — 13 years ago(September 03, 2012 09:22 AM)
The African soldier: automatically follows the White Preacher into battle even though he's had plenty of combat experience and Childers has none. Lets Childers teach him how to keep his gun clean.
(And even though Africans, like Cubans, are renowned masters of keeping cars on the road way past their "expiration date.")
The screenwriter must have been taking notes from The Blind Side, that scene in which Sandra Bullock, absurdly, teaches Michael Oher how to play football.
African adults: apparently they don't care about the kids of their country. They sit around while the White Savior plays Sister Maria to adoring throngs of little ones. Sometimes the few available adults help, but only after Childers asks them to. Even in shots where black soldiers are "helping" Childers save the children, the camera takes pains to focus on Childers alone.
The banker: White limousine liberal (?) (or at least upper class) talks a good game but won't put his money where is mouth is.
The "feminazi" holier-than-thou naive relief doctor bitches at Childers, lectures condescendingly about pacificism, and gets her comeuppance. In Africa, only Real (white) men need apply.
The wife: stands by her man, but doesn't worry her pretty little head over the realities going down in Africa.
The daughter: calls attention to Childers as an authoritarian but loving father who has the right to take over the violent crusade for justice in Africa because he is a father who take charge (as opposed to the mothers and fathers in Africa who can't or won't stand up for their own kids).
Alternative title: Law Abiding Citizen goes to Africa.