So many films about African violence, but little about African poverty
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jamal89 — 14 years ago(September 25, 2011 01:27 PM)
I am not minimizing the injustice you have encountered at all.
Yes you are, although perhaps inadvertently, when you try to make an argument out of "I have suffered, too." It's a nonsequitur. One injustice doesn't cancel out another.
What would your name have to do with anything?I've just started posting here and someone already pointed it out, thinking it was germane.
Folks like me? What does that mean? White folks?No, it means folks who think if they ignore a phenomenon it doesn't exist.
The reason I think you're a troll is because you have opened more than one thread posting about the same topicYou think African poverty in Western filmmaking and white savior tropes are the same topic?
personally attacked anyone who dared have a different view and accuse them of being racist as a results, leads me to think that you do fill the role of troll quite well.At issue is not merely different opinions but total denialism. It's intellectually and emotionally dishonest. Anyone who has watched more than a dozen Hollywood films, and that would include 99.99999999% of those who post here, know full well that whites don't flock to majority black films; they know that whites gravitate to films that privilege whites and marginalize and/or subordinate people of color. Anyone who has an ounce of empathy in them has noticed the recurrence of white savior and magical negro tropes. To attempt to squelch discussion of uncomfortable tropes by pretending they don't exist is "soft racism." I stand by that. What if someone told you to "quit bitchin" about antisemitism in cinema and refused to acknowledge that such a thing exists? I don't think you'd appreciate it.
Oh, and a troll doesn't initiate thoughtful discussion or contribute much substance to advance a nuanced argument. I've done that.
Do I have much patience for sanctimonious posters who pretend to be enlightened while counseling ignorance about racism in Hollywood film history and attempting to throw sand over the subject ? No, can't say that I have.
If I stated that a certain film was discriminatory against Jews, I wouldn't automatically call out "antisemite" if someone simply had an opposing opinion.No, but if they denied the existence of any kind of antisemitism in cinema, and tried to discourage you from discussing it, you'd be more than entitled to invoke "soft antisemitism" in response.
Furthermore, I never claimed that the film trope didn't exist, just that it's a common outcry and subjective to the viewerDoes "common" make it any less valid? And no it's not merely a matter of opinion but a well-established trope dissected in minute detail by film semioticians. In individual films there's certainly some wiggle-room for disagreement, but as a film phenomenon it exists beyond a shadow of a doubt. Can you think of any allied keywords that correspond to it? I'm guessing that because it's not really on your radar screen, you'll be hard pressed to do so.
The problem isthe movie hasn't been released yet, and trailers are usually inaccurate depictions of films as a whole. That is why I don't think such harsh judgment should be cast until the film is given an actual viewing.I disagree. The movie has already been released in NY and LA. The combination of the film poster, the trailer, the plot descriptions and the consensus among professional film critics is all I really need to reach a reasonable conclusion. Again, some grounding in film semiotics and cinema history would help.
And I noticed that we have stopped talking about the subject of my OP which is
African poverty.
Lest we forget. -
jamal89 — 14 years ago(September 25, 2011 02:01 PM)
Wow, "Hela." (whatever) for someone who's been accusing me of being a troll, I can't believe you have "administratively disappeared." Did you self-delete your whole account (not on account of me I hope) or did you get actioned for a serious IMDb violation?
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jamal89 — 14 years ago(February 02, 2012 09:03 AM)
This upcoming drama set in Nigeria during its civil war years, written by an acclaimed African author, may be the antidote to years of neglect.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Thandie-Newton-Joins-Dominic-Cooper-Chi wetel-Ejiofor-War-Drama-Half-Yellow-Sun-29032.html -
Korios — 13 years ago(September 01, 2012 01:35 AM)
Why do the admins frequently delete all of the comments of the one of the two members in a discussion? From what you quoted the other guy did not swear or anything. Then why admin? :s
sig. start:
The term "suspension of disbelief" was coined by LOLW, the League of Lazy Writers. -
jamal89 — 13 years ago(September 03, 2012 08:55 AM)
Admins weren't responsible. The poster deleted her own account, presumably because she was getting frustrated with or feeling guilty about the mounting hypocrisies in her own post. She may have suffered a change of heart when she recognized that I was showing more empathy for her preferred cause than she was showing for mine, even though they're essentially the same cause.
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jamal89 — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 10:12 AM)
Thanks. Here's an upcoming, important exception to the rule: an Afrocentric, humanistic film about both violence and poverty, and not a white savior in sight!
http://www.imdb.com/board/12215077/ -
kuatorises — 4 months ago(November 29, 2025 04:41 PM)
Well, the violence is the cause of the problems in these African countries. These African countrys are Hell on Earth because of the dictators and warlods.
But something, something, something, white people.
This movie bombed btw, whereas Hotel Rawanda made more money and was nominated for awards, ya racist prick.