Reply to Movies where white people "rescue" black people. Annoy anyone else?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm annoyed by it, too -- partly because I think it reflects studios' assumption that white people won't watch a movie unless there's a white person at the center of the story.

Plenty of people were irritated by "the blind side." There was also the movie about Steve Biko that focused on a white journalist rather than Biki himself, or "last king of Scotland," the movie about Idi Amin (w/a powerhouse performance by Forrest Whitaker) that was from the POV of his white doctor.

Compare it with "42," the Jackie Robinson movie - there's no doubt a white guy is instrumental in events, & Harrison Ford does a great job in the role, but he's still clearly secondary to Robinson himself as far as the story is concerned.[/quote]

FYI the white journalist (Donald Woods) portrayed in Cry Freedom was an integral part of the story. The movie is based on 2 books, one about the journalist and one about Biko, both written by Donald Woods. If Donald Woods had not risked his life to leave the country, you would never have heard Biko's story.

So this does smack of over-sensitivity trumping reality.[/quote]

However integral Donald Woods was to Biko's story getting out, the fact is it's *Biko's* story. I don't think it's over-sensitive to think maybe a movie about Steve Biko would actually focus on the man himself. It's the difference between a movie about a man fighting apartheid and a movie about a journalist who helped a man fight apartheid. The journalist's story is only the more interesting one IF you're afraid white audiences won't connect with a black main character.
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