White Man

"White Man's Burden" has a (reasonably) neat premise: society is reversed so the black man is in the white man's current place. The idea is this allows us to tackle our prejudices and preconceived notions about society. Does it work? No, it's too busy being laughable or boring.

From the opening I felt chills. Was this chocolate factory scene, brown being poured on top of white, some horribly clumsy use of imagery? I feared so. The film looked set to be heavy-handed, and it was. The movie's flaw is that it over-does it's premise - nearly all the white people are poor and rundown, while all the black people come across as elitist snobs. The underlying message of course being that in "our reality" the situation is reversed and this gives a horribly, simplistic, and downright irritating attitude towards race. It's completely simplistic and infuriating - not because you're angered that it's right but because it's done so poorly and with a preachiness that grates.

It might all be OK if there was a story to support it. There isn't. Reeking of TV movie-of-the-week, John Travolta is playing a desperate factory-worker who kidnaps his ex-boss in a bid to get the money he lost from being fired unfairly. *Yawn*. There's no suspense and no tension in their scenes. There's the boring, trite situation where the boss, played by Harry Belafonte, starts to understand Travolta's cause. Far too obvious in coming. There's even the hilariously poor moment when Belafonte's son takes home a white girl to a look of distaste from his mother - bang that message-hammer on our heads Mr Nakano (the script writer). I'm reminded of a moment from "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" when the character is similarly preachy and the postman turns to the screen and says "Message!" pointing out how morale messages are weakly delivered. In fact the only decent bit is about two minutes from the end, and even that's ruined by the (incredibly) obvious follow-up final minute. *Yawn*.

Travolta does nothing for this picture. This film was released after his sudden re-emerge in "Pulp Fiction", but I imagine he made it while still wandering around the Turkey Farm. His performance is as forgettable, as is usual with him and Belafonte is just OK.

Nothing can make me recommend this piece. If you want a movie about race issues why not watch the infinitely superior "American History X". This movie has a dreadful plot, weak acting, and destroys a promising premise by being both heavy-handed and insultingly simplistic. Avoid. 2/10.

Although on the surface a stupid, simplistic and "unrealistic" film, there is much more to the film. If the roles were reversed and every black character was played by a white and every white by a black I would be bored to tears, the film would never have made a dime, and we'd all hate it with justification. However, it was this very realization, during the film, which made me respect its message. Because the roles are completely and totally reversed, swapping black and white character for character, the film is disturbing. It's almost painful to watch. Ask yourself while you're watching how you're reacting and how the reaction would be different if there were no race reversals. Maybe that's because of the stereotypes we have in place and the roles we do play in the world - if it were just another story about a black man down on his luck we'd all yawn but because it's a white man and all of society is reversed, we watch, we wonder how it will play out, and we're bothered by it. I analogize the film to Planet of the Apes in some ways because of its ability to make us step back and take a look at society in a different way entirely. It is not as well done as Planet of the Apes but is worthwhile.

I appreciate when a movie tries to break the conceptions of the audience. This shows that someone is trying to be smart and use the medium to express their own heartfelt views as well as entertain. Yet this movie has a serious problem: it tries to show a mirror world in which the roles of whites and blacks are reversed in order to show the injustice. Yet this movie doesn't have the sense to realize that when you use a stereotype in order to break it, you end up enforcing it. Travolta's character in this movie is not just your bog standard black man, it's representative of whites in the same class strata. Yes, there are white people who act just like he does in this movie. This is not behavior that is reserved solely for black people. And yet this is supposed to be an Alternate America?

Nonsense.

This movie is misinformed racewise. There are plenty of rich blacks and poor whites in this world. Turn it on Cops or any talk show and you'll see proof of the latter. To give us a morality play with the intent to shock us with things a lot of us in middle America see on a daily basis is lazy conception.

The movie fails on this level. Perhaps if it gave more thought to the classes instead of just using the race card (and actually looking more into their topic) it would be a good movie. But now, it's just a forgotten piece of tripe with a very limited and selectively cynical view of the world. And the world is lesser for it.

Just watched this film tonight on TV and if I were asked to sum the film up I would say "it conveys an important message, but one feels oneself constantly checking the film for the 'real-ness' of the scenario it is trying to portray". I say this because even a fantasy film such as this - and fantasy is precisely what it is - has to be real to make sense. In the event it felt at least partially real, granted, but as a viewer I felt that this aforementioned 'checking' got in the way of getting emotionally attached to the characters, which would have helped get the message across. It wasn't a bad film but watching it was a decidedly strange experience. Maybe that was the intended effect. I don't know.

This film is set in a rare alternative world where the African-Americans have all the power and health. The priors live into luxurious residences and white men live in slums, inner city ghettos and with high poverty-level. A Caucasian blue-collar named Louis Pinnock(John Travolta)working in a chocolate factory is fired by his boss(Tom Wright) due to a misunderstanding.While he was delivering a package for Thaddeus Thomas(Harry Belafonte), he's mistaken accused as voyeur his wife(Margaret Avery). Meanwhile, he's beaten by policeman(Michael Beach) and skinheads, furthermore, his family, wife(Kelly Lynch) and sons are evicted from their house. Driven by desperation, Pinnock takes a gun and kidnaps wealthy Thaddeus, asking justice . Louis is justly helped by an old vagabond(Tom Bower).

The movie gets a politics critical about reversed stereotypes with anti-racism parable. Gimmicky plot is proceeded with slickness and intelligence. The original premise makes a real impact, adding the excellent acting by two main actors and magnificent secondary cast. John Travolta is top-notch as desperate worker driven by anger,demanding justice and extraordinary Harry Belafonte as cocky member of social elite. Supporting cast is frankly awesome, Kelly Lynch as affectionate wife, Tom Wright as bigoted chief, besides, Margaret Avery, Tom Bower, Carrie Snodgress,Sheryl Lee Ralph, among others. The picture displays atmospheric cinematography by Kurant and appropriate soundtrack by Howard Shore(Lord of Rings,The aviator),usual David Cronemberg's musician. The flick is well produced by Laurence Bender(Reservoir dogs,Pulp fiction). The motion picture is professionally directed by Desmond Nakano, a prestigious screenwriter. However failed in the Box-office and Nakano only directed another picture titled American pastime and again with no success.