Shoot the Messenger

Really, anyone who thinks this film is racist clearly has no capacity to look beyond the blatantly obvious and try to understand the real meaning of this stunning story. The fact that a film maker can be so bold and provocative as to verbalise the issues that are explored, and really go deeper into the race question than just "he's wrong he's right", and that someone can ignore political correctness and risk offending people in order to really get down to the gritty issues behind racism and race stereotyping is a testament to what can be done with film these days. I think that this is an intelligent, important and very brave piece of work, that will undoubtedly incur criticism, but that at the very least will remind people that race IS still an issue and that it requires more thought and understanding than is generally applied to it. I think that this is as cinematically close to Studs Terkel as possible.

As can be seen from some of the comments posted here, there are plenty of people intent on 'shooting the messenger', rather than listen to the message itself. In this case, the message happens to be the questioning of blame-culture which exists among certain sections of the black community. It is the contention of the author (Sharon Foster, herself a black writer) that it is this culture, and not that which is being blamed (ie white people), which is the cause of black underachievement. It is a serious argument, and one that can withstand close scrutiny, but that hasn't stopped the usual suspects from using their lazy cries of 'Racism' to try and silence the debate. A similar point was made during the film itself and it is interesting that many of the same terms of abuse used to castigate the main character in the film are identical to the ones being thrown around here (mainly by people who don't appear to have seen it). That would seem to indicate that Foster is, indeed, on to something.

Of course, this film could amount to no more than a 'worthy' drama, but 'Shoot The Messenger' is much more than that, due, in no small measure, to the quality of the writing. Foster has constructed an engrossing journey of self-discovery which begins with provocative words ( a gauntlet deliberately thrown in the face of the audience) uttered by Joe Pascale (excellently played by David Oyelowo), a well-intentioned but somewhat aloof black teacher, who falls foul of the authorities after he is accused of hitting a pupil. The fact that this is not true does not prevent him being vilified on a local black radio station. He loses the case in court and this leads him into a spiral of depression and madness, which he increasingly blames on black people (an interesting inversion of the blaming of white people which seems acceptable among his black contemporaries). I found this portion of the work the least satisfactory since the script sped over his insanity rather too quickly leading to loss of detail. After spending some time on the street, he is befriended by a middle-aged Black Christian lady. It is at this point the script really catches fire with some astute and occasionally hard-hitting views of the black community. All of this is maintained by a high degree of directorial energy and a high class cast. Highly recommended.

i watched the movie and thought it was brilliant. i've just been reading some of the reviews and i am amazed at those who say it is a racist movie or the fact that it isn't real. i think the only extreme case in the movie was Joe going mad. every other issue in the movie is as true as the day follows night. the issue theory about the black crabs is also very true. come to think of it, back in those days the black slaves were bought. who sold them to the whites? i've been hunting for the movie to buy not knowing it's not for sale. i think most of the people who disagreed with the movie were born and bred here in Britain or they've been in the country for too long they don't know what is happening in their countries. why should Africa, with all the resources they have-in abundance- suffer the poverty they suffer? answer: the black crabs theory.does anyone reading this have any idea of the amount of resources the DR Congo has? so why aren't the people of congo rich, why are they fighting? the black crabs theory and the fact that the 'average' black person is self-centered. so instead of the black trying to be like the white in the way they talk and dress, we should be thinking like them. think at least one hundred years ahead and take action. talk is cheap. please show it again soon, i've been tyring to buy one from shops not knowing it's not for sale. thank you BBC for showing it

My initial reactions were;

Negative feedback:

1)The writer invented black characters just to try and "prove" a point (e.g. the daughter of the Christian woman with 5 kids from 5 fathers, and also the girl looking for a job and asking about maternity leave). They didn't actually have anything to do with the storyline, and just existed so he could turn his nose up at them. The black on black shooting also had very little point to it, and was just there to "prove" a point.

2)The writer deliberately squeezed in forced levels of negative black stereotypes - trying too hard to provoke.

3) The only redeeming black character (his girlfriend) wasn't given a strong enough voice to actually put forward a counter argument (and making her have 'hair issues' was a real cop out!!).

4) Lots of the negative behaviour from black people was way over the top and unbelievable or even petty (e.g. when the guy in the job centre kicked over the bin when the main guy was cleaning up. I couldn't see that happening.)

5) No wider context of the situation. E.g. He said he was the only teacher who cared about the black kids, but the film didn't attempt to show how the white teachers didn't care. So resulted in all the black characters looking bad, and all the white character were helpful or good.

6) Lots of statements just put in there to shock - such as when he said they should bring back slavery. Again that had no real use in the storyline, and was only there to shock and provoke.

Positive feedback

1) Well filmed and acted >Interesting how even when he still hated black people he could embrace the black church. (the stuff of very loaded debate! ha, ha, ha )

2) Important issue raised of how heavy handedness and harsh treatment of ourselves may be counter productive.(The moment of realisation of mistakes for the main character)

3) There were a couple of funny moments and gave the ability to laugh at ourselves without self hatred, but unfortunately they were hugely overshadowed by far too many moments of self hatred.

4) Quite strong ending.

Overall I wasn't as offended as I thought I would be, but I do think there was a far less exploitative way of exploring the same issues. Apparently the BBC sent her back the script a couple of times saying it wasn't bad or shocking enough. The writer got seduced by that attention, and unfortunately that "trying to shock" factor has got in the way of what could have been an important debate for the black community. It tried to tackle every issue and bit off more than it could chew. I feel the main character was just living through the experiences of the writer Sharon Foster, and not, as she claims, putting an honest mirror to the black community. A lot of the things in there, I felt, were her issues, not anyone else's.

I've seen comments on this movie, which focus on the negative messages sent out by the main character. But Joseph Pascale brilliantly portrayed by David Oyelomo (watch out for this immensely talented actor) is an anti-hero. We as viewers are not supposed to agree with him or his actions. We are only asked to venture on a journey with him.

Yes. Most of what he said is over-the-top and blatantly wrong, but it does forward various touchy issues paint straight at you. You sometimes don't know whether Joseph is wrong or right and this doubt may be a very treacherous thing. The questions asked are treason, but the tingling feeling lingers that not all he said was unfounded.

The movie is beautifully acted and shot with the comedy side giving some relief. The script-writing (irrespective if you find the movie repulsive) is top-notch. Nigerian-born Ngozi Onwurah has done a spectacular job.

I guess there were a few moments, where they pushed the character a bit too far. On the other hand you can also see it as Joseph entering a phase were he was self-indulging on his own hatred and it spiraled out of control. Look the party scene.

You may not like it. But its hard not to admire it. And even harder to forget it.