SYNOPSICS
White Man's Burden (1995) is a English movie. Desmond Nakano has directed this movie. John Travolta,Harry Belafonte,Kelly Lynch,Margaret Avery are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1995. White Man's Burden (1995) is considered one of the best Drama,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Louis Pinnock is a struggling white worker in a chocolate factory, loving husband and father of two children. While delivering a package for black CEO Thaddeus Thomas, he is mistaken for a voyeur and, as a result, loses his job, gets beaten by black cops and his family gets evicted from their home. Desperate, Pinnock takes a deadly weapon and kidnaps Thomas, demanding justice, but the fight he will have to finish will cost him more than his job was ever worth.
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White Man's Burden (1995) Reviews
So many of you seem to be missing the point here.
In reading through these comments, I've seen tons of people complain about how this movie is thoughtless, the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, blah blah blah. People, that was exactly the point...to challenge White and Black Americans' perspectives on those very stereotypes! Before you pick a film apart, you have to ask yourself what audience it was directed at. Would you criticize a Disney film for being too childish if it was supposed to be directed at children? Of course not. Therefore, ask yourself what audience White Man's Burden was targeted at. Because of where I grew up, that answer was obvious to me before I even saw the movie. I'm a White man who grew up in Monterey, California. Central Monterey is middle-to-upper class and is dominantly White and Asian. The southside communities of Pacific Grove, Carmel, and Pebble Beach are very upper class and dominantly White. In the north we have Seaside, which is the lower-income, high-crime area and is dominantly Black and Hispanic. This seems to be pretty typical of the race/class division that plagues America. Note that Monterey is not exactly a major metropolitan area where these neighborhoods are far away from each other. The entire area has a population of maybe 120,000 and stretches only about 12 miles (19 km) from north to south. By growing up between the downtown area and Seaside, it's been easy for me to see the racial problems in this country from many angles. I can tell you from experience that the most hot-headed, controversial, and hateful examples of racial bigotry and stereotyping in the USA are in the way so many Whites and Blacks view each other. I have met countless Blacks who think that being born White automatically makes you greedy, naturally oppressive of the poor, and have a genetically-inbred desire to dump on every other race in the world. These Blacks typically think that everyone with white skin owes them something because of the crimes of our ancestors (slavery, lynching, etc.), whether it be walking around giving an apology to every Black we see, expecting a free ride from the government just because they're born with black skin, or just having us generally take whatever they want to dish out and accepting that we "deserve it" because we were born into an "evil race". On the other side of this coin are the Whites who think that being born Black makes you stupid, lazy, and a natural-born criminal. These Whites can cite the fact that there is a high amount of violent crime committed by Blacks despite making up only 12% of the US population (not thinking about the fact that this is a result of poverty, not skin color), or the high amount of hard drug use in Black society (again, depression due to poverty, not skin color). White Man's Burden was very obviously aimed at these two particular groups of people. What they both have in common is the belief that certain behavior is naturally part of being born with a particular skin color. By depicting an alternate history with the roles of Blacks and Whites reversed in America, the film shows that lack of knowledge and a tendency towards crime is inspired by growing up in poverty, not by being born with black skin. It also portrayed selfishness, greed, and elitism to be qualities of those who grew up in luxury and wealth rather than being tied to white skin. The point of the film was not to go into painstaking detail about how the roles came to be reversed, where the other races are, or to explore the alternate-reality society on every single level, which would require a mini-series rather than a 90-minute film. The point was to shake up the narrow-minded perspectives of two particularly bigoted groups of Americans, to kick them in the butt and make them consider that skin color isn't a factor in who you are. Whatever else you want to say about the movie's performances or characterizations, it did its' job perfectly.
Eye opening, even to a black man
I think the ending was sad. I felt sorry for Travolta, even his son. But I disagree with the comment about "whats the point" because it shows what I go through weekly. I mean, some of it is extreme, but true. And when Belafonte remarked, "well, most of them don't have father's" in response to his wife's comment about the white kids discipline, it was... I'm at a lost for words. I'm watching it again tonight, and I think every white man needs to see the movie, and every black man. It was a trip seeing the roles flipped. But the movie is truly, "a trip". I mean, when Belafonte talks about the "socially crippled, genetically inferior" whites, its a trip, just hearing that. I study psychology, and all these theories are pervasive, and they relate to science by the genetic concepts of the 20th century, i mean, eugenics and it is really wild. Anyway, this is a must see movie. You must see it. I'm mad I didn't know it existed for the last ten years.
Script plenty of reversed premises and first-rate performances
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.
Excellent because of its ability to disturb.
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.
different twist but still a cliché
just because the movie reversed the roles that blacks and whites play in society did not make the movie any less clichéd. it was the same tired story of a poor man trying to overcome all of the obstacles that life lays in front of him. if his "normal life" weren't hard enough something happens to make him even more desperate. just when he sees fit to do the right thing... i thought that John Q was a much better version of this theme. additionally why did john travolta have to speak in some sort of Ebonics? is it because people are poor and oppressed that they speak that way? there were so many things that did not make sense about the movie. i understand that the writer was trying to make a point of showing how it is for blacks in a white society. most dolls and action figures in U.S. society are white making it difficult for African_Americans to find roles models for their children. so in the movie they were black instead of white. but why was every single policeman black instead of white except for one white female cop at the very end? why was every single personality on the TV shows black? pardon the pun but it was so black and white that it offended my intelligence. i could have figured out the point had it been done in more "realistic" terms.