Shoot the Messenger

source: Shoot the Messenger

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

It saddens me that the BBC only seem to commission dramas about black people that are either hugely patronising or play on stereotypes. Shoot The Messenger falls into the latter category. I saw this last week and was hopeful and interested to watch a virtually all-black cast. The programme was so heavily publicised that it seemed a sin to ignore it. It started off well, showing Joe, a school teacher who is accused of assault by a young black pupil and subsequently loses his career, but after a ridiculous spell in a mental institution (anyone who has had any dealings with mental illness of any shape or form, will recognise this depiction as puerile and ignorant) he turns against all black people. On his release he then travels through a rich series of vignettes involving bad black people who only seem to reinforce his negative ideas about black culture. As a young black woman, I suppose if I say that I'm annoyed by the stereotyping and negativity, I probably just don't like to hear the truth. If I say that the depiction of black women as females with non-existent self-esteem is offensive, then again, supporters of this film would argue that the truth hurts. I don't care if our 'laundry' is aired - if it takes this to encourage people to talk the problems with drugs, prison and mental illness which are currently occurring in the black community, then i'm all for it. But please, who are the producers of this fodder kidding? The only reason this programme was made was to increase ratings. The BBC have no moral responsibility to the black community - most of its employees don't know any black people apart from the happy go lucky staff who dish out their lunch at the canteen and the friendly but reserved IT guy who comes to mend their computer. The point is, there are many gifted, talented black writers out there who have vision and the ability to create a good script seamed together with a solid message that would be understood by all races, who will never get a commission from the BBC simply because they're unwilling to resort to this level. It saddens me to read that so many black people are supporting this film. It seems as if we really are starved of seeing our own images in celluloid.

I just saw this film at the AFI Film Fest, where the director, writer, producer and majority of cast, spoke and conducted a Q&A. From a film-making stand point, the film was so wonderfully portrayed that messages could be received and interpreted from many social angles. Everything, from the focus pulls to the set and costume design, constructed a milieu conducive to an effective portrayal of a young man's struggle and confrontation with his racial identity and reconciliation. When asked for the core meaning of her film, Onwurah simple said that so many meanings could be extracted to fit each individual that no specific meaning fits any one person. With that in mind, I found the power of forgiveness an amazing issue raised in this film. Joseph, the main character, after we fallow him through the development of his resentment toward black people, learns to forgive those that have wronged him. What is most interesting and perhaps convoluted is how he comes to his forgiveness. He finally faces the boy that triggered a series of events that ruined his life with understanding. At one point, Joseph realizes to work towards forgiveness, not for the benefit of the forgiven, but instead for himself. To see how he comes to this conclusion, you just have to watch the film. The power of this concept of forgiveness, as a benefit to ourselves, can be applied to so many aspects of our lives that to see it evinced in this film made watching and understanding it truly worth while... What's your meaning?

Being seen on a screen is not self-determination, especially when the gatekeepers, decision makers who determining the validity of our work are all European. African stories are attempts to explain Africans to Europeans as opposed to Africans explaining themselves to each other. These mere fact renders the whole concept of "Black cinema" and "Black perspective" redundant. Like Blood diamonds the doc, the idiot is always the African. Shock at any expense, just a good way of airing politics most white feel. But the best way to get away with it is to let a black person write it. Pay them to flush it down the toilet. mock the issues, air the laundry. It is so funny that no film is so controversial that it acts in the liberation of Africans. Why haven't they shown a film like 500 Years Later? why don't they show films and docs that they don't have control over. The only films allowed are ones where the content is set for their taste buds. And never do these films injur the master

A dissemination of the African British Community by a Career Opportunist who has the morality of Leni Riefenstahl without the Artistic skill. A Play that panders to European racial stereo types, it runs through issue after issue patched together with post it notes rather than the bostik glue of reality. For example the name Kwame, used in her example of unnecessary names used by "Black" people to name their children is a common Ghanian name and as normal as Mohammad or Paul. The central character does not exactly explain why "Everything bad that has ever happened to him has been by Black People" other than the idea that a child made an unfounded accusation against him, while an the English establishment set the wheels in motion leading to the Judgement first in it's favour. Pokes fun at African Woman and their hair styles as being Fake, Do'es he really believe that all those Blondes on the Streets are natural or did that blondness come out of a bottle ? Along with the Liposucation,Boob jobs, Lip fattening and other fake attire Ladies like to use to snare their men ?? His emotional detachment from his own Community belies his hidden insecurities (or rather Her) but self. More concerning is the trivialising of Slavery - The biggest Holocaust the World has tolerated. Showing acute lack of understanding that the very Racist degeneration used by the parties involved to justify the practice guided her pen the writing of this (Dis)Play.

I would love to know how people are having an opinion on a TV programme that has not even finished airing yet! . If people actually give this drama a chance before passing judgment, they will find that it is a heartfelt, modern look at society today. . There is no reason why the BBC should NOT show this. All I say is that people should wait before passing comments on it. . He tries to fight back but is made a scapegoat for the anger of the black community and his credibility and life are shattered. Living on the streets he is taken in by a kindly elderly black woman and begins his long haul back to respectability again. Along the way he is constantly talking to the camera about how ridiculous and annoying black stereotypes and culture are. Thank you.

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.

This TV film was shocking yet truthful at times. Yes, the film discusses racism and the prejudices facing black people in British society. However, it cleverly illustrates the lack of support within the black community, it shows the lead character, a teacher who believes that by giving his troubled black pupils detention, he can enforce education on them. However, when a particular student accuses him of assault his own community turn against him. From that he goes on a journey in discovering and highlighting the problems, for example, black single mothers, black troubled youths, black religious beliefs, and so on, do not judge this film, if you have not seen it. I am not going to give too much away, because I do not want to spoil it for anyone. I found it extremely funny and upsetting at times, do not avoid this film .

The very first words uttered in this TV movie are 'Almost every bad thing that has ever happened to me has been because of a black person.' A rather alarming opening line and it doesn't let up. Joseph is a teacher at school in London in which 70% of the kids are black. He knows it's tough for black kids to get a start in life so he tries his hardest to make men out of them. But there is one really nasty kid who lies about Joseph hitting him for a joke. But his mum gets behind it and Joseph is eventually fired for nothing. He tries to fight back but is made a scapegoat for the anger of the black community and his credibility and life are shattered. Living on the streets he is taken in by a kindly elderly black woman and begins his long haul back to respectability again. Along the way he is constantly talking to the camera about how ridiculous and annoying black stereotypes and culture are. If this were a white guy he'd be hung by the PC police, so I'm assuming that the disguise for this blatant xenophobia is the fact that Joseph is a black person too. But you really have to wonder of where exactly the inspiration for this rubbish came from. It's really easily written and has about as much grace and civility as a sledgehammer to the balls. Originally called 'F*ck Black People' I'm amazed any non-KKK member producer even dared to pick it up. Certainly not a film you should devote any amount of time to.