[.ca] White Mans Burden (ISBN 0783115008)

From Amazon.com:
The premise is interesting, but the execution fails to live up to any of its potential. White Man's Burden imagines an America where black people are the ruling class and whites are underprivileged minorities. John Travolta stars as a factory worker who is fired after making a delivery to the house of the factory owner (Harry Belafonte) and accidentally peeping the man's naked wife through a window. Now jobless and unable to support his family, his wife (Kelly Lynch) leaves him. In desperation he kidnaps Belafonte. The best part of the film is seeing African American actors filling the smaller, background roles that usually go to white actors (such as police officers and wealthy suburbanites), but the movie fails in its poorly thought-out ideas. Transposing the characters' skin color out of the thinly veiled metaphor, John Travolta's portrayal of the poor black man as violent and uneducated (but family oriented), combined with Belafonte's rich white man as just and compassionate (and also family oriented), borders on being truly offensive. The fact that it's helmed by an Asian American director, Desmond Nakano, only makes you wonder why Asian Americans are conspicuously absent (as are Hispanics) and where the heck they would fit into this world, anyway. --Andy Spletzer

interesting movie:
I really didnt watch this until a couple of years ago and it was a very interesting movie I thought...full of thought I'd say...with John Travolta and Harry Belefonte giving it all they got was great...really riveting and dramatic. NOTE: if you watch closely at that hotdog stand part..youd recognize Seth Green(Knockaround Guys, The Italian Job, Stone Brook, Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Tvs Family Guy)..check it out

Stereotype reversal changes perspective:
This movie was very interesting on many levels. It reverses the role of the black man and the white man based on heavy stereotypes. The black man is wealthy and powerful and the white man is poor and lives in slums. I believe the filmmakers made it this way for at least two reasons. One is you get the point of the movie better, as it's backwards to what we see everyday in the news and that. Second it takes away from the typical movie. Most movies involving rich black people normally portray them as hip-hop rappers decked out in gold chains and driving Impala's with hydraulics. This is not the case in White Man's Burden. They are portrayed as business men, with wives dressed in fancy gowns and dresses. The men wear suits and ties, and the kids are similarly dressed to the T. Without giving away the plot of the movie, it is the struggle of a hard worker and his boss. How a typical employee of a large company is just a number to the corporate boss. I feel this movie is different in how the roles are reversed, black man is corporate boss, white man is typical employee.

Great topic!!! done too subtle:
Anyone who complains about this movie doesn't understand that this sort of racism does exist. It was humorous to see the role reversal. I especially loved the parts where the white boy only wants the Black superhero doll and the Black cops hassle a white man simply because "he fits the description." I just wish this movie had gone to the movie theaters for a wider audience. The role reversal was very subtle, and may not be picked up on immediately if the viewer didn't understand the premise of the movie.

Good Idea, poor execution:
The basic idea of this film is a good one-"what would happen if the tables were turned." And there are good moments, such as the White kid wanting a Black doll and seeing nothing but Blacks on tv that do a good job of getting the message across, but midway through the picture, this is pushed aside and it becomes just another action thriller. However, the scenes of rich Black neighborhoods and poor White neighborhoods aren't all that potent, as such communities do exist in real life.

Changes Your Thinking:
I know some people have said that this movie doesn't take into consideration other minorities, but I think it is successful it achieving it's purpose. I am a white person and I was so moved by this movie. It's easy to be like the wife and say "oh, these poor inner-city kids are so cute" and help them out and feel like you're being compassionate, but I found myself feeling a little offended by her reaction. It was like a reality-check for me because it made me realize how I must come across to other people in my thinking. I think it's a powerful movie that everyone should watch. It may have focused on one minority, but I think if it really touches someone, they'll translate that toward other minorities. Excellent, thought-provoking, thought-changing movie! Well, done!!!! Thanks for doing it!!!