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News & ArtsMonday, August 3, 2009
Film Poor Africa
Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Admittedly, this story put me in a state of laughter:
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) — Two U.S. filmmakers were injured Saturday when their small plane crashed into a three-story residential building in downtown Nairobi on Saturday.What kind of poverty do you see from the sky? Americans, mai we.Dan Parris, 25, and Rob Lehr, 26, both from St. Louis, Missouri, were shooting an independent documentary on poverty in Africa.
Both men were hospitalized and expected to survive...
1
Sorry, Charles, what's funny about it? How do you know that they were attempting to show poverty from above a la G.W. Bush? It looks like they were just trying to get from place to place.
2
Ha ha, a plane crashed, isn't that rich? Once again, Charles = Jerk.
Now then, what can be seen from the air? Architectural poverty, poor urban planning that leads to poor conditions, poorly designed waste facilities that lead to disease, and the list goes on. Aerial photography shows a different perspective that can be used in conjunction with research on the ground.
For all the self-serving posts about thought, Chuckles, you sure didn't think about that last statement.
Now then, what can be seen from the air? Architectural poverty, poor urban planning that leads to poor conditions, poorly designed waste facilities that lead to disease, and the list goes on. Aerial photography shows a different perspective that can be used in conjunction with research on the ground.
For all the self-serving posts about thought, Chuckles, you sure didn't think about that last statement.
3
Yeah funny, here's a thought: maybe they were moving to another location to do some shooting and it was faster than walking or driving.
4
Charles you really are an ass. The pilot died and another crew memebr is in serious condition --- and you are in a state of laughter. Indeed, it's pretty f-u-n-n-y when people try to understand poverty and die!
And what does "Americans, mai we" mean?
And what does "Americans, mai we" mean?
6
I think I am in agreement with the rest of the posters. You are a complete douchebag.
What is funny about a plane crash and people being injured? It says they "survived" but that doesn't mean they walked away from the crash and went straight to dinner. they could be paralyzed, have limbs amputated, be in comas, etc. But of course, I am sure that you think sympathy and empathy are bourgeois emotions that the intellectually superior do well to avoid.
What is funny about a plane crash and people being injured? It says they "survived" but that doesn't mean they walked away from the crash and went straight to dinner. they could be paralyzed, have limbs amputated, be in comas, etc. But of course, I am sure that you think sympathy and empathy are bourgeois emotions that the intellectually superior do well to avoid.
7
Perhaps you can see the extent of poverty through the miles upon miles of slums one can see from the air? Dipshit. If African filmmakers were doing a similar film about American excess in the wealthy suburbs of some metropolitan area and crashed I'm pretty sure laughing would be the last thing I'd do.
8
That is pretty fucked up to laugh about. I hope the survivors pull through and they continue their documentary.
9
It is true that you learn a great deal about a people when you take the same transportation as they do. The daily inconvenience of getting from Point A to Point B may be the larger story these filmmakers are missing. Imagine the story they'd tell if, instead of flying to a place in a day, it took them three months and incalculable risks to get there.
12
Additionally, if you laugh over the pilot being killed you are a sick piece of shit. It's not like these guys were terrorists or something, THEY WERE FILMMAKERS ASSHOLE!
15
YES!!! Chuckles resorted to saying "fuck you all" as his measured response to criticism of his laughing at people trying to educate who were killed/maimed in a crash! Now THAT'S philosophy! CHARLES FTW!!!
16
"Africa does not need another film about its poverty, so fuck you all."
Yeah that's right, dude. That whole African poverty thing is soooo totally figured out by now. There's no way there could possibly be another angle or different issues to address. All available, pertinent information is already out there so lets not spend any more time discussing it. Hey, why don't we all get together and intentional injure people who try and make documentaries about poverty in Africa? That'd be hoot!
Yeah that's right, dude. That whole African poverty thing is soooo totally figured out by now. There's no way there could possibly be another angle or different issues to address. All available, pertinent information is already out there so lets not spend any more time discussing it. Hey, why don't we all get together and intentional injure people who try and make documentaries about poverty in Africa? That'd be hoot!
17
The narrative of Those-Poor-Downtrodden-African-People is a tired one. The assumption that White-People-Should-Do-Something-About-It is too. Blah blah blah colonial legacy blah blah blah largest forced migration in history of humanity...it doesn't change the inherently colonial mindset of well-intentioned white people who feel obligated to relieve their white guilt by imposing their own narrative on an entire fucking continent, full of different people, languages, and cultural norms.
Frankly, it's no different than the idea of the white man's burden being to bring the light of "civilization" to the poor, unenlightened, dark masses. We just dress it up in prettier language.
Frankly, it's no different than the idea of the white man's burden being to bring the light of "civilization" to the poor, unenlightened, dark masses. We just dress it up in prettier language.
18
@17 Next please tell us all about the nobility of the African peasants and their quest to keep poverty pure! I'm sure it'll be funny ala Charles.....
19
#10 - you're just digging your hole deeper here. i suggest you try to have some humility and admit that you said something that in hindsight was callous, ignorant and presumptuous.
20
Can someone from the Stranger please justify while Charles has a job with the Stranger again?
Given this economy, there truly has to be better candidates in the unemployment ranks that can write stronger posts than what this guy passes off as "work"
Given this economy, there truly has to be better candidates in the unemployment ranks that can write stronger posts than what this guy passes off as "work"
21
@10 -- "Hello? Africa?? This is Slog and I just wanted to let you know that Charles Mudede has decided he is Emperor of Africa and no more films will be made on poverty starring Africa.....Mudede....M-U-D-E-D-E...
That's right, Moo-day-day......What do you mean you're glad he's gone since he didn't do anything there anyway? How rude! AS Charles himself would tell you----Go fuck yourself Africa!"
That's right, Moo-day-day......What do you mean you're glad he's gone since he didn't do anything there anyway? How rude! AS Charles himself would tell you----Go fuck yourself Africa!"
22
@ 19, he couldn't even do that when he posted about bullying and generated over 200 negative responses, including from his confirmed fans; he just said he wasn't going to post about that sort of thing again.
23
I'd love to be a fly-on-the-wall at The Stranger's editorial board meetings (if you're actually organized enough to have those sorts of things). I imagine it goes something like, "OK, we've got pitbulls covered already, I've got a nice fat-bashing post lined up, we need another cupcake story... hey Charles, it's your turn to write something stupid and infuriating, the website hasn't had enough hits lately."
24
@19, those American people flying about and crashing and causing even more misery to africans ("Local residents were using water, dirt to put the fire out" before the fire department arrived..."), to them, i will use the words of the great feli kuti: "i looko and i laughfo. he, he, he; haw, haw, haw."
26
Mudede, living in Zimbabwe doesn't make you the expert in all things Kenya. Likely the filmmakers were trying to document the Kibera slum, which alternates with South Africa's Soweto slum as the largest in Africa. Aerial shots effectively document just how huge, populated and dilapidated Kibera is. Now do run along and have an iced latte from Espresso Vivace.
28
"Local residents were using water, dirt to put the fire out"
I believe the writer here meant to say the locals were throwing 'Kenya's finest drinking water' on the fire.
Spend enough time in Africa and you'll realize 'dirt' and 'water' are actually the same thing; the ability to realize that you shouldn't drink water from the same place you shit is quite handy.
I believe the writer here meant to say the locals were throwing 'Kenya's finest drinking water' on the fire.
Spend enough time in Africa and you'll realize 'dirt' and 'water' are actually the same thing; the ability to realize that you shouldn't drink water from the same place you shit is quite handy.
31
They were surprised to find a bushmen walking through the streets several days later with the coke bottle they'd thrown out the window mid-flight...
32
those American people flying about and crashing and causing even more misery to africans
Frank Toews, the pilot who died, was Canadian. I'm not sure what nationality Ryan Williams, the engineer currently in the hospital with a broken hip, broken pelvis, broken patella, numerous very severe burns, and a number of deep lacerations, is. He's white, though, so whatever, right?
This is the movie they were working on at the time of the crash. I'm sure if it ever gets completed, it will only bring more misery to africans.
Frank Toews, the pilot who died, was Canadian. I'm not sure what nationality Ryan Williams, the engineer currently in the hospital with a broken hip, broken pelvis, broken patella, numerous very severe burns, and a number of deep lacerations, is. He's white, though, so whatever, right?
This is the movie they were working on at the time of the crash. I'm sure if it ever gets completed, it will only bring more misery to africans.
35
@33 - that was my supposition as well. One really should not use foreign-language aphorisms if one is required to spell them phonetically.
36
"Africa does not need another film about its poverty, so fuck you all."
Goodness gracious me and mine, Mr. Mudede. Was that really necessary? What a shame, to respond with a "fuck you" to a simple question. I guess that's about the level of discourse I'd expect from the guy who finds plane crashes funny.
Or shall I just say "fuck you back" and call it a day? That seems to be more your style.
Goodness gracious me and mine, Mr. Mudede. Was that really necessary? What a shame, to respond with a "fuck you" to a simple question. I guess that's about the level of discourse I'd expect from the guy who finds plane crashes funny.
Or shall I just say "fuck you back" and call it a day? That seems to be more your style.
37
@32, did you go to the link! The hospitalized Americans now need aid and donations. They have become just like the africans! This comedy does not know how to end.
38
I think Mudede is drawing some kind of line in the sand. Him versus us. He is not like us. He is superior. He is not rich spoiled White Man. He is somehow way more thoughtful than us. Hard to respect a writer who despises us so.
40
@33, "mai we" is hard to translate. It's from shona and it means somethin like: "god damn." But is not as strong as "god damn" and not as weak "load have mercy."
37, is indeed me. i just can't believe they went all the way to africa to crash a plane and ask for donations. mai we.
37, is indeed me. i just can't believe they went all the way to africa to crash a plane and ask for donations. mai we.
42
@41 ok, gotcha! thanks as always for writing things that we have a 1/1000 chance of understanding. it would be really neat to learn new stuff like that...if you told us what it meant, up front. not explaining way down the road.
if i randomly spewed some saying from some random language on another continent, what's the chance that you would know what it meant, and could gain from it?
if i randomly spewed some saying from some random language on another continent, what's the chance that you would know what it meant, and could gain from it?
43
Do you suppose if everyone avoided making any documentaries about problems in Africa that Mr. Mudede would thereupon decry whitey for avoiding Africa and sitting in its comfortable ignorance, etc. etc. Marxist whatever?
And Charles, I have tried to keep an open mind about you, but I confess that you minimize to just about zero my willingness to cut you any slack when you write "fuck you all." I expect that kind of immature, mindless, rude, reactionary spew from some of the less eloquent commenters, but I expect better from a professional writer.
And Charles, I have tried to keep an open mind about you, but I confess that you minimize to just about zero my willingness to cut you any slack when you write "fuck you all." I expect that kind of immature, mindless, rude, reactionary spew from some of the less eloquent commenters, but I expect better from a professional writer.
44
I guess Africa just wants the We$t$ aid, but no embarrassing movies about African corruption and how people STILL haven't learned not to shit in their water supply.
45
@18: How on earth could you have interpreted the next logical step of my comment as being a treatise on the nobility of poor African peasants? I, who have lived among some of the poorest of the poor in this hemisphere, know that poverty is hardly an ennobling condition. And surely you could discern that I am aware that the noble savage myth is an extension of the white man's burden myth.
Or perhaps discernment isn't your strength.
Or perhaps discernment isn't your strength.
47
@45 -- Ahem --- since discernment isn't your strength either, I'll explain it you.
You used classic broad-stroke and tired narratives. I anticipated your next long-toothed explanation......
And @43 is right on.
@40 -- What the hell are you using "mai we" for when you have to admit very few people here would know what it means (Google it ot see what the hits are)..... unless of course you want to showboat you vast knowledge for us.
You used classic broad-stroke and tired narratives. I anticipated your next long-toothed explanation......
And @43 is right on.
@40 -- What the hell are you using "mai we" for when you have to admit very few people here would know what it means (Google it ot see what the hits are)..... unless of course you want to showboat you vast knowledge for us.
48
Can someone at Slog make an RSS feed that filters out Mudede's posts?
I've been meaning to do that for a while. Here it is.
I've been meaning to do that for a while. Here it is.
49
How many zillions of dollars does the rest of the world need to pour into Africa and nothing there ever f*cking changes?? Seems like it just gets worse. That's why I NEVER donate to charities having anything to do with Africa. Waste of time and money.
51
Charles ... I find it funnier that you can get 50 hate posts for such an asinine comment.
and for saying something moronic like "what kind of poverty can you see from the air?"
har har har
Is this some Sasha Bara Cohen styled shock post to expose something about ourselves?
Charles why not make TWO posts. Say that you feel that African Poverty is exploited and the suffering of Africans is turned into a novelty to portray for privelaged white folk to assuage their liberal guilt. Maybe that would be something profound and thought inducing (and totally unproductive for everyone ... but at least you'll be an insightful douche)
THEN make a post about a plane crash with a 50% fatality rate for white people.
Furthermore ... what the fuck do YOU know about these white people. For all you know they could have grown up in the projects, rural trailer gheto, foster care ... whatever. The odds are slim yes, but it's insulting to those that happen to be white AND underclassed ... because they do exist.
and for saying something moronic like "what kind of poverty can you see from the air?"
har har har
Is this some Sasha Bara Cohen styled shock post to expose something about ourselves?
Charles why not make TWO posts. Say that you feel that African Poverty is exploited and the suffering of Africans is turned into a novelty to portray for privelaged white folk to assuage their liberal guilt. Maybe that would be something profound and thought inducing (and totally unproductive for everyone ... but at least you'll be an insightful douche)
THEN make a post about a plane crash with a 50% fatality rate for white people.
Furthermore ... what the fuck do YOU know about these white people. For all you know they could have grown up in the projects, rural trailer gheto, foster care ... whatever. The odds are slim yes, but it's insulting to those that happen to be white AND underclassed ... because they do exist.
52
@ 17 Please speak for yourself in terms of white guilt motivations. Maybe the filmmakers actually CARE about humanity. And why make the assumption that the people interested in helping Africa consists of the "...inherently colonial mindset of well-intentioned white people who feel obligated to relieve their white guilt by imposing their own narrative on an entire fucking continent, full of different people, languages, and cultural norms".
Maybe folks accept cultural relativity and are trying to use the resources they have at their disposal to help those who lack said resources? I doubt the filmmakers were feeling guilty about some nations colonization agenda(s) of the past. Its too late to worry about the impact of past colonizations- obviously Kibera is in a state of need for basic necessities. Its not about changing the slums as much as it is about empowering the people who live in them. I think its great that the filmmakers saw themselves in position to help and stepped up to the plate, and I do hope that they pull through.
Maybe folks accept cultural relativity and are trying to use the resources they have at their disposal to help those who lack said resources? I doubt the filmmakers were feeling guilty about some nations colonization agenda(s) of the past. Its too late to worry about the impact of past colonizations- obviously Kibera is in a state of need for basic necessities. Its not about changing the slums as much as it is about empowering the people who live in them. I think its great that the filmmakers saw themselves in position to help and stepped up to the plate, and I do hope that they pull through.
53
I know Rob Lehr personally. Here's his account of what happened:
"Injuries Don't Always Bleed"
http://tinyurl.com/mnpsoj
Yeah, pretty fucking funny. While I agree that Africa probably doesn't need another documentary on poverty made by relatively wealthy white people, you, sir, are still an asshole.
"Injuries Don't Always Bleed"
http://tinyurl.com/mnpsoj
Yeah, pretty fucking funny. While I agree that Africa probably doesn't need another documentary on poverty made by relatively wealthy white people, you, sir, are still an asshole.
55
@52
It's just swell that you're so well-meaning (as cliché as it is), but it's folks like you in the international development industry that have kept Africa poor. Read some William Easterly or Dambisa Moyo to get caught up. And by the way, Africa isn't full of a bunch of poor, starving, miserable sods who are desperate for your whitey assistance in order to survive. You need a project to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? Adopt a stray puppy.
It's just swell that you're so well-meaning (as cliché as it is), but it's folks like you in the international development industry that have kept Africa poor. Read some William Easterly or Dambisa Moyo to get caught up. And by the way, Africa isn't full of a bunch of poor, starving, miserable sods who are desperate for your whitey assistance in order to survive. You need a project to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? Adopt a stray puppy.
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