Black Knight
dir. Gil Junger
Now playing at various theaters.

In Black Knight, Martin Lawrence plays Jamal Walker, a brother who toils all day at a decrepit ghetto theme park known as Medieval World. While cleaning Medieval World's polluted moats, he happens upon a medallion that transports him back in time to medieval England. The locals don't really know what to make of Lawrence's clothes, language, or mannerisms. And, well, anyway, in an exercise in isolating exactly just what the world isn't waiting for, Black Knight picks us up where other "fish out of water" classics, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Turtles in Time, left us: tunneling out of the theater with a spoon.

In any case Black Knight's England is under the rule of an evil king. There is, however, a rebellion staked against him and, significantly, Lawrence and fellow liberator Victoria (a black chambermaid, only slightly less of an anachronism than a woolly mammoth) become the galvanizing force that stirs up the movement and signifies the manner in which "true patriotism" manifests and perpetuates itself.

To understand true patriotism is to discard the notion that to be a patriot is to blindly content oneself with one's nation. This actually is anti-patriotic, as we all know. A true patriot must be obsessed with the shortcomings of his or her nation, and with the fact that the amendment of these shortcomings and the resultant veneration enjoyed by the nation they love are imperatives. For those who enjoy comfortable, sheltered lifestyles, true patriotism presents the possibility of discomfort. Among those who are subject to the full brunt of their nation's deficiencies, such discomfort is necessary for survival. Throughout modern history (and apparently time travel is of no help), it has been black folks who have had the misfortune of instantly occupying this position. It therefore becomes the responsibility of black people to carry the burden of refreshing anti-patriotism with real patriotism, and of throwing fat old kings out on their ears. So right on, Martin. Too bad the movie blows.