The following story appeared on hollywood.com on Sunday and was reprinted by the free Sydney paper MX yesterday:
Johnny Depp has been branded a “cannibal” by tribesmen on the Dominica island, where the Hollywood actor is currently filming the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Members of the Garifuna tribe are furious with a scene in which Depp’s character, Captain Jack Sparrow, is being roasted alive.
Chief Charles Williams says, “The film’s depiction of our natives as flesh-craving savages is grossly untrue and very politically incorrect.
“Of course, there was violence and bloodshed in the past. But to stigmatize us today is very wrong. We will continue our fight when Hollywood returns.”
The island’s natives are also threatening to boycott future sequels because of a scene, which depicts Depp munching on a severed toe.
“Very politically incorrect?” Oh no, better fix that one. Perhaps they can replace the scene with a cosy and civilised 7 course seafood buffet featuring a little risque prawn boiling. Can’t have a sequel to a movie about a pack of marauding zombie pirates indulge in flesh-eating now can we.
Oh and they clearly meant, “branded a ‘cannibal’ by tribespersons“. How outrageously politically incorrect of them.
Something else seems to be a bit incorrect about this story. Like the date, for example. For a start there is this contactmusic.com story about Chief Williams complaining back in February 2005. It could be that the Chief was having a stab at it then and is having another bite of it now… in which case the Chief needs to expand his vocabulary a little. This E! story, from April 2005, has the above quote pretty much word for word.
Although Captain Jack escapes (and goes on to fight ghostly scalawags and rum-lovin’ zombies), the depiction of natives as flesh-craving savages bothers Williams, who says it’s un-P.C. and untrue.
“Pirates did come to the Caribbean in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries,” Williams tells the Times. “Our ancestors were labeled cannibals.”
Caribs migrated to Dominica from South America over a 1,000 years ago. History books used to portray them as cannibals, but historians have since found sufficient evidence to suggest that the Spanish frequently made up such stories as a way to vilify the natives and justify colonization..
“Today, that myth, that stigma is still alive,” Williams adds. “Today, Disney wants to popularize that stigma one more time, this time through film, and film is a powerful tool of propaganda.”
I tell you what, Chief Williams. If I had a choice of being portrayed as a fearsome pirate-roasting, toe-munching cannibal wildman or, on the other hand, a Politically Correct “stigmatised” whiner who sounds like a parrot who’s spent too much time around Hollywood lawyers, you know which option I’d choose, don’t you?
And whats going on with the dates then? Here’s clue. Filming for the third film, to be release in 2007, was mostly completely last year, at the same time as filming was done for the second film, just released in cinemas, Dead Man’s Chest. What filming is left to be done will be happening off the coast of California. Nothing is going on Dominica Island and has not been for a long time. Last years news today- thats Entertainment!
You could, of course, be forgiven for not giving a shit.
Last year UK’s BBC THREE network aired an excellent 12 part series on various Eastern martial arts, called “Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves”. Hosted by Chris Crudelli, himself an experienced martial artist, the show followed Chris around the Far East as he visited various Masters and Grandmasters, talking to them about their, at times seemingly superhuman and even supernatural, abilities, coercing them into giving demonstrations and stepping in as a bit of a crash test dummy to cop a hit or 11. Some of the featured Masters will be well known to martial artists – like Ip Shui (Southern Praying Mantis), Leung Ting (Wing Chun) and the head of the Bujinkan Sr Masaaki Hatsumi. Others are hitherto completely unknown publicly, at least in the West.
The show was aimed not only at martial artists but at a wide audience, including viewers completely ignorant of the subject. The down to earth Crudelli went around doing impromtu street performances, demystifying various martial arts feats by explaining the science behind them and offering, perhaps somewhat irresponsibly, self-defence advise to strangers. The show could have probably done without Chris’ party tricks, but the team can be excused for trying to reach to a wider audience. There’s enough of the real deal in there to keep the most snobbish martial artist interested, while still keeping the average BBC punter entertained and perhaps a little amazed.
All 12 episodes of the show have now been released as a 2 DVD set. So far there is only a UK release, which is a PAL format region 2 2-disc set. I purchased mine from Amazon.co.uk and I’ve seen a couple of other sites selling it also. No word as to whether the show will be broadcast in Australia or anywhere else or when an international DVD release may be coming out. Another British channel, UKTV People, just aired the series and it has been very well received, so I am sure we’ll get it out here sooner or later.
You can read a couple of reviews of the series here. Scroll to the end of the post for a full list of the martial arts masters that appear on the show.
Earlier this year BBC THREE screened a follow up 6-part series, called “Kick Ass Miracles”. Here’s the official edisode guide on the BBC THREE site. This time the focus is not on martial arts but various other indigenous esoteric traditions from around Asia that seem to challenge the Western notion of what is possible within the laws known to science. The show features various monks, Qi Gong Masters,
more martial arts Grand Masters,
warriors possessed by spirits, healers and yogis. No DVD has been released as yet.
Here are links for episodes 1, 3 and 4 from the first series in full and a few clips from both Kick Ass Moves and Kick Ass Miracles. There are too many to embed in the post, so follow the links. And there’s plenty more on the show than whats in these clips, the first series alone totalling nearly 6 hours.
Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 1 (Google Video)
Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 3 (Google Video)
Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves, Episode 4 (Google Video)
(Click more for a few clips from both first and second series and a list of the martial artists in the first series.)