Ms Dynamite in Search of Nanny Maroon
- TV Movie
- 2007
- 1h
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Featured review
Worthy but failed documentary that doesn't explore anything and just seems aimed at raising basic awareness
The legend of Nanny of the Maroons lives on to this day although comparatively few people know her or the history of how the Maroons defeated the British in Jamaica to overthrown their rule of slavery. So perhaps it is a worthy film that sends Niomi MacLean-Daley (better known as Ms Dynamite) to Jamaica to find out more about who Nanny was and the history of the Maroons. This was shown in primetime on BBC2 but really the approach is a bit more suited to being on during the morning as part of school's programming.
If saying this sounds like a criticism then I can only say that it is only a minor one because the film does come over as being aimed at younger people whether it is the style, the presence of Ms Dynamite or the inclusion of so much music. As such then it does a good job of presenting the history of the Maroons and slavery in a broad sweep which will achieve the aim of increasing awareness of black history amongst black British children. This is all very worthy and indeed it was a good alternative film sitting amongst so many other slavery films shown to mark the 200th anniversary of Parliament abolishing the slave trade act; although it does cover similar ground as the better The Last Slave did with the same museum visited and the same plantation owner challenged.
However for me it was not a strong documentary even if it has worthy aims and targets. It is driven too much by emotion and the way that all decisions seem to have been made at the start. What I mean by this is that I didn't feel it was really a trip of exploration for the makers and thus it wasn't for the viewers. In The Last Slave for example we follow the presenter as he explores the subjects and see him deal with what he is being told it is effective and actually makes the subject more shocking and terrible. However here the film never questions anything. Dynamite (and the film) accepts everything she is told and doesn't seem to react well to anything negative. She is shown a treaty that shows the price the Maroons paid for their victory (the return of all those outsiders that had joined them) but refuses to accept this part of the Maroon history. She berates the owner of the plantation by saying "personally, if it was me etc" in response to his balanced and logical view but yet she never says what she would actually do in his shoes and she ignores the terrible fact that all of us in the western world have the world we have benefited from slavery. It seems easy for her to see it as a black/white issue with the whites holding the power to this day and she ignores the ongoing slavery in the world (that she herself benefits from) and the fact that exploitation and cruelty is not the reserve of the traders.
I'm sure some will see me as criticising it because it attacks slavery but I assure you this is not the case. My problem with it is this unquestioning approach to history where the legend is accepted and nothing is explored. Dynamite is a big part of this failure as it is clear that she has not come to challenge her knowledge but to reinforce it. Even without this she is a poor presenter because she is heavy and lack charisma watch her talking to the African-American photographer and tell me it is not annoying how she goes "hm-um" every 3 seconds! Overall then a worthy attempt at raising awareness amongst the target audience which I can only assume is a young audience. It will probably be repeated during future Black History months but it is not a great documentary because it doesn't explore, question or challenge. The legend is embraced and anything negative is rejected, undermining it totally and leaving me glad I knew a bit more about the Maroons but dissatisfied with how it had been done.
If saying this sounds like a criticism then I can only say that it is only a minor one because the film does come over as being aimed at younger people whether it is the style, the presence of Ms Dynamite or the inclusion of so much music. As such then it does a good job of presenting the history of the Maroons and slavery in a broad sweep which will achieve the aim of increasing awareness of black history amongst black British children. This is all very worthy and indeed it was a good alternative film sitting amongst so many other slavery films shown to mark the 200th anniversary of Parliament abolishing the slave trade act; although it does cover similar ground as the better The Last Slave did with the same museum visited and the same plantation owner challenged.
However for me it was not a strong documentary even if it has worthy aims and targets. It is driven too much by emotion and the way that all decisions seem to have been made at the start. What I mean by this is that I didn't feel it was really a trip of exploration for the makers and thus it wasn't for the viewers. In The Last Slave for example we follow the presenter as he explores the subjects and see him deal with what he is being told it is effective and actually makes the subject more shocking and terrible. However here the film never questions anything. Dynamite (and the film) accepts everything she is told and doesn't seem to react well to anything negative. She is shown a treaty that shows the price the Maroons paid for their victory (the return of all those outsiders that had joined them) but refuses to accept this part of the Maroon history. She berates the owner of the plantation by saying "personally, if it was me etc" in response to his balanced and logical view but yet she never says what she would actually do in his shoes and she ignores the terrible fact that all of us in the western world have the world we have benefited from slavery. It seems easy for her to see it as a black/white issue with the whites holding the power to this day and she ignores the ongoing slavery in the world (that she herself benefits from) and the fact that exploitation and cruelty is not the reserve of the traders.
I'm sure some will see me as criticising it because it attacks slavery but I assure you this is not the case. My problem with it is this unquestioning approach to history where the legend is accepted and nothing is explored. Dynamite is a big part of this failure as it is clear that she has not come to challenge her knowledge but to reinforce it. Even without this she is a poor presenter because she is heavy and lack charisma watch her talking to the African-American photographer and tell me it is not annoying how she goes "hm-um" every 3 seconds! Overall then a worthy attempt at raising awareness amongst the target audience which I can only assume is a young audience. It will probably be repeated during future Black History months but it is not a great documentary because it doesn't explore, question or challenge. The legend is embraced and anything negative is rejected, undermining it totally and leaving me glad I knew a bit more about the Maroons but dissatisfied with how it had been done.
helpful•01
- bob the moo
- Apr 25, 2007
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
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