Comments on: South African Sport, Hollywood-style http://www.footballiscominghome.info/the-hosts/south-african-sport-hollywood-style/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:33:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Michelle Wong http://www.footballiscominghome.info/the-hosts/south-african-sport-hollywood-style/comment-page-1/#comment-676 Michelle Wong Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:59:41 +0000 http://www.footballiscominghome.net/?p=1622#comment-676 Hi, I thought you and your readers might be interested in a related new documentary, Fair Play, which explain why the ‘95 World Cup was so important to Mandela and the world. Here’s a trailer: http://activevoice.net/haveyouheard_fairplay.html. Hi, I thought you and your readers might be interested in a related new documentary, Fair Play, which explain why the ‘95 World Cup was so important to Mandela and the world. Here’s a trailer: http://activevoice.net/haveyouheard_fairplay.html.

]]> By: Peter http://www.footballiscominghome.info/the-hosts/south-african-sport-hollywood-style/comment-page-1/#comment-586 Peter Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:55:40 +0000 http://www.footballiscominghome.net/?p=1622#comment-586 Of course, academic documentaries bore people to tears (including some academics) unlike Hollywood edutainment like Invictus. However, this film is "pseudo-academic" -- "based on a true story", shot on location, recreating history -- so it's not asking too much to expect just a little more attention to context and the game's aftermath. Otherwise, the film runs the risk of going down the path of Disney's "Glory Road" (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/060112). An idea for context on early 1990s: include shots of the AWB crashing their truck into the World Trade Center in Johannesburg in 1993 and the killing of the AWB men on television in Bop in 1994. These brief, yet dramatic, scenes would have helped better understand why Madiba was so committed to undermining the extreme right wing by standing up for the 'Boks name and emblem. One recent examples of an academic project going Hollywood is Chuck Korr's More Than Just a Game (http://www.morethanjustagame.co.za/pr_5.html), a film on soccer among prisoners on Robben Island. I have not yet seen the film (it has not been released in the US and is not available on DVD here) so can't comment on it. Final note: many of my undergraduate and graduate students went to see Invictus and inundated me with positive feedback. Of course, academic documentaries bore people to tears (including some academics) unlike Hollywood edutainment like Invictus.

However, this film is “pseudo-academic” — “based on a true story”, shot on location, recreating history — so it’s not asking too much to expect just a little more attention to context and the game’s aftermath. Otherwise, the film runs the risk of going down the path of Disney’s “Glory Road” (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/060112).

An idea for context on early 1990s: include shots of the AWB crashing their truck into the World Trade Center in Johannesburg in 1993 and the killing of the AWB men on television in Bop in 1994. These brief, yet dramatic, scenes would have helped better understand why Madiba was so committed to undermining the extreme right wing by standing up for the ‘Boks name and emblem.

One recent examples of an academic project going Hollywood is Chuck Korr’s More Than Just a Game (http://www.morethanjustagame.co.za/pr_5.html), a film on soccer among prisoners on Robben Island. I have not yet seen the film (it has not been released in the US and is not available on DVD here) so can’t comment on it.

Final note: many of my undergraduate and graduate students went to see Invictus and inundated me with positive feedback.

]]> By: Marc Fletcher http://www.footballiscominghome.info/the-hosts/south-african-sport-hollywood-style/comment-page-1/#comment-585 Marc Fletcher Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:30:37 +0000 http://www.footballiscominghome.net/?p=1622#comment-585 This was always going to be a glamorised, Hollywood-esque affair, not least with the casting of Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar. Should we have expected Hollywood to provide the historical context and a critical analysis of rugby and race relations in South Africa? This would have catapulted the film producers into a pseudo-academic role. Maybe the onus should be on academics with experience and knowledge in this field to disseminate this knowledge to a wider, non-academic audience? I wish I could watch the film but as it is always with film release dates in the UK, we won't get it for another couple of months. Even South Africa has this film before us... This was always going to be a glamorised, Hollywood-esque affair, not least with the casting of Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar. Should we have expected Hollywood to provide the historical context and a critical analysis of rugby and race relations in South Africa? This would have catapulted the film producers into a pseudo-academic role. Maybe the onus should be on academics with experience and knowledge in this field to disseminate this knowledge to a wider, non-academic audience?

I wish I could watch the film but as it is always with film release dates in the UK, we won’t get it for another couple of months. Even South Africa has this film before us…

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