Analysis Of Sarafina And Amandla

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How do Sarafina! And Amandla! Portray Africans as having subjectivity that you did not see in most previous film portrayals of Africans? In other words, in what ways do these films help viewers see Africans as actual human beings? Refer to three or more of the assigned reading to support your assertions.
Subjectivity is the ability to voice your opinion without being influenced by external sources. Unlike past films we have watched, in Sarafina! and Amandla!, the directors portray Africans as human beings who crave to have their voice heard in hopes to gain the freedom their government denies them. Africans are able to convey their message through songs and dances with the idea of using expression as a reflexive and revolutionary way of changing …show more content…

Ngũgĩ (1993) explains how Africans have been “oppressed and silenced” (132) for years in order to benefit the white character, although, the white character does not “see the human faces” (132) of Africans, but instead only see them as a form of profit. Yet, in both films, the director slowly reverses the roles of both races as some white individuals try to understand Africans oppression, treating Africans with respect and kindness. In Sarafina!, when the white mother realizes Sarafina needed time alone with her mom, instead of ignoring her needs, she allowed them to spend time together (Sarafina!, 1992). This is important because it shows how white characters are starting to be more empathic towards Africans needs, starting to value them as people instead of servants. In Amandla!, white individuals rallied together with Africans to help push for equality and some were put in jail in hopes to decrease African’s oppression (Amandla! 2002). Both examples reflect Dargis’ work (2002) on how white characters are slowly seeing Africans as “more than a decorative function,” (1) as Africans are speaking up for the actions and trying to stop the hatred in a humane way. Dargis (2002) criticizes how directors provide a more truthful and raw story of Africans struggle and injustice as “the camera usually talks louder and more honestly than anything he [the director] may say” (2). This allows, for the first time, for white characters to connect and see Africans as humans, rallying with them and not against

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