New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's Pop Junkie blog post which looks at 10 awesome Christmasy movies: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/all-i-want-for-christmas-10-awesome-christmasy-movies/

Source for image: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/christmas/images/8142630/title/christmas-tree-wallpaper-wallpaper

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's blog post which examines the James Bond opening sequences: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/a-spectacle-of-women-and-guns-considering-the-james-bond-opening-sequences/

Source for pic: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews33/casino_royale_blu-ray.htm

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's Pop Junkie blog post examines the success of the greatest song in film history, Over The Rainbow: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/the-invincible-song-the-many-musical-faces-of-over-the-rainbow/

Source for pic: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAVxjQSRYBdJ2CvSq7vRaQDM5ri8z16_Y

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Fans of Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men should check out today's blog post: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/big-bang-theory-and-two-and-a-half-men-or-the-anatomy-of-the-pathetic-man/

Source for pic 1: http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Index

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post is a continued look at the Twilight phenomenon as I examine the twist ending in Breaking Dawn-Part 2: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/the-breaking-dawn-part-2-twist-ending-the-shooting-threat-and-the-twihard/

Source for pic 1: http://www.totalfilm.com/news/final-poster-for-breaking-dawn-part-2

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

In honour of the upcoming final installment in the Twilight saga, today's blog looks at the relevance and value of Twilight for contemporary readers: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/the-twilight-phenomenon-and-the-redefinition-of-the-modern-reader/

Source for pic:  http://www.win7wallpapers.com/twilight_breaking_dawn_part_2-wallpapers.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's Pop Junkie blog post which is all about Obama, Obama and more Obama: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/the-face-behind-the-politics-the-other-reason-barack-obama-won-the-us-elections/

Source for pic 1: http://weaselzippers.us/2012/04/10/obama-crashes-gay-fundraiser/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's Pop Junkie blog post Gangnam Style!: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/the-day-social-commentary-became-pop-music-gangnam-style-and-pumped-up-kicks/

Source for pic: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/is-gangnam-style-going-to-break-the-internet/story-e6frf96f-1226485726434

New 'Pop Jukie' Blog Post!

Today's blog post is a review of From the Mouths of Babes, a new play at the Market Theatre: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/renegotiating-jewish-womanhood-in-from-the-mouths-of-babes/

Source for pic: http://markettheatre.co.za/shows/watch/from-the-mouths-of-babes

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog post!

In honour of Halloween, today's blog post offers a defense of one of my favourite Halloween TV shows Pretty Little Liars: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/hitchcock-for-teens-in-defense-of-pretty-little-liars/

Source for pic 1: http://tvdonewright.com/2012/08/pretty-little-liars-recap-stolen-kisses/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's Pop Junkie blog post which examines the representation of bullying in the media: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/demi-lovato-amanda-todd-challenge-day-and-the-problem-of-anti-bullying-campaigns-in-the-media/

Source for pic:  http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/10/anonymous-exposes-amanda-todd-bully-2480660.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's blog post which is all about J.K. Rowling's debut adult novel The Casual Vacancy:http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/wheres-harry-the-problem-with-reading-the-casual-vacancy-as-a-j-k-rowling-novel/

Source for Pic 1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/02/jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-fiction-charts

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

After a short hiatus, Pop Junkie has reentered the building! Today's post is dedicated to the First dog, Bo Obama: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/bo-obama-and-the-americanization-of-the-obama-family/

Source for Pic: http://dogtime.com/hawaiian-poi-dog-shampoo-by-lanikai-bath-body.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's blog post is in honour of the return of Once Upon A Time: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/reconstructing-happy-ever-after-for-the-modern-world-in-once-upon-a-time/

Source for Pic:  http://omg.yahoo.com/news/once-upon-time-recap-regina-intentions-revealed-025205902.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post examines the success of Sixto Rodriquez: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/the-local-hero-thoughts-on-rodriquezs-south-african-popularity/

Source for Photo 1: http://love6fm.blogspot.com/2008/08/cold-fact-by-sixto-rodriguez-1970.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post looks at why Simon Cowell's X Factor has failed to strike a chord with TV viewers: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/the-fallen-hero-the-end-of-the-cowell-effect/

Source for pic: http://itsblackcurrent.com/reality-check-watch-x-factor-usa-season-2-episode-2/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post is a review of the play Delirium which is now on at the Market Theatre: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/war-of-the-worlds-and-a-single-room-in-delirium/

Source for pic 1: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/war-of-the-worlds-and-a-single-room-in-delirium/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's blog post is a review of Jill Nudelman's debut novel Inheriting the Earth: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/the-search-for-self-in-jill-nudelmans-inheriting-the-earth/

Source for Photo 1: http://www.ukznpress.co.za/?class=bb_ukzn_books&method=view_books&global%5Bfields%5D%5B_id%5D=397

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's blog is all about Clint Eastwood, Republicans, Eva Longoria and Magnum Ice-Cream


http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/make-my-day-go-away-what-clint-eastwood-could-learn-from-eva-longoria/

Source for Pic 1: http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/08/clint-eastwood-rnc-speech-president-obama-chris-rock-and-more-react.html

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's Pop Junkie blog post looks at why it's time for the one and only Captain Planet to make a return visit to earth:

http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/the-power-is-yours-why-its-time-for-captain-planet-to-make-a-return-visit/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post is a trip down memory lane as we look at what's become of Archie comics: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/this-aint-the-riverdale-i-used-to-know-redefining-archie-comics-in-the-21st-century/

Source for Pic: http://www.homorazzi.com/tag/kevin-keller/

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Today's blog post looks at the mystery of Pussy Riot and their Balaclavas:

http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/questioning-pussy-riot-and-their-balaclavas/

New Blog Post!

Today's Pop Junkie blog post is dedicated to my rant about Aaron Sorkin's new series The Newsroom: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/if-you-dont-want-someone-to-fail-youre-in-the-wrong-business-failed-backstabbing-in-aaron-sorkins-the-newsroom

New 'Pop Junkie' Blog Post!

Check out today's 'Pop Junkie' blog post which looks at the act of celebrity impersonation on social networks: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/woah-a-celebrity-accepted-my-friend-request-examining-the-act-of-celebrity-impersonation-on-social-networks/

Source for pic 1:  http://www.labnol.org/internet/customize-facebook-profile/18357/

New Post on 'Pop Junkie'!

Hi all so some of you have told me that you're out of the loop with the blog since it's moved to its new home. To compensate for this I'll be posting links to the posts on this site just to keep you up to speed. Here's today's blog which looks at why Desperate Housewives wasn't as bad as you thought it was: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/a-wisteria-lane-obituary-why-desperate-housewives-wasnt-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-was/

Source for pic 1: http://tv.spreadit.org/desperate-housewives-season-6-episode-15-watch/

'Pop Junkie' is moving on up!

Check out Pop Junkie's new home for double the awesomeness: http://poppiejunkie.wordpress.com/

Gender Trouble: The Problem of Looking at Caster Semenya as a Gender Heroine

As a nation we held our breath as we watched our own Caster Semenya take to the proverbial Olympic road for the 800-metres final. My emotional investment in this race was particularly higher than it was with our other athletes. This is because an Olympic gold victory for Semenya would symbolize a personal victory that runs deeper than the personal victories of other athletes. In fact, it would be a victory of cinematic magnitude because, just as with every cliched sports movie you can think of, it would not just be an individual victory but also a team victory. The team in question, of course, is not just the nation but more specifically women, human rights and LGTB activists who have come to hail Semenya as an icon for their individual causes. Unfortunately the gold was not to be but "we" (or, more specifically Semenya) still managed to get an impressive Silver, solidifying Semenya's status as both a sports star and a gender rights heroine.

Now here's my issue. There's no doubt that the Silver is a victory and that Semenya is certainly proud of the sports star title. However, I'm not completely sure if "gender rights heroine" is a title she would want to be associated with, at least not in the way it is here. The average female sports star fights for women's rights by, well, kicking ass on the sporting field which is still considered by many to be a male-dominated terrain. By doing so this average female sports star demonstrates that women are every bit as talented in the sporting arena as men are and, subsequently, that they deserve equal representation within this field. In the case of sporting stars such as Paralympics swimming champion Natalie Du Toit this fight is taken a step further in that she is essentially a representative of women's rights and the rights of disabled people to participate in sporting events at an Olympic level.

Semenya, I imagine, would initially have desired to represent women's rights in the same way as the average female sports star. However, since the emergence of the gender testing controversy and the problems it raised in terms of defining her gender within the sporting arena, Semenya has come to represent a message that is far bigger than the one signified by the average female sports star. Essentially, the term "gender" has been reappropriated in her case to incorporate the term "transgender", a term which the majority of her fellow female athletes do not have to contend with. As the development of media and academic studies on Semenya have demonstrated, the problem with emphasising the term "transgender" in relation to the sporting world is that it focuses in on the politics the athlete represents as opposed to this athlete's talent.

Of course, we are still well aware of Semenya's talent but the fact of the matter is that it is still difficult to disassociate her from the "bigger picture" she has come to represent. Semenya has now joined the legendary Saartjie Baartman as an African woman whose body is now symbolic of particular national and historical ideologies, making her space in the sporting world secondary or, at times, even tertiary. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the problems we face in defining Mandela as an icon and I fear the same issues have arisen in the way we perceive Semenya. She has not become a commercial brand but she has essentially become an academic and humanitarian one.

And yet, therein lies the problem. Whereas we can scrutinize Mandela's image for being turned into a commercial brand, it's difficult to take issue with Semenya's place within academic and humanitarian discourse. Semenya's story is one that opens up multiple debates and dialogues. It causes us to question, negotiate and finally seek solutions for issues which would not have come to light had this story not been told. Whether she likes it or not, Semenya is now an activist for social change and this is her primary claim to fame. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. Unfortunately biology and social conventions suggest that it is Semenya who is that (possibly reluctant) "someone".

Source for Photo 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya

Source for Photo 2: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/26/caster-semenya-and-the-ioc-s-olympics-gender-bender.html

The Hebrew Mamita and Defining the Jewish kugel within South African Society

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Limmud Johannesburg, an annual Jewish-themed conference that grapples with such diverse categories as Jewish spirituality, Zionism and arts & culture. One of the presenters I was most impressed by at the conference was a young New York based spoken-word poet named Vanessa Hidary, otherwise known as the Hebrew Mamita. Basing her writings on her experiences growing up as a Sephardic Jew with close ties to people from other ethnic and religious backgrounds, the poetry Hidary performed at the conference centered on (among other things) Jewish mother issues, Antisemitism, gentile boyfriends and, well, general opposite sex issues. One of the most enjoyable  pieces of poetry she delivered was a piece on JAPS (Jewish American Princesses). Focusing on the superficiality of this elite group of Jewish Americans, Hidary imitated the conventional methods of speech that JAPS would use in making bridesmaid speeches. On listening to the perfect way in which Hidary imitated the eccentricities and nasal qualities of the JAPS, we as a South African Jewish audience were fondly reminded of our own SAJPS: the kugel. Now this fond reminder and Hidary's curiosity about the 'kugel' term got me to thinking about a particularly interesting question: how do we define 'the kugel' within South African Jewish society?

In explaining the  'kugel' term, the Urban dictionary offers up a couple of interesting definitions. The most disturbing one is a reference to 'kugel' in its food form. The definition states that 'kugel' is "an entirely vile, disgusting sex act involving noodles, dairy products, dead females and friction" (yuck!). The other two definitions, however, are closer to home, each suggesting particular characteristics that are associated with the South African kugel. One definition refers to the kugel as "a materialistic wannabe-sexy Jewish woman who belongs to a specific subculture of wealth and style, with affected mannerisms and a nasal way of talking". The other refers to kugels as  middle-aged Jewish women, living in Johannesburg, who are spoilt housewives who congregate in Sandton and have a belittling attitude towards those who don't live in the Northern suburbs.


One particularly interesting observation that this second definition makes is that the 'kugel' term now no longer just applies to Jewish women. As post-Apartheid South Africa has evolved, the Jewish kugel has begun to make way for the emerging identities of the black and Indian kugels.These kugel denominations have basically used the Jewish kugel as their template but, in doing so, have chopped and changed this persona to suit the characteristics of their individual cultures. As a result their versions of the 'kugel' still love shopping, doing their nails and bitching on their cellphones. Yet there are particular social and economic differences between these kugel breeds and the Jewish kugel. The black kugel is a good case in point. Though there are black kugels who live like Jewish kugels do, there are a large majority of them who do not have access to the traditional 'kugel' wealth. They do wear fancy leopard prints and other kugely trademarks but they are likely to get these clothes from cheap clothing stores in town rather than upmarket boutiques. They are also more likely to catch taxis as opposed to driving expensive cars and 'subject themselves'  to a night out at the shebeen rather than a five-star restaurant. Then there is the black 'kugel' speech which moves swiftly between English and the vernacular with rapid and animated speed.

What then does this emerging 'kugel' breed mean for the Jewish South African kugel whose identity-some might say- is fast becoming indistinguishable against that of her more specifically local counterparts? Perhaps the greatest problem the South African kugel has always faced is that she always comes dangerously close to  merely replicating the characteristics of the JAP. Sure she inhabits distinctly local spaces but there is nothing that classifies her as being distinctly South African. Like the JAP (as defined by Fran Drescher) she tosses around Hebrew and Yiddish terms with great ease but there's no real sign of any creative use of South African vernacular or, at the very least, an effort to experiment with a uniquely South African style. In her efforts to be the JAP, the South African Jewish kugel also doesn't do too much to counteract the stereotypes  she is associated with. Of course not every South African Jewish kugel is middle-aged, a housewife and all the other things the Urban Dictionary accuses her of being. However, they are grouped this way because their JAP eccentricities make them indistinguishable from this form of identity. The South African Jewish kugel would do well to follow the examples set by millions of non-kugel South African Jewish women who do set out to forge a link between their Jewishness and their identities as South Africans. Of course this is an issue which is currently of no issue to the proverbial Jewish kugel but she would be wise to stop shopping at European designer stores and start considering it before her kind becomes a dying breed.

In the meantime if Hidary wants to write a fresh South African version of her JAP poem she should probably turn her attention to the intrinsically local black or Indian kugel. The Jewish kugel's identity is still in a process of South African reconstruction.

Source for pic 1: http://truthpraiseandhelp.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/the-last-kaiser-roll-in-the-bodega/

Source for pic 2: http://fashionfetishism.com/2012/07/11/the-nanny-fran-drescher/

Definitions from Urban Dictionary.com

Finding Meaning in the 'Fifty Shades' of the Olympic logo

There are many things to love and hate about the Olympics. We love Cameron Van Der Burgh, Chad le Clos, the South African rowing team, Mr Bean and the exposure to all those wacky and random sports that ordinarily would be off our radar. We also secretly love the controversies that arise when an athlete's or team's skills are called into question, particularly  when the rights to a gold medal factor into the equation. We hate the length of the opening ceremony, the randomness of the opening ceremony (except Mr Bean) and some of the random sports we don't really want to watch. What bothers us the most though is the highly disturbing Olympic logo which (let's face it) looks like it was created by a four year-old on steroids.

Initially this logo was designed with the intention of bringing a younger, hipper edge to the Olympics.It was assumed that placing the traditional Olympic rings inside a bunch of blobby shapes would be manic enough to attract the interest of teenagers and twenty-somethings, the audience which the Olympics organisers seem consider to be the life-blood of the event. The problem with this is that neither this audience nor older Olympic viewing audiences are able to work out what the the logo is meant to represent. There is some geographical significance to the blobby shapes but it requires a hell of a lot of abstract thinking from the average man to work out what this significance is. So instead of interpreting this logo in an Olympian context, we, as frustrated outsiders to the mind of Olympic logo creators, have bestowed upon it some very un-Olympic like interpretations. Some of these interpretations, as detailed by a March 2011 article on The Week website, range from unusual to hilarious. Everyone by now is aware of The Simpsons interpretation where the usually straight-laced Lisa Simpson does her Anastasia Steele interpretation as she gives her rebellious brother Bart a blow-job. Then there are the political associations which provide an interesting parallel. On one hand, Iranian citizens threatened to boycott the Olympics because they have interpreted the logo's shapes as forming a 'Z' for Zion. On the other, Jewish citizens have interpreted as a disjointed Swatstika. Perhaps the least harmful interpretation suggests that the logo could stand for "Izzo", the nickname of hip-hop star Jay-Z.

Indeed, all these differing interpretations suggest that the Olympics logo is highly problematic. Yet, in a strange way, they also, in a sense, make the logo the voice of a generation. I look at the Olympics logo in the same way as I look at Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield. It's a screwed up product of its society, trying  desperately to find its true meaning. Of course, the logo's search for meaning is also our own because when we look at it, our own religious and/or socio-political anxieties stare right back at us and it's our job to grapple with these anxieties. This means that, in actual fact, the Olympics logo showcases every facet of contemporary society. For instance,  our modern fascination with erotica, as is evident by the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, is emphasised by The Simpsons interpretation (though it is quite sickening that yellow-skinned children are used to do it). Then the Zion interpretation captures the world's preoccupation with Middle East issues which, in truth, make the world go round almost as much as American politics does. Perhaps the deformed Swatstika, from a philosophical perspective, is a metaphor for the modern variations on evil which we find in various political and/or religious sects. The Jay-Z interpretation captures the savvy and street-smart attitudes of the modern youth which, at least, goes half-way to fulfilling the Olympics organisers initial intentions.

Yes, interpreting the Olympics logo (or blobs) from these perspectives might not relate much to sports in any way (unless you factor in the minuscule appearance of the Olympic rings). However, it really does have much potential as a piece of contextual "artwork" that changes meaning and significance with each generation it encounters. It will be interesting to see, decades from now, what the logo will come to symbolise for future generations. Will people still remember it as the symbol for the 2012 Olympic games?  Or will they simply just look at it as a bunch of abstract blobs which can be shaped to represent whatever pop culture, political or religious metaphor they desire? If so, which cartoon character will be getting pleasured this time around? I guess only time will tell...

Source for pic: http://studyabroad.universiablogs.net/2012/04/17/2012-olympics-and-loughborough/

The Many Faces of Xenophobia in 'The Line'

One of the most harrowing news stories in recent South African history was that of the 2008 Xenophobia riots. What was so particularly striking about this story was that, no matter what your race or social background, no South African citizen was completely desensitized to these riots. Whether you were the victim, the oppressor, the person who delivered food and blankets to the churches and police stations or merely the person watching the riots unfold in the news media, the trauma of these events was not limited to a single community. Essentially, it involved the entire nation, leaving all of our perceptions of South Africa forever changed. Up until now there have been relatively few works of film or theatre which have openly addressed and explored the social and psychological consequences of these riots. This is what makes Gina Shmukler’s The Line one of the most striking, powerful and important pieces of theatre you will see this year.

The development of The Line emerged from Shmukler’s Masters Research project which explored the role of trauma in relation to theatre-making. As part of this project, Shmukler went into the townships to interview various South African citizens who were affected by the Xenophobia riots. The Line plays out as a compilation of these interviews which Shmukler has moulded to fit the theatrical form. In this form the interviews become brutally honest testimonies which are performed by two exceptionally talented young actresses, Khutjo Green and Gabi Harris. As the play develops the two actresses juggle multiple roles as they give voice to the varying perspectives, insights and experiences that emerged from the Xenophobia riots.

What is particularly impressive about Shmukler’s work on The Line is that it presents the riots as a collective South African experience. It would have been very easy for her to make this a play that simply looks at the riots from the perspective of the victims. It would have also been very easy for her to present the oppressors simply as violent savages without exploring and questioning their actions. However this production is much braver than that. Every voice we are exposed to throughout the show is one that we can understand and sympathize with in some way. As The Line demonstrates, the word “oppressor” in the case of the Xenophobia riots is one that does not fully comprehend the dynamics of this situation. These “oppressors” are not inherently bad people. They are desperate and disillusioned, battling to grapple with the reality that the government they have supported has promised them everything and given them nothing. The play delves even further into the South African psyche as it exposes us to the perspective of the white “outsiders”, the people we presume to be distant and unaware of the harsh realities of the riots. As Shmukler’s script and Harris’s performance reveal, these “outsiders” have their own experience of pain. Essentially it is, of course, not the same pain as that of the victims or the oppressors. Yet it is still every bit as devastating as these “outsiders” battle to reconcile their perception of a post-Apartheid, democratic South Africa with the prejudices and violence that have transcended from the townships into homes which are not too far from their own living areas.

Complementing the collective experience that emerges in the manner Shmukler draws  the play’s testimonies together is Charl-Johan Lingenfelder’s music score and Niall Griffin’s stage design. Lingenfelder’s music score is often sharp and frightening, perfectly capturing both our national and individual anxieties. Griffin’s stage design is both moving and haunting in its simplicity. This design is made up of a large number milk bottles which are hung up next one another, connected by a wire. Within each bottle is a photograph of a victim of Xenophobia. Again this design not only expresses the trauma of the riots but also how —though they may seem distinct from each other— the trauma of the victim, oppressor and “outsider” are inherently linked to one another.

The Line is an uncompromising, harrowing and powerful piece of theatre which takes us on a socio-political and emotional journey which is familiar and accessible to every one of us. The fact that the audiences the play has attracted thus far represent an equal spread of every South African demographic indicates that we are now ready to acknowledge and deal with the respective roles we took on during the period of the Xenophobia riots. The Line is a production which puts these roles into perspective for us, prompting our united healing process to finally begin.

Source for Photo 1: http://www.whatsupjozi.com/2012/johannesburg-theatre/the-line-at-the-market-theatre/3060

Murder and Pop Culture: Some Thoughts on the Denver 'Batman' Shooting

By now everyone knows about the horrific shootings that happened at a movie theatre in Denver, Colorado during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The name James Holmes, which meant nothing to us the other day, is now etched in our memories, reminding us how deranged, twisted and violent humanity can actually be. Inevitably, due to where these shootings occurred, there will be efforts on the part of average citizens, psychologists, criminologists and pop culture analysts to link Holmes's motivations back to the Batman franchise in some way. Perhaps it may be argued that Holmes might have forged a connection with a particular Batman villain (reports claim that Holmes dyed his hair red and referred to himself as 'the Joker') and decided to enact this role in his approach to the shootings. Booby-trapping an apartment is itself an action which can be associated with the schemes of comic book super-villains.  So far I have read two articles that claim there is no inherent link between Holmes's actions and the Batman franchise. This may very well be true. However I feel that to completely neglect the possible function of pop culture in motivating and developing this crime is a mistake.

 The 1999 Columbine massacre provides and  interesting comparison to the Holmes shooting, not only because both events occurred in Colorado, but also because it suggests the manner in which a murderer may use media texts to construct his identity. For those who don't know the story behind it, this massacre occurred after two senior high school boys entered school one day and embarked on a violent shooting spree, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, while badly injuring 21 students directly . Following this, the two boys turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. The lead -up to the event notably began with the formation of a website by the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, which was initially created as a source for gaming levels for the Doom computer game. Within the site Harris submitted blog entries which indicated the developing process of their plans as they spoke about personal issues, weaponry, explosives and his and Klebold's own malicious antics .

The fact that Doom was essentially used as a 'cover' for Harris and Klebold's scheme is allegedly no coincidence. It is said that Harris created his own levels for the game on the internet and, at one time, it was rumoured that the layout of these levels resembled that of the high school. Though this was subsequently proven to be inaccurate, there remains speculation that Harris and Klebold, who had criminal records prior to the massacre, enaacted many of the realities of their games in the real world as a response to the consistent lessening of their computer privileges due to bad behaviour. Essentially the energy they put into their online activities could have been transferred to their real world ones. Other media cultures and texts which were related to Harris and Klebold's motivations were aspects of Goth culture, Oliver Stone's film Natural Born Killers and, amongst other rock acts, the music of Marilyn Manson which, at the time, appeared to advocate for devil worship and murder.*

If any of these media links to the Columbine massacre are true, then it is a massacre which is grounded in media responses . I use the word 'responses' here because I believe that to refer to pop culture as an influencing factor in a serial killing or massacre is a mistake. Pop culture is rooted in reflections on our society, it does not make it. The way we engage with it depends on our own psychological states because the aspects of a film, book, piece of music or video game which we individually remember most are ones that register most accurately with our social backgrounds, behavioural traits and other such aspects of our psychological make-up. Essentially pop culture enforces our identities. It does not influence them. Hence if the media texts which are associated with Harris and Klebold's behaviour are indeed accurate then it is possible to suggest that they acted as modes of expression for these two young killers. Their interest in Natural Born Killers is itself evidence of this as the film grapples with the relationship between the media and serial killers. The film could essentially have reflected on  Harris and Klebold's own desire to be noticed and "admired", clearly in the most graphic way possible. If this was the case their interest in it was clearly rooted in how it identified this part of themselves.

Perhaps then this is the case with Holmes's case. Whether he is an avid comic book geek or someone who merely has a working knowledge of the Batman series, I can't help but think that there's a reason why the opening of The Dark Knight Rises was the chosen event for his particular massacre. For some dark and depraved reason he might have seen the  Batman series as an expression of himself. Perhaps in the Batman villains he noticed his own desire for rage and murder. Choosing to associate himself with the morally, ethically and socially jaded world of Gotham City might have been his sadistic way of saying "this is who I really am".  Whereas we see Batman as a form of entertainment with an interesting subtext, he might see it as a life force which defines his true nature.

Of course we may never know whether this is indeed the case but, if it is, it is certainly a lesson in the dangers of identifying with media in a particular way.  Holmes's suggested interpretation of Batman has now possibly forever tarnished the image of the Batman comics and films. Much more tragically, however, it has ended human lives.

Source for info on Columbine: Wikipedia


Source for Photo: http://zipmeme.com/meme/James-Holmes-Joker-Meme/115636/popular/

History, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll in Craig Higginson's 'Little Foot'

In his programme notes for Little Foot, playwright Craig Higginson observes that there is a gap in the South African theatrical market for young adults. Indeed it's true that though there are a multitude of theatre productions aimed at children and adults, none capture the daunting personal and academic challenges which come with the territory of being a teenager. Though Higginson's latest play Little Foot  has slight flaws, it is still an interesting and accessible production which is a step in the right direction for the development of young adult theatre.

Set in present-day South Africa, Little Foot tells the story of a group of young, university-going friends who come together, a year after they last saw each other, to take a journey through the network of caves at the Cradle of Mankind. Each member of this group has a particular issue with Wizard (Dylan Nicol Horley), the group's ring leader, who joins the party with his British girlfriend, Rebecca (Phumzile Sitole). Influenced by their joint anger towards him, Coco (Jenna Dunster), Braai (Khayelihle Dominique Gumede) and Moby (Glen Biderman Pam) conspire to play a prank on Wizard which will inevitably end in tragedy. As the action of the play evolves, it is intercut with the physical enactment of the story of Little Foot (Mlondolozi Bradley Zondi), a three-million year old hominin which was discovered in the caves and, according to the show's press release, is now in the process of having its calcified bones extracted from the caves after a thirteen- year effort. The enactment of this narrative acts as a parallel to the show's contemporary narrative, commenting on how the development of our modern identities consistently intersects with the urges and behaviours of the primal identities which have preceded us.

Little Foot's greatest asset is its visual flair. Particularly in the scenes where the Little Foot plot is enacted, Neil Coppen's stage design is inventive and captivating, as are the soil coloured masks he has created for the hominins. Zondi and his fellow chorus members do a striking job as the union between the masks and their creative physicality creates a spell-binding energy on the stage. In truth it's quite a risk to merge this narrative with the contemporary  narrative and had the play been conceptualized differently, the combination may have seemed a bit jarring. Yet through Higginson's fanciful writing and director Malcolm Purkey's clever direction, the two narratives complement and merge with one another seamlessly. Theatre buffs will enjoy watching how the Greek tragedy model is reshaped to be both contemporary and distinctly South African, as well as visually stimulating.

 The feel of the production would be more effective, however, if the play was performed in a smaller space. As it stands Little Foot is being performed at the Market Theatre's Main Theatre which is a large and all-encompassing venue. It makes us feel somewhat distant from the play's action when the intimacy of its two narratives require us to be part of it. The success of 3-D movies, particularly for teenage audiences, is attributed to the fact that they pull viewers into the cinematic world, allowing them to experience this world directly through the characters' eyes. Little Foot could have benefited from a similar experience. Had the play been performed in the smaller space of either the Barney Simon Theatre or the Laager Theatre this effect would have been achieved, particularly if the audience seating was arranged to circle the stage. Utilizing this technique would have pulled us directly into the realities of the cave.

In terms of the play's contemporary narrative, Higginson does a great job at ensuring that that the interactions between the main characters remain sharp and witty. They are also certainly likable and interesting. Yet, by the end of the play, it feels like there's so much more that still needs to be explored with these characters. For instance, throughout the play, we learn very little about Rebecca. Obviously holding back information about characters can be an effective technique  but in this case it feels like the omitted information could have actually helped facilitate an even more dynamic narrative. On this note, the play's ending is also a bit too ambiguous, leaving us with far too many unanswered questions. Again, though ambiguous endings can work to a play's advantage, I think Little Foot's target audience would have appreciated an ending which tied up the narrative's loose ends a bit more.

Despite these flaws, Little Foot remains and exciting and innovative production. If it is indeed able to draw teenage audiences away from computer games and Twilight then it's done a fantastic job.

.  *Little Foot is now on at The Market Theatre until 19 August

Source for photo: http://markettheatre.co.za/shows/watch/little-foot

Ignorance in Bloom: Why Woody Allen Should Make A Movie In Israel

Just the other day I was doing my usual Daily Maverick browsing session when I came across an article by Kevin Bloom entitled "Bullets Over Tel-Aviv: Why Woody Allen shouldn't shoot in Israel" For those of you haven't read it, let me break it down for you. The article states that Woody Allen has expressed interest in shooting a film in Israel, a country that he has yet to visit but is very fond of. As the title of the article suggests, the rest of it is preoccupied with proving why Allen shouldn't shoot a movie in Israel. Bloom takes us through various possible film plotlines that could possibly arise in a "Woody Allen in Israel" film. One of the suggestions he makes are a sequel to Manhattan Murder Mystery entitled Jerusalem Murder Mystery which would involve the two protagonists from the previous film taking a trip to Jerusalem where they find that their neighbour has been kidnapped and has fallen in love with a member of Hamas. Two other possible suggestions he makes are Israeli versions of Bullets Over Broadway (Bullets Over Tel-Aviv) and Midnight in Paris (Midnight in Haifa). As Bloom smugly suggests both these film ideas are problematic because, while Broadway and Paris are films that pay sentimental tributes to the art of theatre-making and writing respectively, Israeli theatre and writing is all overtly political and, therefore, not of much interest to the rest of the world. He concludes that Allen probably shouldn't make films in a country he knows nothing about.

Now here's the problem with Bloom's argument: he probably hasn't been to Israel himself. I'm not forming this opinion based on any Zionist agenda. In fact, I consider myself to be apolitical as far as the country's concerned. However having lived there for five years of my young life and having made numerous visits back to the country over the last couple of years, I can personally testify to the fact that religion and politics aren't as central to Israeli life as the media makes them out to be. Yeah okay there is the army but, from what I understand, if you're not on the battlefield, it's really not as bad as it's made out to be. In fact many graduate recruits have claimed to have had the time of their lives serving the army. Then there is the fact that a city such as Tel-Aviv has quite a prolific social scene that really has nothing to do with the country's political or religious issues. Bloom's claim that all Israeli theatre and writing is political is perhaps the biggest tell-tale sign of his ignorance because any idiot can tell you that there is no way a country's art can just be political and nothing else. In recent years I saw a wonderful Israeli play (based on an Israeli book) called My First Sony about the experiences of an eleven year-old Israeli boy growing up in Israel. There were no gestures to any grand political or religious themes. It was simply just a sweet, perceptive slice-of-life and proof that Mr Bloom's argument is grounded in the ridiculous.

I'm well aware that, in his capacity as a journalist, Bloom has done some fine work. I've read snippets of his book Ways of Staying which was written in the wake of the murder of his friend Brett Goldin and cousin Richard Bloom in 2006. The book is a memoir which deals with his crime and political related experiences in South Africa, prompting an exploration of the role of white people in South African society. What I read was well written but, like most of Bloom's journalism, it's quite angry writing. The problem with anger is that it leads to ignorance and such is the case with this article. The Israel Bloom presents us with here is one that has been formulated via his own political beliefs. He's not going to make any visits or do any other research into the kind of country that lies beyond its religious and political affiliations because that does damage to his angry street-cred if he actually finds something positive. He goes on in the article to state if Allen were to make a film in Israel, it would be "a slap in the face to Israeli directors who are currently making brave and important movies about their homeland". Predictably the movies he mentions are heavily political or at least correlate with political ideals. The fact of the matter is that the bravest Israeli films are those that aren't actually about war. I'm talking about the films that, like My First Sony, are just a portrait of what it is to live a personal/ social life in Israel, one that is independent from all usual stereotypes associated with the country. Unfortunately we only get to see these kinds of films once a year at the Israeli film festival.

The great thing about a director like Allen making a film in Israel is that it could lead to an unearthing of more of these kind of 'slice-of life' films. Allen is a master at telling wonderfully simple and quirky stories and the cities in his movies take on a very different appeal when they have been 'Alleninised'. Just think of how Allen's films have enhanced the images of New York, Paris, Barcelona and London. It would be fascinating to see what he could do with Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem or Haifa. With the wonderful crop of actors he has at his disposal, Allen could even challenge the simple-minded opinion that an Israeli movie has to have predominantly Jewish characters. I don't see any Israeli citizens objecting to having the likes of Penelope Cruz,  Owen Wilson and Scarlett Johanssen walking amongst them, playing out love stories that aren't in fact about marrying into the right Jewish family or families. Now that would be ground-breaking cinema, even if it is from a director that really knows nothing about Israel.

Source for Photo 1: http://www.startyournovel.com/2012/01/what-can-woody-allen-teach-you-about.html

Source for Photo 2: http://standupportal.tumblr.com/post/27054890142/woody-allen

Defining a Hero: The Problem with Commemorating Madiba

Let's face it, South Africa (and probably most of the world) will take any opportunity to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. Of course this week there's no need to search for a reason to do it. Madiba's 94th birthday is the perfect platform for a grand-scale tribute, as well as for doing your 67 minutes worth of community service for the year. It also provides yet another opportunity for the ANC to remind us how they are presumably abiding by the Mandela manifesto. Inevitably, there will also be more commemorative mugs, t-shirts, caps and every other piece of memorabilia, just to confirm that Nelson Mandela is one of the greatest men who ever lived (in case you didn't already know).

For me, these methods of commemoration raise an issue which has been proved to be consistently problematic in defining our country's attitude towards Nelson Mandela as a hero. The question here is namely, is this the right way to celebrate a hero? On that note, is there a right way to celebrate a hero? The answer to this question is a difficult one because inevitably Mandela's achievements are one's that justly require celebration. This was, after all, the man who fought for our nation's freedom from the confines of his Robben Island prison cell and, since then, has become the defining figurehead of post-Apartheid South Africa. The problem is essentially that there is no subtlety in the way Mandela's heroism is celebrated. Firstly every second street, bridge, theatre, shopping place or any other such space is named after him. Then there's that  infamous Sandton Square statue that every second tourist has to take a picture with, as well as the flashy 4664 concert. This, of course, is the very tip of the iceberg. The man, it seems, is apparently flawless. Our beloved South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (otherwise known as Zapiro) delights in degrading our current president  Jacob Zuma, particularly when he has the chance to attack his crown jewels. Yet, when it comes to caricaturing Madiba, he is strangely sensitive and subdued. It's as if faulting  Madiba's image is completely taboo. Such an offence could essentially be considered undignified and disrespectful.

Yet the question that needs to be raised here is whether turning Madiba's goodness into a commercial brand is an action which is not in itself undignified and disrespectful. The fact is that there's a large majority of South African citizens who only understand Mandela in his branded form. They salivate over his shirts, swoon when he takes a photograph with a Hollywood celebrity and stock up on any piece of Madiba memorabilia they can find to show that they're liberal South Africans. Yet their knowledge of his actual history is, at best, superficial. Mandela is an icon but he's one that goes unnoticed unless he's glamourised rather than historicised. This may not be the Zuma 'Spear' treatment but are there not some commonalities here? The way Madiba is represented in all his various media forms is not an example of overt or intentional mockery. However by choosing to emphasise aesthetics over history, media representations of Madiba exemplify a ridiculousness of a different sort. It appears that when it's not being used as an ANC scapegoat, the Mandela legacy is rapidly defined by its pageantry and everyone wants a piece of it. Sadly this has served to make Madiba appear to be more of a cash-cow hero than a historical and moral one.

And therein lies the dilemma: how do we honour Nelson Mandela without the excess that's come to define him? The reason this question is so difficult to answer is because we have never known or seen Madiba in isolation from his commemorative persona. Therefore we don't know how to honour him in any other. I'm not sure if this is a problem that will ever be solved but taking our 67 minutes of goodwill to consider who Madiba really is is a good start.


Source for Photo 1: http://www.nelsonmandelas.com/nelson-mandela-pictures.php?type=statues

Source for Photo 2: http://oralhistoryeducation.com/aparthied-stories

Rediscovering Hogwarts:' Harry' Without the Commercial Posse

Lately I've come to realize that merchandising is the kiss of death for  literature. Once Hollywood, McDonald's and Toys 'R Us get hold of  books which  are popular in the literary market, they take on an identity that is often entirely at odds with the one they established in their initial written form. Fairytales, for instance, are never read in the same light after they become 'Disneyfied'. The Little Mermaid which began life as a somber Christian morality tale is now known primarily as a cute Disney movie with talking fish and a red-haired babe with a purple bikini top and a fish tail. It's also known for its numerous televised spin-offs, a Broadway musical and the numerous collectible toys which are still available in some form or another.  This merchandising effect has done wonders for some works of literature or "literature". Through the merchandising machine, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and now E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey have gained  street-cred that they otherwise wouldn't have had if they remained in their original literary form.

However, for every success story, there is always a casualty. Such a casualty is a piece of literature which is actually really good but loses its credibility when it becomes a breeding ground for movie stars and Happy Meals. There are two such examples I can think of here. The first is any novel by Jane Austen. Austen is actually a brilliant satirist but much of this quality in her work is lost amidst the pink book covers and Colin Firth memorabilia which give off the impression that her works are simply conventional romances. The second is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. I'll examine Austen's pop culture status in a later post (or you could just read my thesis for a general perspective). Today's post is strictly dedicated to the Harry Potter books which I'm only now beginning to see value in.

  My initial resistance to the Harry Potter phenomenon can be traced back to when I first heard about it in its capacity as a commercialized modality. I think it was around the time when it was first announced that the director of Mrs Doubtfire would be directing the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was also around the time when the fourth book, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire came out. Intrigued, I decided  to give the books a bash. However, when I finally got around to doing it, the movie's release date was inching ever closer, chocolate frogs were beginning to be sold and some British kid named Daniel Radcliffe started turning up on every magazine cover. It was also the time where parents came out with their accusations that the books were Satanic.

Will all that in mind, I read the first two books not as works of literature but hyped up pieces of commercialism. I perceived it as a readable form of a 'Happy Meal', pretty but not much substance. Eventually Pottermania blew up to such an extent that I felt I would never be able to read it as literature, as opposed to a media marketing tool. I gave up and skipped out on the communal reading experience when the books came out and the communal viewing experience when the films came out. The series really just felt like traditional kiddie fantasy that had become yet another piece of cool literary sensation.

Now, a year after the final movie was released,  the books have now made way for other literary pop culture phenomenons. I decided to try the books again but now with a mindset that was uninfluenced by the series' media hype.Right now I've just finished (or rather devoured) Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series, and I'm shocked by how different my reading experience is this time around.

The fact of the matter is that everything people have said about the books, independently from their media legacy, is true. From a strictly literary perspective, the series is outstanding.  Each book strategically drops red herrings as the plot develops, cleverly making readers think they know where the action is headed but subverting it as the book reaches its conclusion. Rowling also knows exactly where her narrative is headed. In the books I've read of late I've found too many instances where the author seems to be in search of a story, desperately trying to find any device to fill in  narrative gaps. This is far from the case with Harry Potter where each small narrative plot detail is crucial to the central plot at hand.


More importantly for me, however, is how the series engages with both its child and adult readers. Like Roald Dahl ,one of my favourite children's book authors, Rowling does not talk down to her young readers. There is no protective "sugar coating" in the world of Harry Potter.  As enchanting as Hogwarts is, it's not a safe or completely idealistic place. It's a space where children will experience the same realities and learn the same values they should learn as they themselves grow up. Death, for instance, is a constant reality at the school and, as with real life, the characters cannot use magic as a means of escaping it. In dealing with such issues, however, the books are also refreshingly free of cynicism. This is because the more somber parts of the narrative are balanced out by the conventional values which are preached in children's literature but in a way which is unforced, subtle and poignant. Finding self worth and maintaining friendships isn't always easy in Harry Potter but when each of the characters do recognize their abilities and find strength in one another, the books become pure inspiration for young readers, minus the shmaltz and didacticism which is ordinarily a standard convention for this genre.

What about adults then? What do we have to gain from the magical world of Harry Potter? I could tell you  that we could find pleasure in dissecting the books, identifying their relevance to socio-political themes in our society, just like with The Hunger Games. The books certainly have enough in them to lend themselves to such an analysis. However, I think to read the series from this perspective devalues its heartfelt nature. No matter what your age you're never too old to learn the lessons which are at the heart of Harry Potter and the beauty of the series lies in the fact that the adult characters (just like the adult readers) learn and grow along with the children as they too search for their place in the world.

 In many ways the Harry Potter series reminds me of one my favourite books, J.D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye. Like Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of Catcher, the characters of Harry Potter, both young and old, are constantly searching for meaning, both within themselves and the world around them. Behind the heroism and magic, the Harry Potter series has a literary soul of the highest order and no amount of merchandising can take that away from it.

Source for pic 1: http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/pages-8/Warner-Brothers-considering-American-reboot-of-Harry-Potter-franchise-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side

Source for pic 2: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/07.27.05/potter-0530.html

Colors of the Wind: The Racially Problematic Endings of 'Pocahontas' and 'Fox & the Hound'

Besides the fact that they're both products of the House of Mouse (aka Disney), The Fox & the Hound (1981)  and  Pocahontas (1996) appear to have little in common. The one film's about, well,the friendship between a fox and a hound and the other is a reinvention of a 17th century historical narrative about the relationship between a Native American woman and an Englishman. Even the music in the two films is different. Fox is a quieter film, defined musically by the cutsey song When you're the Best of Friends, sung by the fox's kindly owner. Pocahontas, on the other hand, is all about the big ballads, particularly the eco-friendly Colors of the Wind. What the two films do share in common, however, is that the relationships in both are ill-fated. Their endings are fairly unconventional for films in the Disney stable which ordinarily provide quickish fix's for problems of class, prejudice, magic or (in the case of The Little Mermaid) incompatible body parts. The general goal of a Disney film is for all couples to find their "Happily Ever After" together. Why then do the characters of Fox and Pocahontas find their version of "Happily Ever After" apart from one another? Why are their endings bittersweet as opposed to sweet?

Now I hate to jump to conclusions here but I wonder if the unconventional Disney endings in these films have anything to do with the fact that, at their heart, both films are about race, a subject which has proven to be the bane of Disney since its existence. Though there has been news articles which have contested this, it's well known that the great Walt Disney was allegedly a racist and an anti-Semite. According to Wikipedia, though Disney donated to several Jewish charities, he allied himself with an anti-communist/ anti-Semitic organization and  extended an open invitation to Hollywood to Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. More specifically, it's alleged that some of his earlier cartoons, such as The Three Little Pigs purposely made use of ethnic stereotypes. A review of a biography on Disney on the website for Bloomberg Business Week Magazine also briefly mentions that Disney was against hiring African-Americans because they would "spoil the illusion of Disneyland". If these allegations are true, is it not possible that the endings of Fox and Pocahontas purposely abide by the Disney "moral" code?

Perhaps to an even further extent than the more recent Princess & the Frog, the first Disney film with an African-American princess, Pocahontas is a film that probably had old Walt rolling in his grave. The very "threat" of an interracial relationship is one that brings the world of Disney closer to social realities, steering away from the fantastical world of genies, fairies and talking animals. If Disney's successors were to have followed the original Pocahontas story more closely, Walt would have probably had an even greater meltdown. It is alleged that though, in reality,  young Pocahontas was captured unwillingly by the English,  she eventually began to follow many of the conventions of English culture. She changed her name to Rebecca , practiced Christianity and married an Englishman, John Rolfe. This historical blueprint would have provided the perfect outlet for the 'powers that be' at Disney to conceptualize a Disney-friendly ending for Pocahontas and John Smith. Yet the hurdles faced in this kind of relationship are ones that can't be solved through magic. They involve very different social, cultural and spiritual backgrounds learning to co-exist with one another. While it's perfectly okay for Beauty & the Beast to preach a message of inner beauty because the beast turns into a handsome prince at the end, the story of Pocahontas is one that provokes far too many challenges and sacrifices for the film's couple. Therefore, instead of providing a standard Disney ending which preaches that racial boundaries and prejudices can be overcome, Disney settled for a "safer" ending that encourages a strange, contradictory message of acceptance and, simultaneously, disassociation. In other words, the message is "we should accept others but limit our associations them". This is certainly quite a bizarre message for Disney to impart on young viewers.

Fox is a more curious case than Pocahontas because usually talking animals are a safer bet than people of color. It would have been quite easy for the team behind the film to reunite Todd the Fox and Copper the Hound. They could have very easily promoted a " true friendship can overcome all obstacles" type of message. Yet, Todd and Copper return to their designated roles of the hunter and the hunted, despite Copper nobly sparing Todd's life. Perhaps this goes back to a period where Disney was even more sensitive about its attachment to themes of race. Though not as easily recognized, a friendship between two animals with distinctly differing roles in the circle of life would have provided as many real obstacles as a relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith. Again the only way to avoid such obstacles is to provide the tale with a "safer" ending where Todd and Copper maintain some form of comradeship but find that their original friendship bond is irreparable. More than a decade later The Lion King would promote the unconventional friendship bond between Timon the meerkat  and Pumba the warthog. Clearly back in the eighties world of Disney though, bonds between animals of different breeds were as taboo as interracial relationships between humans.

Now that Disney's had it's first film with an African-American princess, it will be interesting to see in what direction it goes. Will we see more racially friendly Disney films? Or will Disney return to its racially conscious roots as it steps into a future where their 2D animated musicals are now becoming obsolete.

Source for pic 1:http://thetalkingmirror.com/biased-reviews-teddy-roosevelt-reviews-disneys-pocahontas

Source for pic 2: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-fox-and-the-hound/images/14125212/title/fox-hound-photo

Info on Disney and Pocahontas: Wikepedia

Link for Disney book review: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-03/walts-not-so-wonderful-world