I went to see “District 9” the other day – and couldn’t quite frame a response to the experience…suffice to say, the film did seem to be quintessentially South African. I was pleased to re-experience the Afrikaans framing of “fuck”: pronounced “fok” – which was used quite liberally throughout the film. I was also pleased that much of the filming seemed to have taken place in-and-around Jo’burg and Soweto (because I am still hoping that S. Africa gets to host the World Cup and not let those Germans host it twice-in-a-row [and hence my pleasure in at least one aspect of ‘District 9’ — that saw post-apartheid S. Africa functioning at a fairly solid level of efficiency]).
For anyone stumbling upon these pages for the first time (and I’m sorry if you’ve e-mailed me in the past few months and I haven’t replied [but I’ve had a relative, and, traveling filled Summer]) – you should know that I essentially lived in apartheid-South Africa for 9 years. How could I do such a thing you ask? Well, first of all, I was rather young and didn’t have much say in the matter – but I also learned that apartheid was really no different from any separate-but-equal doctrine in place in any country. And the fact-of-the-matter is: South Africans never practiced slavery like the United States did. So, once I became aware of the depraved depths American racism had reached — my S. African experience of apartheid seemed rather tame in comparison (perhaps my old roommate T. Wooders would now concur with me).
But one thing that still pisses me off about S. Africa, however (and no, it’s not ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’ [another quintessential S. African flick]) – is that S. African expatriates, who received much of their skill, talent and inspiration while living in S. Africa during those apartheid years – don’t seem inclined to celebrate the greatest experiment in multiculturalism in recent times. Gary Player aside, Manfred Mann (who allegedly heralded from my Port Elizabeth) did do “Somewhere in Africa” many years ago – and has since disappeared from public view. Athol Fugard purportedly resides somewhere in Los Angeles. I don’t know where Nadine Gordimer and Wibur Smith are – but I doubt they are in S. Africa and Zimbabwe. And as far as I know, Dave Matthews has yet to perform in his homeland. Even Charlize Theron could have done a cameo in “District 9” (perhaps she did – and I just didn’t recognize her). Roger Federer’s mother is also a Port Elizabeth girl – and I don’t know that Roger has opened a tennis center in the-other-land-down-under.
I, mean, I thought all-of-the-anti-apartheid writers and activists wanted to see a Black-controlled South Africa? Yet so many of-these-folks have sought other climes since Blacks came to power in S. Africa – American folk musician, Shawn Phillips, excepted. I’m not sure I understand the underlying principle of leaving the place you tried to change…when the revolution is over, do the firebrands invariably pack-up-and-leave?
Alan Paton started it all off with Cry the Beloved Country – a moving piece that made sense to anyone who simultaneously understood the cruelty of oppression and the agony of being oppressed. I wonder if Alan were alive today – whether he might have moved from Botha’s Hill to make his home in District 9?