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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The premise is interesting, but the execution fails to live up to any of its potential. White Man's Burden imagines an America where black people are the ruling class and whites are underprivileged minorities. John Travolta stars as a factory worker who is fired after making a delivery to the house of the factory owner (Harry Belafonte) and accidentally peeping the man's naked wife through a window. Now jobless and unable to support his family, his wife (Kelly Lynch) leaves him. In desperation he kidnaps Belafonte. The best part of the film is seeing African American actors filling the smaller, background roles that usually go to white actors (such as police officers and wealthy suburbanites), but the movie fails in its poorly thought-out ideas. Transposing the characters' skin color out of the thinly veiled metaphor, John Travolta's portrayal of the poor black man as violent and uneducated (but family oriented), combined with Belafonte's rich white man as just and compassionate (and also family oriented), borders on being truly offensive. The fact that it's helmed by an Asian American director, Desmond Nakano, only makes you wonder why Asian Americans are conspicuously absent (as are Hispanics) and where the heck they would fit into this world, anyway. --Andy Spletzer
From The New Yorker
The America we see here is ruled by a classy black élite, with a despairing white underclass way down below. Desmond Nakano wrote and directed this clever, speedy little thriller; some of his jokes-the all-black TV shows, the black doll craved by a white child-are sly and sharp, but the main plot could have come from anywhere, since it's obviously based more on class than on color: the poor, unemployed nobody (John Travolta) seeks revenge on the wealthy citizen (Harry Belafonte), only to find his plans spinning out of control. The two men make peace, yet they know that a happy ending is out of the question, and the unhappiness, when it comes, is like a blow to the heart. The brush of dramatic styles-Travolta's short fuse versus Belafonte's poise-is cool and convincing, and there's no mistaking Nakano's ambitions. If only they had stretched a little further. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On The Outside Looking In,
By
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This review is from: White Man's Burden [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This review refers to "White Man's Burden"(VHS)...
Fresh off his success as a take no prisoners hitman, in "Pulp Fiction", John Travolta steps into the shoes of another man with a gun, Louis Pinnock. Louis is your everyday factory worker, living from pay check to pay check to support his family. He lives in the inner-city, and hopes to someday get just a little ahead, so he can move his family to a quieter, safer place. He's about to have a really bad week! Volunteering to run an errand, delivering a package to factory owner Thaddius Thomas (Harry Belafonte), Louis has the unfortunate timing to glance Belafonte's wife as she undresses, and worse, Thomas sees him. The next thing we know,circumstances go from bad to worse. Louis is out of a job, a home and his mind. Blaming his boss, he feels he is "owed" what he lost,and becomes a desperate man.He kidnaps Belafonte, from his very upscale home and car at gunpoint. This film is a real eye-opener. You may think you understand what it is like for inner-city, black families(or any minority group)and feel empathetic, but this is a film that will really make you sit up and take notice. The roles are reversed.Travolta's character and his family are treated very much like second or third class citizens.Police automatically assume guilt, and take whatever means they want to make an arrest. The inner-city is mostly inhabited by whites, and is portrayed as crime infested neighborhoods. A little white boy is watching TV, as he flips through the channels, almost every program and commercial are black actors. The little boy wants a super hero action toy for his birthday. The super hero is black and more expensive then the white side kick, but the little boy wont settle for less.An elegant fashion show is put on by the very wealthy. It is to benefit the inner-city kids. The kids are showcased at the end... they are all white... the audience dressed to the nines, all black. The film doesn't completely say everything is either black or white. It shows there is good and bad in every walk of life,has a sprinkling of whites in jobs that yield some power, but gives a good look at what many people must endure as human beings in day-to day life. It's not just about color..it's about the nature of man. How will Belafonte's character react, when he becomes desperate to escape his situation as well? Does it matter what color you are when faced with adversity? The cast really became the characters they portrayed. Travolta and Belafonte were excellent. A young Andrew Lawrence, Magaret Avery(The Color Purple)and Tom bower add their talents as well.Even the angry gang members, played by stunt guys including Tony Zeller were very believable. A film for times you may want a little more substance then just entertainment. It is a film that will make you think.It is a film that has something to say. It says it well, but it is probably not one that would stand up to repeated viewings. A rental would be best if you can find this obscure film.....Laurie
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
White Man's Burden Review,
By "phusion5" (Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: White Man's Burden (DVD)
Overall I thought the movie was great. Louis Pinnock (John Travolta) plays the role of a chocolate factory employee who has been working there for many years. He lives in a poor part of the neighborhood and awaits the day when he will get a raise so that he can provide for his family and get out of that area of town.He gets a special assignment to deliver a package on the other side of the town to Thaddeus Thomas (Harry Belafonte). He inncidently see's Mrs. Thomas nude throw an upstairs window and the result is Louis getting fired for being a peeping tom. After being fired, Louis loses his wife and continously looks for a job with no luck. Louis, who after being fired, flips out and goes on a rampage to track down Thaddeus who he blames for getting him fired. Louis takes Thaddeus hostage and attemps to convince him that he owes Louis something for getting him fired and turning his life upside down. The movie is a role reversal type film where a white man lives in a black mans world. All the high paid jobs go to the African Americans and the slums of the neighborhood are of all Caucasian decent. Even the characters on tv are all black, and the children all want to have action figures of black culture. The film is meant to open your mind and expand your beliefs on what type of society black people deal with and have to put up with in their everyday lives. I won't ruin the ending but overall its a movie worth watching. It's deals with racism and how it might be for a white man living in a black world. I, being a white guy, find it hard to grasp the reality of how hard it is for African Americans and this movie helped me to visualize this aspect to a better understanding.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I saw this movie in a different way them most reviewers,
By Mushroom "mushrom" (Texas, Qatar) - See all my reviews
This review is from: White Man's Burden (DVD)
I admit, I love this movie. Combining Harry Belafonte with John Travolta is truely inspired. Both are excellent actors in their own right. And add to the fact that both are impassioned about messages, this makes it the perfect film vehicle for them to work together in. I see this movie as White Vs. Black, as much as upper class Vs. lower class. But the added change of race reversal makes it more fascinating. In this movie there are only two races, Black and White. Blacks are the powerful majority. They own the businesses, they are the actors you see on TV and in the movies, they are the ones that have super hero dolls made after them, they go on charity junkets with the "poor white kids", making themselves feel good by pretending to care and help. Behind closed doors, they talk about how the whites really do things to themselves. The whites in this movie are poor, uneducated, trying to avoid work, feel oppressed, and blame race for all of their problems. The occasional white character in power is a "token white", placed there to meet some kind of quota, not nessicarily because he deserved it. I think that this entire movie is based on role reversal, but it also points out that the problem is not race, as much as it is viewpoint. As long as people see themselves as oppressed, they will be oppressed. The true chains are in the mind, not in the color of the skin. As for the absence of Asian and Hispanic characters, this tells something also. All conversations of race in the US (outside of a few areas like California) talk ONLY about Black and White. There is no Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton for the Asians and Hispanics. So to many people, these are the "Invisible Minorities". This was shown in this movie, because these other races did not exist at all. Because nobody stands up and screams for their rights, they are excluded from the movie, because of lower impact. This of course may be unintentional, but it seems to make sense to me. Think of the last time you saw a rally, demonstration, or public speaker talking about how Hispanics and Asians are stepped on. Name one Asian or Hispanic civil rights leader that makes headline news. But this movie is fascinating. Dark, compelling, and worth watching over and over again. Also good to show to people of any race, because it is hard to ignore the hidden truth, and also the lie that is an accepted truth. This was the second movie I bought on DVD, and still has a prominant place on my shelf.
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