''White Man's Burden'' is a 1995 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
about racism, set in an alternative America where the social and economic positions of Black people and White people are reversed. The film was written and directed by
Desmond Nakano
Desmond Nakano (born 1953) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is Sansei, or third-generation Japanese American. He directed the feature films, ''White Man's Burden (film), White Man's Burden'' (1995) and ''American Pastime (film), ...
. The film revolves around Louis Pinnock (
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
), a white factory worker, who kidnaps Thaddeus Thomas (
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
), a black factory owner for firing him over a perceived slight.
The title is a well-known phrase inspired by the
famous poem of the same title by
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
.
Plot
At dinner, wealthy black CEO Thaddeus Thomas discusses
white people
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
and claims they are "genetically inferior" because their children grow up without fathers.
Trying to improve himself, white candy factory worker Louis Pinnock offers to deliver a package to Thomas after his shift. Pinnock is let into the property by a white servant at the security gate point in front of the Thomas residence and accidentally views Thomas's wife naked through the window. Thomas notices and complains to the VP at the factory, during a dinner engagement at his house, that he would prefer a different delivery man instead of a "Peeping Tom". Although Thomas does not suggest any form of punishment towards Pinnock, the VP "gets the message" and immediately fires Pinnock. Pinnock returns to the Thomas residence in an attempt to discuss the misunderstanding with Thomas, but because Thomas is in an important business meeting, he refuses and sends a message to Pinnock that he apologizes, but there is nothing that he can do to help him. Pinnock begs for two minutes of his time, but is turned away.
Without any education, connections or advanced skills, Pinnock finds difficulty getting a job and is unable to support his family. The Pinnock family are awakened one early morning by the police and the landlord to enforce eviction; the family struggles to gather their important belongings as they vacate the premises. Pinnock's mother-in-law scolds him for failing as a man; she says there is not enough room for him at her house where his wife and two children are going.
Pinnock's truck breaks down and he is forced to walk. At night, Pinnock is apprehended by the police who mistake him for a bank robber because "he fit the description". The people inside a bar come outside and shout at the police, demanding that they leave Pinnock alone. People gathering outside the bar begin throwing bottles at the police. Pinnock is beaten by the police but they are chased away by the angry mob.
In a quest for justice, Pinnock kidnaps Thomas at gunpoint and demands a large sum of money that he believes is owed him for losing his job. After multiple failed attempts to withdraw the money, Pinnock holds Thomas hostage for the weekend and takes him through the ghetto where he lives. Thomas, however, remains unsympathetic to Pinnock and calls him a failure who blames the world for his problems. But Pinnock takes Thomas through the ghetto anyway into an abandoned building and Thomas alternates between enjoying some of the staples of ghetto life and having his eyes open to this world's racism. Thomas has a heart attack and Pinnock does CPR on Thomas and does not respond, Pinnock drives the truck, but the truck breaks down on the street. Pinnock shoots the store windows to get the police's attention to aid Thomas in his breathing problems but is mistakenly shot and killed because the police assume he is armed.
The chastened CEO visits Pinnock's grieving widow and offers her the money that Louis requested. She refuses it, and when Thomas awkwardly asks if she wants more, she bluntly says "How much would ever be enough?" and closes the door in his face.
Cast
*
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
as Louis Pinnock
*
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
as Thaddeus Thomas
*
Kelly Lynch
Kelly Ann Lynch (born January 31, 1959) is an American actress and model. Her notable film roles include '' Cocktail'', '' Road House'', ''Drugstore Cowboy'', ''Curly Sue''. and TV show roles in ''The L Word'' (2004–2005, 2009), and '' Magic Cit ...
as Marsha Pinnock
*
Margaret Avery
Margaret Avery (born April 15, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on stage and later had starring roles in films including '' Cool Breeze'' (1972), ''Which Way Is Up?'' (1977), ''Scott Joplin'' (1977), and ''T ...
as Megan Thomas
*
Tom Bower
Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...
as Stanley
*
Andrew Lawrence as Donnie Pinnock
*
Bumper Robinson
Larry C. "Bumper" Robinson II is an American film, television and voice actor. He is known for his roles as Bumblebee and Blitzwing on '' Transformers: Animated'', Falcon on '' Avengers Assemble'' and Cyborg in '' Justice League: Doom''.
Career
R ...
as Martin
*
Tom Wright as Lionel
*
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received a ...
as Roberta
*
Judith Drake
Judith Drake ( fl. 1670s–1723) was an English intellectual and author who was active in the last decade of the 17th century. She was part of a circle of intellectuals, authors, and philosophers which included Mary Astell, Lady Mary Chudleigh, ...
as Dorothy
*
Robert Gossett
Robert Gossett (born March 3, 1954) is an American actor. Gossett is the first cousin of actor Louis Gossett Jr. and is best known for his role of Commander Russell Taylor on the TNT crime drama, ''The Closer'' and on its successor series '' Maj ...
as John
*Wesley Thompson as Williams
*
Tom Nolan as Johansson
*
Willie C. Carpenter
Willie C. Carpenter is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles on ''Reasonable Doubts'' as Robert Maxwell, ''1600 Penn'' as General Maurer, and ''Devious Maids
''Devious Maids'' is an American television comedy-dra ...
as Marcus
*
Michael Beach
Michael Anthony Beach (born October 30, 1963) is an American actor. He has appeared in films '' Lean on Me'' (1989), ''One False Move'' (1992), ''Short Cuts'' (1993), ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995), ''A Family Thing'' (1996), ''Soul Food'' (1997), ...
as a policeman
*
Carrie Snodgress
Caroline Louise Snodgress (October 27, 1945 – April 1, 2004) was an American actress. She is best remembered for her role in the film ''Diary of a Mad Housewife'' (1970), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award as w ...
as Josine
Reception
Critical response
The film gained a negative reception from critics. It holds a 24% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 33 reviews. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade of "C" on scale of A+ to F.
A "D" score was awarded to the film by
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''.
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote "Were it not for John Travolta's big-hearted portrayal of an unemployed white factory worker driven to commit a desperate act, the movie would be an emotionally frozen exercise in cautious high-mindedness".
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''s
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
accused the film of "spiral
nginto tragedy but never into stirring drama".
Box office
The film was not a box office success, though the very small budget meant its losses were also minimal; it was widely seen as a blip on the radar during John Travolta's massive comeback as a film star during the post-''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...
'' phase of his career.
The film grossed $3.7 million in the US and Canada and an estimated 9 million worldwide.
[
]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack album to the film was released on November 7, 1995.
Track listing
# Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...
- "Regarding Steven" (John Popper
John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler.
Early life
John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immig ...
) - 4:44
# Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band w ...
- "Dream Baby" (Cindy Walker
Cindy Walker (July 20, 1918 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, as well as a country music singer and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists.
She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwr ...
) - 2:59
# Changing Faces - "We Got It Goin' On" - 3:04
# Me'shell Ndegeocello - "Time Has Come Today
"Time Has Come Today" is a hit single by the American psychedelic soul group the Chambers Brothers, written by Willie & Joe Chambers. The song was recorded and released as a single in 1966 by Columbia Records. It was then featured on the album ' ...
" (Joseph Chambers/Willie Chambers) - 6:01
# Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
- "Tripping Billies" ( Dave Matthews) - 4:14
# Cracker
Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to:
Animals
* ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies
* '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker"
Arts and entertainment Films ...
- "How Can I Live my Life Without You" (Johnny Hickman/ David Lowery) - 3:34
# Bush
Bush commonly refers to:
* Shrub, a small or medium woody plant
Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to:
People
* Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name
**Bush family, a prominent American family that includes:
*** ...
- "Broken TV" (Gavin Rossdale
Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer ...
) - 3:42
# Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers ...
- "Animal" (Curt Kirkwood
Curtis Matthew "Curt" Kirkwood (born January 10, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and primary songwriter for alternative rock group Meat Puppets.
Biography
Curt Kirkwood formed the Meat Puppets along with hi ...
) - 4:31
# Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...
- "The Burden" - 4:11
# Howard Shore - "The Hymn" - 2:29
See also
*''Fable
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...
'' - a 1965 TV play about similar subject matter.
*'' BabaKiueria'' - a 1986 Australian mockumentary about an oppressed white minority in a society dominated by Aboriginal Australians.
*''Lion's Blood
''Lion's Blood'' is a 2002 alternate history novel by American writer Steven Barnes. The book won the 2003 Endeavour Award. It is followed by the sequel ''Zulu Heart''.
The novel presents an alternate world where an Islamic Africa is the ce ...
'' - a 2002 alternate history novel about an alternate world where an Islamic Africa is the center of technological progress and learning while Europe remains largely tribal and backward.
*''Noughts and Crosses
Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. T ...
'' - a 2020 television series, based on the novels by Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethica ...
, about similar subject matter.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Desmond Nakano
1995 directorial debut films
1995 drama films
1995 films
African-American drama films
American alternate history films
Films about race and ethnicity
Films produced by Lawrence Bender
Films scored by Howard Shore
A Band Apart films
Rysher Entertainment films
Savoy Pictures films
Works about White Americans
1990s English-language films
Films about racism
1990s American films