MovieChat Forums > Flirting (1992) Discussion > colonialism

colonialism

posted 22 years ago by iliketoeatsteak
8 replies | jump to latest

I first saw this movie a couple years before I went to college and absolutely loved it. After I took a class on colonialism, though, I began to notice all the symbolism it offered. Other then the obvious racial overtones such as the girls making fun of Tandewe with their banana comments and fascination with her body, how about her staring at the wooden elephants in the headmistress' office? As Danny tries to find out more about Africa, all he encounters are Heart of Darkness like writings about "Dark Africa" and the European conception of it as wild, untamable, and "savage." Just wondered if anyone else had noticed this or had any thoughts.

[–] yeshualove 22 years ago

i rented this movie the summer before i went to uni. :) yeah, i agree, there's a lot more in this movie than i caught the first time around. even still, almost ten years after i first saw it. i'm still discovering new things. i think it's saying a lot about not just the racial situation of that time but of that today as well.

--d
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/dabu

[–] Tiki Tea 22 years ago

I saw this movie when it was in the cinema years ago and loved it then and a few years later went out and bought it and now I watch it a few times a year becuase it does offer new things with each viewing. At first I liked it becuase it spoke to me as an awkward and lonely teen, but now I like it more for its social commentary. The elephants in the dean's office are a good example. Here's what I'm wondering, though: Remember the very first scene when the boys are getting whipped and Danny looks at the stump and watches a snail for a few moments? That scene and the scene in the office with the elephants have always remeinded me of each other. Do you think there is any connection between them? At first I thought the snail was just Danny's way of focusing on something insignificant in order to remove himself from an unpleasant situation, but the more I watch it, the more I think there is something about it that I just am not quite getting about those two scenes. Am I just crazy, or can someone give me some insight here?

[–] iliketoeatsteak 22 years ago

That's a good point you bring up. I think that the two scenes are connected in a certain way. Part of the reason Thadewe and Danny connect so well is that they don't identify very well with the world they are in. They don't fit in at school that well and they basically feel that adults are ridiculous (remember the hotel scene when they say "they're funny, aren't they?"). Thus when adults are trying to assert their authority over them, they both zone out. Both of them have a habit of living in their own worlds anyway. I do think there's the added meaning in Thandewe's case of the particular object she focuses on being carved elephants. However, I'm not sure what the choice of a snail has to say about Danny. Ideas?

[–] Tiki Tea 22 years ago

Thank you for pointing that out (the spacing out during interaction with adults)because now that you mention it, it's so obvious - I can't believe I didn't put that together! And while I see the significance of the elephants in T's case, I agree that the snail as a snail is not really significant, but rather the snail as a distraction. I think the important part in D's scene is actually the book that the instructor is reading, "The Great Australian Lonliness."

[–] 22 years ago

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[–] repete66211 19 years ago

I try not to read too much symbolism into movies, but I think the snail does have some meaning. Danny is getting thrashed, and although it could be seen as just a distraction, the snail has the ability to shrink into its shell in defense from an unfriendly world. I think this is what Danny would like to do at that moment. He also mentions (via voiceover) that in boarding school you either develop herd mentality to blend in with the crowd or else you take solace in a cave to take refuge from the discomfort of always being surrounded. It seems that the snail's shell is very much like the cave that he mentions.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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