Documentary Review The Well - Intentioned White Saviour


W


e live in a world of good people; a world saturated with youth wanting to step up and do the right


thing, and to


help others. Every day, there are more reasons why we should be proud of our culture of global citizenship and involvement. I truly believe this is the case, and I starkly oppose the myth that all young people are apathetic. This optimistic place that I come from is precisely why at the outset, I thought that the documentary, Blood Brother, had so much promise. Sadly, I came away feeling that the whole project did a disservice to the capabilities of Generation Y as a culturally sensitive and respectful global community. More than that, however, I came away feeling that it took an already marginalized and voiceless group of people and muted them even further.


In this award-winning 2013 documentary directed and produced by the talented Steve Hoover, we are walked through the story of Hoover’s best friend, a young Rocky Braat who, “seeking authenticity and wanting more out of life,” travels to India and chances upon a remote orphanage in Tamil Nadu, housing HIV- positive children and women. Compelled to develop a long-lasting bond and ongoing relationship with the community, and make a change in these people’s lives, Rocky decides to permanently move to this particular part of Chennai and gives up his life of comfort.


Rocky’s sense of empathy and desire to do good are definitely admirable and something we should all aspire to. HIV/AIDS is one of the most heartbreaking afflictions that plague our time and for a young person to drop everything and place himself in the very core of such profound human suffering is definitely a sign of compassion and heart.


With this film, we get a glimpse of the state of women and children’s health and their socioeconomic situation. Unfortunately for the viewer, that glimpse is one that carries little substance and value. The most irksome reason for why such a critical topic becomes diluted and loses meaning is that this film is, in reality, about Rocky Braat, and not about the people he is living with. We get very little context, analysis, or commentary of any sort regarding this particular village, the name of which is barely ever mentioned.


There is an India in this film that is painted in such broad brushstrokes that it becomes an object of fascination and a channel for fueling one’s own self-image of altruism. There are poignant details that are lost in favour of footage zooming in on Rocky yawning, eating pizza and staring deeply into the distance.


by Aysegul Karakucuk


There are kids who, in the midst of telling their individual stories, get completely muted over by the soundtrack of sad background music, while Rocky narrates over their footage and claims that “each of their stories was so tragic, yet so incredible.” Each of their stories is left untold.


The film bombards the viewer with images that do not stray far from poverty porn. At one point, Rocky even feels it appropriate to place a father, who days ago lost his daughter to AIDS, in front of his MacBook and force him to watch a slideshow of his late daughter’s photos. As he breaks down in heart-wrenching sobs, Rocky pats him on the shoulder and proceeds to keep showing more pictures while the cameraman zooms in on the father as he covers his head. What can one truly learn from this scene? I learned little — except maybe that it is such an uncomfortable thing to watch someone’s private emotional torment so closely and voyeuristically.


I wanted so badly to like this film and connect with its subject matter. I wanted to be able to say, “I know what this kid must have experienced.” But I wanted that to be a shadow of an after- thought,


down for what I hoped would educate me.


This is a film that needed to tell stories that absolutely needed to be heard. This is a film that needed to make appeals to policymakers, activists, organizations and international actors — most of all, to us youth — to speak up and engage in conversations surrounding global health and poverty in India and cultural stigmas around AIDS. This is a film that did nothing to shed light on or even raise questions like “what needs to be done?” or “how do these people feel about being portrayed in certain ways?” or “what do they want to share with me?” Despite its often beautiful cinematography and


undoubtedly well-meaning sentiments, Blood Brother


was full of undignified clichés and portrayals, leading to further misrepresentation of marginalized communities to their global audiences.


iAM March 2014 23


instead of dominating the entire experience of sitting


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