It seems that nearly every week material is revealed which further proves the African origins of Ancient Egypt. Arguments which posit an external origin have been thoroughly unraveled—in scholarly forums. Unfortunately the masses don't usually participate in these sorts of discussions. Depictions in popular media are much more powerful. They continue to infect the average person with stronger and stronger bits of misinformation. Let's just hope the people haven't become overly resistant to the truth.Ben Stiller is back with the sequel to the extremely successful, Night at the Museum. Stiller returns as Larry Daley a Museum of Natural History night watchman who was amazed to see the museum exhibits come to life. In the sequel Stiller must help free his museum friends as they are shipped to the Smithsonian in order to be placed in storage. As he infiltrates the Smithsonian, he finds that Kahmunrah, the jealous brother of the Egyptian Pharaoh in the first film, plans to use an ancient tablet to make it possible to continue to be animated in the real world.
In another absurd twist, Kahmunrah is played by Hank Azaria (best known as the voice of Homer Simpson), a white actor. Azaria uses a British accent in his portrayal. "We knew he would have an English accent because he's the brother of Ahkmenrah from the first movie," states Azaria in The Plymouth Herald. "Kind of bold and aristocratic is how we started, sort of laid back and bored ... at the last minute I went 'what about Karloff, he was a mummy', and did it as a joke really." To hear Azaria’s accent for yourself, watch the movie trailer included beneath this post.
So let's get this straight. Not only are the Ancient Egyptians white, but they are British—even though England doesn't even come into existence for another 1,000 years. While this is clearly impossible, there is a subtle symbol at play here. In popular media in the United States, intelligent characters are often depicted with British accents (see Professor Xavier in the X-men, Mister Belvedere, Abe Sapien in Hellboy, C-3PO from Star Wars, Dr. Frasier Crane, Stewie from Family Guy, etc.). In many ways the British dialect in popular depiction is a respectful acknowledgement by European Americans of their origins.
At this point some of you might be thinking, "So what if the European creators of this movie are paying homage to their homeland? What's the big deal?" I also believe another nefarious subliminal message is operating in the Night at the Museum films: Ancient Egyptian civilization is so advanced it could not possibly be African—even though the country is clearly located on the continent of Africa (also see accents used in the film The Lion King). After a lifetime of these sorts of seemingly innocuous messages, is it hard to understand why African children believe in their inherent inferiority? It is not surprising that many young African American students rebuke their peers who are striving for academic excellence for "acting white". So many of the seemingly subtle messages around us actually seek to destroy us.
In the final analysis, Night at the Museum 2 isn't just entertainment ... it is propaganda. It is critically important for us to unveil and defeat these messages. After all, the minds of our children are at stake. Shem em Hetep (Go forth in Peace)!
Posts
1 comment:
I totally agree with your post. I took my son to see this movie recently and I was annoyed by this very thing. It was, indeed, absurdity at its finest hour. While many in the audience laughed at Azaria's jokes and hijinks, I sat there thinking to myself that they were also receiving an inaccurate history lesson. So let's say Hollywood doesn't want to use people from the continent of Africa, then at the very least use people of color. To me, some of those so-called Egyptians looked to me like they had a spray tan. I was thoroughly disgusted by once again another example of the mainstream culture diminishing the achievements of African people. As this is the case, its up to parents to educate their children so that they may know they come from a highly intelligent people. Thank you for an insightful post.
Post a Comment