Wonders of the African World
by Helena Appio, Nick Godwin, Nicola Colton
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Actor: Henry Louis GatesDirector: Helena Appio, Nick Godwin, Nicola Colton
Brand: PBS
Editor: Anne Dummett
Editor: Trevor Williamson
Producer: Ben Goold
Producer: Jonathan Hewes
Producer: Katrina Phillips
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 330 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
DVD Reviews of Wonders of the African World
DVD Review: The Dilemma
Summary: 2 Stars
Dont waste your time on this series.
Gates does not explore Africa correctly. First, when meeting some West African and Zanzibarian royals, the only thing he does is focus on their role in African slave trade. In my opinion the dynamics of the "trade" are already in question, but regardless this was unfair of Gates to do so. When he meets European royals he doesnt ask them about their regret for the African slave trade. It was totally unfair.
Speaking of Europeans, Gates, in his trip to ancient Ethiopia meets a English bishop and after reassuring the bishop that he was a loyal member of the Anglican (british) Church, he asked the bishop what he thought of the Ethiopian claim to the Ark of Covenant. Afterwards Gates claims they have the audacity to claim they have the ark and asks the Ethiopian bishop to prove it. In these instances it is clear that Gates is unfortunately too concerned with appeasing Eurocentric values and interests.
The next thing is while in Sudan, visiting Nubian ruins he lets a white lady speak and say that the Nubians where the first blacks to come into power during the 25th Dynasty in the 8th Century bce. However, Gates does not say anything about her comment. What about all the black pharoahs before that? In his book, which is just as bad as the film, Gates view on black egyptians is left vague as he claims "not all egyptian pharaohs where black". Does he mean the obvious Greek or Persian pharoahs of the last 1st millenium bce or does he mean indigenous pharaohs such as Akhenaton, Menes, or Mentuhotep? To appease his white colleagues Gates avoids addressing this directly but excludes Egypt from his book and primarily from his film.
What Gates proves to be suffering from is the internal conflict between being an african romantic or afrocentric scholar that puts passion over fact and being another eurocentric scholar. He seems to forget that he can be a legitimate historian interested in facts first without kissing up to Eurocentric values as he did in Ethiopia or by singling out present West Africans as responsible for the slave trade when he wouldnt dare do so in Europe.
Other than that, this DVD gets at least 2 stars for the simple fact that it is one of the only documentaries available that attempt to visit and discuss ancient and medieval African civilizations.
Description of Wonders of the African World
Studio: Pbs Release Date: 05/06/2009 Run time: 360 minutesBestsellers in DVD
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