My Rosewood, and my other films

Years ago, my mother saw the John Singleton film "Rosewood", which I, unfortunately, still have not brought myself to see. I don't remember her recount of the plot very well, but essentially the black residents of Rosewood feel forced to violently confront the oppressive white people nearby. After seeing the film, my mother said she left, feeling a rage against white people.

Well, in the last two weeks, I think I might have found my own Rosewood. With the Oscars being won at the end of the month, I am going through my annual ritual of desperately trying to see all Oscar nominated films -- by my count, 19 films. You can see which films I've seen and not seen:

Films seen
The Departed
Borat
Volver
Babel
Venus
The Last King of Scotland
Blood Diamond
Notes on a Scandal
United 93
The Devil Wears Prada
Little Miss Sunshine
Dreamgirls

Films not seen
Little Children
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
Children of Men
Dreamgirls
The Pursuit of Happyness
Letters from Iwo Jima
Half Nelson

I won't be able to see three of the films (Little Children; Children of Men; The Queen) and might not see a further film (Pan's Labyrinth). The last 6 films I've seen have been in the last two weeks. The two that were the most disturbing to me were The Last King of Scotland and Blood Diamond. Both films had a helluva lot of violence, but I'm no prude. I know that it had to be shown to tell the story properly. It still depresses me though.

Both of these films are set in Africa, but the protagonists are white. I know, I know -- that's the point of The Last King of Scotland. But Dr Nicholas Garrigan is a composite character and many people gained Idi Amin's trust in the same way, including black people. Also, the violence that both films depict -- though showing the horrors of black-on-black violence (which, I don't know about you, I've seen plenty of) -- is ultimately rooted in white colonialism. It's enough to send anyone into a Rosewood rage. I hope Boy's not too scared.