Reviving the past
Feb 19, 2007
The movie, ‘The Last King of Scotland’, is out in Uganda and it is bound to evoke mixed reactions.
The movie, ‘The Last King of Scotland’, is out in Uganda and it is bound to evoke mixed reactions.
Some will argue that former dictator Idi Amin was portrayed too nicely, while others will claim he was pictured too brutally. Some will dispute the events while others will feel it has only shown part of the truth.
Already, the movie is a box-office hit in Europe and the US. Top actor Forest Whitaker has won two big awards with his performance of Amin and is in the running for an Oscar.
The more fundamental question, however, is: Is all this good for Uganda and for Ugandans?
Is it not tainting Uganda’s image at a time the country is trying to shake off its past, attract tourists and investors and move towards a new chapter of peace and prosperity?
Is it not opening up old sores and reviving emotions that had been buried in the sand of time? And is it not portraying Africa in stereotypes again, a place of horrors, misery and cruel dictators?
Even when some of this might be true, the value the movie adds to Ugandan and world history exceeds the potential negative aspects: it is the value of putting things into perspective.
To young people in this country who were born after the Amin era, the horrors of that time might be like fairy-tales. To over half of Uganda’s population, this poorly recorded part of their history might as well never have taken place.
The only way to move forward is to remember your past. More than anything else, the movie makes one realise where we have come from and where we have reached. It makes one value the freedoms Ugandans are enjoying today. It also makes one wary of populists and demagogues, politicians who incite violence and hatred in a quest for power.
Finally, revoking the past might have a healing effect for the hundreds of thousands of Ugandans whose relatives and friends were killed because of the whims of one man. Even when justice has not been done, at least the truth has come out.
Some will argue that former dictator Idi Amin was portrayed too nicely, while others will claim he was pictured too brutally. Some will dispute the events while others will feel it has only shown part of the truth.
Already, the movie is a box-office hit in Europe and the US. Top actor Forest Whitaker has won two big awards with his performance of Amin and is in the running for an Oscar.
The more fundamental question, however, is: Is all this good for Uganda and for Ugandans?
Is it not tainting Uganda’s image at a time the country is trying to shake off its past, attract tourists and investors and move towards a new chapter of peace and prosperity?
Is it not opening up old sores and reviving emotions that had been buried in the sand of time? And is it not portraying Africa in stereotypes again, a place of horrors, misery and cruel dictators?
Even when some of this might be true, the value the movie adds to Ugandan and world history exceeds the potential negative aspects: it is the value of putting things into perspective.
To young people in this country who were born after the Amin era, the horrors of that time might be like fairy-tales. To over half of Uganda’s population, this poorly recorded part of their history might as well never have taken place.
The only way to move forward is to remember your past. More than anything else, the movie makes one realise where we have come from and where we have reached. It makes one value the freedoms Ugandans are enjoying today. It also makes one wary of populists and demagogues, politicians who incite violence and hatred in a quest for power.
Finally, revoking the past might have a healing effect for the hundreds of thousands of Ugandans whose relatives and friends were killed because of the whims of one man. Even when justice has not been done, at least the truth has come out.