The Constant Gardener in Kenya

ahh, finally a movie set in Kenya that has actually been shot in Kenya! John Le Carré's novel 'The Constant Gardener' has been adapted for the large screen, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. i watched her talk to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, and she was talking about how they shot the movie in Nairobi, and then in the Turkana desert while living in tents and stuff..

my biggest gripe with movies shot in Kenya, or anywhere in the Third World for that matter, is that the natives are made to look like a bunch of befuddled idiots, and nothing can be more galling!! this kind of colonialist mentality has to go! be it 'The Ghost And The Darkness' and 'Out Of Africa' [Kenyans], or 'Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom' and James Bond's 'Octopussy' [Indians], or 'Dances With Wolves' and 'The Windtalkers' [Native Americans].. the local people were in some form or another made to look either uncouth, uncivilised, or the villians or a combination of all the above!

we await to see how Hollywood's latest offering treats Kenya when the movie releases on Aug. 31st.