dominica Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The people of Dominica, where much of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was filmed, will not get to see their island home on the big screen. But the reason isn't what you might think -- or at least what I would have thought. The film hasn't been banned because of its controversial portrayal of Dominica's Carib people as cannibals. No, the film simply has no where to be shown. The island's one movie theater has been closed for two months because of a leaky roof and isn't expected to reopen anytime soon.

This is very upsetting news to at least 75 islanders who worked full-time on the film and another 200 who appeared in the film as extras. One such extra is attempting to get a screener copy of the movie, which he will then show for the rest, but I highly doubt Disney would send out a copy, even to a cast member in a place as undeveloped as Dominica, especially if the man mentions in his request that he'll be sharing the copy around. I think he's better off contacting someone in China who can send the island some cheap bootlegs.

Now that the big stink over The Da Vinci Code is winding down, it is time for the next film to step up to the controversy plate and hit another home run powered by the bad-news-equals-marketing-gold strategy. Unfortunately for Superman Returns, there are no real Kryptonians to take offense at the film's representation of their species. But Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, well, there's a movie worthy of some complaints. In fact, the blockbuster sequel already faced some protests last year while shooting on the island of Dominica. The Carib tribe that is indigenous to the island had a big problem with being portrayed as cannibals, particularly in a scene that has Johnny Depp strapped to a skewer. The tribe's chief Charles Williams was especially outraged that many of his people sold out their heritage for $95 per day as extras.

Now comes the real picketing-style protesting. The Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United of Long Beach, California is staging a protest at Disneyland on Saturday afternoon in response to their own problems with their ancestors being depicted as cannibals. The non-profit organization is devoted to the preservation of the Garifuna culture and history, so their interest in the matter is obvious. I wonder, though, if anywhere in the film is it said the cannibals are on Dominica. Not that it would really matter since there is no proof that cannibalism ever existed in the Caribbean, and the movie's encouragement of the stereotype probably suggests that all native Caribbeans as well as the African-originated Garifuna share a cannibalistic past.