Darwin's Nightmare and Blinded Fools

If it was my choice, I would have been sharing my reflections on a daily basis. Nonetheless, some life realities are hard to avoid. When that happens, it is difficult to flick one's fingers on a computer keyboard regularly. This past Monday my wife had to go through an emergency medical procedure. As a loving husband, it was difficult for me to reflect on anything other than her. So I loved on my wife by sticking by her side. She is getting better and that allowed me to "roam" around the internet and get my blogging juice flowing.

I do not have a fondness for the American media. The reason for it is that I perceive the media in the great US of A to be in love with depressing news. I mean, anything to do with murder, sexual assault, or war is definitely going to be given the first priority. Is that depressing or what? If the story is losing its "juice" they will, by all means, juice it up by bringing some sort of an "expert" to provide a "new" insight on the story. Really?They will bring on an "expert" in Middle East and in this and that, just to depress you and fill the air time. Sometimes, I just have to switch to ESPN Classic to watch Tyson get whopped by Holyfield for the tenth time. I typically know the outcome already in that channel, but it is much better at times to watch hairstyles in the 1970's than a story about a serial rappist in 2006.

I know that was a bunch of blah blah, but what I really wanted to say is, excuse me for being like an American CNN. The Darwin's Nightmare story is old, but the most recent move by the Bongoland government left me with no choice but to "blog" them. Essentially, the Tanzanian government decided to sponsor a link in Google, that will supposedly "refute" Mr. Sauper's "negative" publicity. Read for yourself.

Reading the story from Tanzania Daima, I got the impression that the Tanzanian government "hacked" Mr. Sauper's website, only to realize that they managed (whether legally or illegally, I am not sure) to create a link in Google that will lead a reader to a more "positive" outlook about the whole sangara drama. The step, in general, is nothing new given the fact that the President, the Parliament and even some ignorant Mwanza residents have hit the street in condemnation of this documentary. We can leave it at that, because so many have been said about it those reactions.

I would regard the government's new move as foolish and childish. This is why. Controversy is a powerful commercial tool. Ask Holywood actors. Some of them have "stirred" things up a notch to bring enough attention to propel their movies to the top. I am not a psychologist, but I know that human beings are curious. More interesting is the fact that our curiousity is heightened by not-so-ordinary happenings. Given that fact, the Tanzanian government is actually propelling Mr. Sauper to the artistic pinacle as opposed to bringing him down.

Creating a "positive" website instead of addressing the central theme of Mr. Sauper's documentary does not really help the course or fool the world. Coming up with a general Bunge statement in condemnation of Mr. Sauper's documentary does not change the realities that Mr. Sauper addressed. Applying cheap political tactics that pulled ignorant Mwanza residents to demonstrate against this documentary is certainly not going to work for a London sangara buyer who is objective enough to know the difference. So why the trouble? It is definitely lack of common sense.

See, the reality is this: an artist is always successful when his or her work touches some nerves. Mr. Sauper's work has definitely sent some shockwaves in the Bongoland system. The problem, however, is that he sent a message to folks who are conditioned to refusing and denying realities. Consequently, these folks have decided to wage a war against him, ignoring the fact he has little to lose at this point than to gain. He sent a message to blinded fools who have eventually turned around to benefit him more than being a pain in his butt.

I can understand the government's desire to defend Brand Tanzania. That is a noble notion, for every country ought to defend its image. Nonetheless, it is one thing to defend your image and another to reactively and foolishly fall prey into the hands of your "enemies". Fueling controversy around the Darwin's Nightmare, especially by Tanzanian government itself, is nothing but blind foolishness. At the end of the day, we have made Mr. Sauper a couple of dollars richer through an increase of his documentary sales, while our folks in Mwanza continue to feast on the same old stinky "mapanki". At the end of the day, we will continue to help Mr. Sauper's course than ours.

If that ain't foolishness, I don't know what it is.