I watched this film recently. For those who are not familiar with it, it tells the true story of Karen Blixen (played by Meryl Streep) a wealthy Danish woman who moved to Kenya in 1913 to set up a coffee plantation.

I was curious to watch it for various reasons: first, it seemed like an interesting story (which it is, though the film is a little overlong, in my opinion,) second, I was intrigued to see how she interacted with the native Kenyan nig-nogs, and third, I wanted to see how the nogs were portrayed in pre-PC times. (The film was made in 1985.)

The nigs don’t feature a lot, as the story is entered mainly around Karen, but it soon becomes clear that there was at least one niggermaniac on the production team, as there are several occurrences that are completely irrelevant to the story, but have obviously been slipped in to demonstrate nigger attitude and stupidity.

Two of the most memorable:

1 Karen is trying to teach her nigger cook how to mix the ingredients for a clear soup. The sheboon has a mixing bowl on the kitchen table, and is trying to mix its contents using a fork. Karen picks up a whisk, puts it into the bowl and shows the nigger how to use it by turning the handle. After she leaves the kitchen, the boon stares, uncomprehendingly, at the whisk for a moment, then puts it down and goes back to stirring the mixture with the fork.

2 Near the end of the film, we see that Karen and her fellow Europeans have built proper brick houses, laid roads, introduced automobiles, and even cleared an airstrip, so that people and supplies can be flown in and out. They have achieved all this in just a few years, while the nig-nogs are still living in their straw huts. The Europeans are having civilised dances and cocktail parties while the jigaboos are banging drums and doing their ju-ju dances.

The humans have also built a school, with the altruistic, though misguided plan that the local niglets can be educated. Their chief is firmly opposed to this idea, and at one point (the funniest highlight of the film for me) asks Karen “What have reading and writing ever done for you?” Nigger attitude at its finest.

I must say though, that the cinematography is superb. Kenya is a beautiful country, as are other parts of North Africa. What a waste—