Hunh?! What?!
Animated film, “The Secret of Kells” (2009), based on the “Book of Kells” was nominated in the 2010 Oscars for it’s beautiful animation. Actually, for most of the world “The Secret of Kells” would have stayed a “secret” if it was not for the surprise nomination at the Oscars.
I know I’m a bit late on the review..but I just saw the movie. Well, saw enough of the movie to decide that I didn’t want to and couldn’t see the rest.
I planned on enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening, with my children, watching animated movies until bed. First movie..Japanese Anime..Great! Heard the reviews about “Secret of Kells” and wanted to save the best for last. Unfortunately, I’m a bit confused and upset by what I saw within the first 5 mins. of the film. “Brother Assoua” mimicked some of the best of black stereotypical caricature, that I have seen a while.
“Brother Assoua” the biggest and blackest character in the movie with distinctive lips to match. Funny, I even blinked a couple of times, and had to rewind the tape just a bit, to make sure that I was seeing what I thought I saw.
“HOLD UP!!!! Is that Black Face!!! Oh, no. I re-winded again and checked out the brother more thoroughly, as well as the other characters. Hmm.. this “Brother” seems to be the only one with lips. . and not just any lips….HUGE, Red, fat,lips that cover half of his face. Actually, the other characters barely had lips..just thin lines, in different shapes to show expression.
So, I was left to ponder. Why did this character have lips so pronounced? Why was he the only black character? …Why did they even need to include a black character in an Irish movie? I sure wasn’t expecting to see any. Lastly, how did this get nominated for an Oscar? Shouldn’t some alarms have gone off. Did anyone question this? Moreover, what kind of problem does the nation have if subjective black-exploitation can be placed in children cartoons and celebrated?
The blatant disrespect to people of color and the lack of consideration is dis-heartening. Millions have fought and still fight to end destructive and demeaning racist images. But, it is no “secret” that “The secret of Kells,” demoralizes and devalues any civil rights movement by heightening racial insensitivity.
Take a gander…
Mantra 
I just turned on this movie and immediately thought the same thing and went to Google. Surprised no one else noticed or mentioned this. Jesus Christ.
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I love both this one and the art book for “Song of the Sea!” Soooo pretty. And it’s great to see all the alternate designs that they didn’t ultimately choose, because it is encouraging to see that even the pros don’t get it perfectly right on the first try! It’s a long process of developing and refining.
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