Watching the FIFA World Cup this year I’ve sometimes been struck with a bit of a nagging feeling. A feeling that something isn’t quite right. I’ve felt it watching a team like North Korea or the Ivory Coast or Nigeria. The feeling that the presence of these countries, these teams, on the world’s stage isn’t entirely a presence that ought to be celebrated. It was a feeling that I’d been wondering about, and I think I can finally put my finger on it more precisely.
This article begins a new series recounting my trip to South Africa in 2008. I travelled there, then, to visit Maria, my wife, as she worked with a small orphanage-type organization in rural Durban. We were dating back then. With the World Cup and all that I thought this would be an excellent time to give a little peek into my, and our, time on the African continent. Enjoy.
Just getting there was a pretty intense experience. Since flights out were about $600 cheaper flying out of the States than out of Canada, I bummed a ride off my parents to the airport in Buffalo, New York. It wasn’t a early morning flight, but I had been up late the night before, scrambling to copy DVDs and CDs to add to a collection I had been creating for Maria, and to do some last minute packing. I didn’t get much sleep, so even an early afternoon flight out, after the long drive from my parent’s house in Newmarket, I was already beat by the time I got to the airport.
I’ll surely be hung for this but allow me to outline why I think the Oranje will take it all the way to the end of this year’s FIFA World Cup.
Heading into the tournament the Netherlands were ranked #4 in the world of international soccer. Ahead of them? Brazil, Spain and Portugal (in that order). How have these teams, ranked better than the Netherlands, performed?
It was the mid-1980’s. I was being born. Paul Simon was recording with Black South Africans to create a new record: Graceland. Aside from being, in my opinion, the greatest record ever created, Graceland is an absolute piece of music-changing history. Along with Peter Gabriel, who was recording around the same time, Paul Simon brought world-wide attention to the aptly-named genre of world music. Sounds and songs not found in our Western musical palette but imported from overseas. In the case of Graceland, it was South African musicians that Simon brought on board to help him craft his record. But it was certainly more important than just bringing a new sound to the world.
Paul Simon traveled to South Africa, teamed up with Black South Africans, right in the middle of that country’s most radical racial segregation known as apartheid. At a time when blacks and non-blacks were radically separated, Simon went in, or brought musicians out, and made music with them. An act of incredible defiance of the country’s policies, and a beautiful artistic gesture.
The result, when all was said and done, was not only an incredible record full of rich, new sounds, but a global awareness of an issue that few had really understood or acknowledged previously.
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes
This video comes from Simon’s Graceland concert. A 1987 performance that he staged in neighbouring Zimbabwe featuring a whole host of South African performers, some who had been exiled from their country for previously collaborating with white musicians or speaking out against their government.
Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes might well be my favourite track ever, if I had to pick one. It’s got it where it counts. I mean, just listen to the bass line.
Invictus is a movie about the end of apartheid in South Africa and the early part of the presidency of Nelson Mandela, disguised as a sports film. It’s interesting and engaging and Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of Nelson Mandela would’ve easily won an Oscar if he were not pitted against Jeff Bridge’s inspiring performance in Crazy Heart.
The first thing that surprised me about Invictus is that it was directed by Clint Eastwood. I didn’t know that going in, didn’t notice that while I was watching, and was surprised only to learn it later. It didn’t feel like an Eastwood film, not in the least, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just didn’t have the tone of the movies he usually makes. It’s a good movie, but not the kind of cinema that we’re used to from Eastwood. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s missing, but I can try.
Maria, my brilliant wife, summed up District Nine in this way: there were ten nominations for Best Picture this year at the Oscars. And that pretty much hits the nail right on the head.
