"Hey, we've decided to basically do Dogville again, with the same kind of staging and storyline."
"Cool, I loved Dogville."
"And it's going to be about a slave plantation and be a critique of white liberal paternalism."
"Sweet."
"Except we can't get Nicole Kidman again so we'll have Bryce Dallas Howard playing the main character instead."
"Well, that's a... pretty significant downgrade, but I guess it's not fatal."
"As the movie goes along we'll have her become a part of the community as they struggle through their first year of independence, dealing with lots of challenges. And they'll be all these times when she jumps to conclusions about something that seems evil and then later it seems necessary."
"That sounds like it could be pretty powerful, if a bit didactic."
"So in the end the natural conclusion is that she finds out that the slavery was actually beneficial for all of the blacks and actually instituted by them to keep everyone in a place that made them happy."
"...wait, what?"
"And the proud African caricature who's been in the film for the last two hours will turn out to be a drinking, gambling, lying 'pleasin' n*****' who needs to be whipped for his own good!"
"You know, this film is starting to sound pretty racist."
"We can't be racist! We're Europeans critiquing America!"
"Yeah, whatever. Well, you almost had me there."
"Cool, I loved Dogville."
"And it's going to be about a slave plantation and be a critique of white liberal paternalism."
"Sweet."
"Except we can't get Nicole Kidman again so we'll have Bryce Dallas Howard playing the main character instead."
"Well, that's a... pretty significant downgrade, but I guess it's not fatal."
"As the movie goes along we'll have her become a part of the community as they struggle through their first year of independence, dealing with lots of challenges. And they'll be all these times when she jumps to conclusions about something that seems evil and then later it seems necessary."
"That sounds like it could be pretty powerful, if a bit didactic."
"So in the end the natural conclusion is that she finds out that the slavery was actually beneficial for all of the blacks and actually instituted by them to keep everyone in a place that made them happy."
"...wait, what?"
"And the proud African caricature who's been in the film for the last two hours will turn out to be a drinking, gambling, lying 'pleasin' n*****' who needs to be whipped for his own good!"
"You know, this film is starting to sound pretty racist."
"We can't be racist! We're Europeans critiquing America!"
"Yeah, whatever. Well, you almost had me there."