You are here:

How Good the Whites Are

Name: How Good the Whites Are
Director: Marco Ferreri
Released: 1988
Duration: 95 min

Representation Score

6.3/10

Good

1988

Director

Marco Ferreri

Runtime

95 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Marco Ferreri’s film serves as a sharp critique of the colonial and humanitarian gaze. By depicting the 'Blue Angels' expedition as a descent into chaos and violence, the film challenges the traditional 'savior' cliché often found in Western-centric narratives. The strength of the work lies in its refusal to provide a comforting moral resolution. Instead, it explores the breakdown of European social structures and the fragility of Western institutions when removed from their usual context. While the film effectively critiques Western superiority, it does not include specific representation for LGBTQ+ identities or characters with disabilities. The narrative primarily focuses on the moral decay of the European group.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does How Good the Whites Are have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not explicitly depict LGBTQ+ identities or dynamics outside of traditional heterosexual relationships. The narrative centers on interpersonal conflicts within the European convoy.

How does How Good the Whites Are portray gender?

Fair

Female characters such as Nadia are portrayed in vulnerable situations within a crumbling social order. The film hints at a potential reevaluation of traditional gender roles through its focus on selfish behavior.

How racially and ethnically diverse is How Good the Whites Are?

Good

The story contrasts the European expedition with the Sub-Saharan landscape. A local tribe asserts control through a purification ritual, challenging the typical Western perspective.

How does How Good the Whites Are represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film questions Western humanitarian ideals by showing the expedition as a source of dysfunction. It offers a critical view of civilization and Western moral pretensions.

Does How Good the Whites Are include disability representation?

Minimal

No characters with visible or invisible disabilities are present in the narrative.

Present on Screen

Challenges the 'savior' cliché by portraying the humanitarian mission as a descent into chaos and selfishness.
Offers a strong critique of Western institutional ideals and the effectiveness of organized humanitarianism.
Empowers the local population, presenting them as a force that challenges the European intruders.

Limited or Absent

Does not explicitly represent or develop storylines for LGBTQ+ characters.
Does not feature characters with visible or invisible disabilities.
Positions female characters in vulnerable roles within the collapsing social hierarchy.

Official Synopsis

The humanitarian aid expedition "Angeles Azules" (Blue Angels), comprising twelve Europeans and six trucks loaded with provisions to alleviate hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, advances across the continent. As a result of the difficulties the team encounters, disorganization gradually takes over the convoy. Each of the members of the group, little by little, yield to their petty, selfish impulses: violence, power, nostalgia - The breakdown of one of the trucks forces Michele and Nadia to wait at an oasis for the arrival of spare parts. But a starving local tribe settles threateningly near them. The chief of the tribe makes a speech they don't understand, which is followed by a macabre purification ceremony.

How are these scores produced? →