Two Jewish movies without a single Jew in them

"Whale Rider"


A film about the struggle between the "Orthodox" and "Reform" movement in Maori culture, personified in the struggle between the patriarch, his son, and granddaughter. The grandfather caught exactly the flavor of my own old-country grandfather railing against all of the American "innovations." Except that different issues were involved, and the Maori granfather spoke with a perfect New Zealand accent, which sounds inditinguishable from an Australian accent to my untutored ears. (Taking cover in anticipation of all by Australian and New Zealander readers slinging barbs at my ignorance.)

"Hotel Rwanda"

A Holocaust movie with not a single Jewish character (not even any of the whites or UN personnel were identified as being Jewish.) The movie, aside from showing some incredible acts of herosim by Paul Rusesabagina, the "African Schindler" who saved 1,200 Tutsis from being killed by their Hutu enemies. The best line in the movie, however, was by Colonel Oliver the Candian head of the ineffective UN Peacekeepers, who explained why the western Powers weren't going to be sending in troops to stop the genocide:

"You're not even niggers, you're African blacks."

Kind of makes you understand what happened in Europe from 1933-1945. Except that in Europe, at least the western powers did end up crushing the Nazis, whereas in Rwandi, the Tutsis more or less had to save their own asses.