Years ago, a friend of mine offered a theory on cultural dominance based on geography. [I do not subscribe to this particular theory, but I do think it’s thought-provoking enough to describe.] The theory goes that the cultures destined to conquer the planet are ones in which climate is burden, but not so oppressive that existence is entirely Man v. Climate. Humans are natural problem solvers. In tropical climates, there are precious few problems to solve, hence the population spends their time being happy; in unforgiving climates, the natives have to solve problems 24/7 and have no time to attack other tribes. Ah, but in-between, in places with abbreviated snowy winters and melodic springs the humans learn to solve many problems and still have time to take out their frustrations on neighbors – these are the cultures that dominated the planet, so says the theory.
I thought about this theory while watching Guava Island, the story of a tropical paradise conquered by hate. In a setting resembling Jamaica, the island dwellers should be carefree and benevolent, yes? Instead, however, they work in sweat shops every day for an ogre named Red Cargo (Nonso Anozie). Our story is actually about a couple on the island: Kofi (Rihanna) is a factory worker while Deni (Donald Glover) is the local slacker. Of course on this island, even the slackers have jobs; Deni is an accomplished musician and seems to be employed by the state run propaganda radio station to sing songs about Red Cargo. This is probably what Fox News would be like if anyone there had an ounce of musical talent.
The story goes that Deni was literally the boy-next-door and perfected his musical craft to woo the beautiful Kofi. My personal guess is that this tale hits close to home for Donald Glover; years ago, Donald went to a magical Bobby McFairy and acquired the ability to sing and dance, but in exchange, he had to give up the ability to button a shirt. I cannot say I’ve seen that man in a properly buttoned short since “Community.”
Anyhoo, on this particular day in Guava history, Deni plans to headline a “secret” public concert…but if does, the villagers will stay up all night, not report for work in the morning, and Red Dong will lose upwards of thirty cents in net profits. In his eyes, the show musn’t go on.
Guava Island is, essentially, an anti-fascist metaphor peppered with song and dance by Donald Glover. Say, doesn’t Rihanna sing, too? I could swear I read that somewhere. Donald might be fantastic in “Atlanta,” but he’s just a bit too upbeat for this film. Guava Island allowed Rihanna to take the threat more seriously to clue the audience about the danger – the relationship is not dissimilar from Robert Townsend and Denzel Washington in The Mighty Quinn, a movie that shares a fair amount in common with this one. However, there’s not enough Rihanna here to make it work and Red Cargo is not quite menacing enough (even Nonso’s Idi Amin needed work on bullying) to bring the danger home. Heck, maybe the screenplay needed a touch more than 55 (!) minutes to develop — did you guys run out of film? What stands out is the song and dance, which is entertaining enough to give the film, overall, a mild recommendation. And, hey, who doesn’t enjoy some mild Guava?
On an island where casual is a crop
You wait for a coconut to drop
In walks a dictator
And three seconds later
It’s fun and games until you’re in a sweatshop
Rated TV-MA, 55 Minutes
Director: Hiro Murai
Writer: Stephen Glover
Genre: The lighter side of fascism
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Childish Gamblingos
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Dictators
