Wise Old Men

Bunmi has a (characteristically) extremely smart observation about the problems with our expectations for a movie about Nelson Mandela:

Stringer Bell is definitely a heavy but a heavy with the chops to play Mandela. However, I think we've all been wired--honestly, no pun intended--to think Mandela will be a Sidney Poitier-esque kind of role and, thus, all of Elba's fine attributes become weaknesses. If they want a cute, young idealistic lawyer that will bowl a Winnie off her feet because the movie says so, then Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) should get the job done. But if they want the audience to get bowled over by what Winnie sees, they should cast TV On Radio's Tunde Adebimpe (Rachel Gets Married and Jump Tomorrow) and pay him to get in touch with his inner rebel.

I love the idea of a movie about badass Mandela.  But I have to admit I never even considered such a movie a possibility.  Mandela is fixed in public consciousness as the friendly old dude at the end of Malcolm X.  A writer or director who tried to do anything more challenging might face some disconnect even from reasonably educated audiences.  It doesn't mean someone shouldn't try.  But it was interesting to have Bunmi point out a blind spot I was unaware of.