Alleen maar nette mensen

I was riding a KLM airplane at the time, so I felt like watching a Dutch film. The latest Dutch movie on the airline playlist was this film with a title I have not heard of nor pronounce. However, I went on to watch it.

This is a very interesting social study on race relations in multi- cultural Amsterdam. The lead character was David, a white Jew who was frequently mistaken as a Moroccan. He already had a beautiful white fiancée, but he can't help his sexual obsession with black women who "got back" (quoting the Six Mix-a-Lot rap hit). When he meets Rowanda from the poor side of town, David experiences a clash of cultures that changes his whole life.

The treatment is comedy, but the issues are very serious. Being about race, there is no doubt that it is going to be controversial. Yet the scriptwriters and director do not shirk with their frankness. It was okay and even fun to watch it as an outsider looking in. But if you are from Suriname, the Antilles, or Morocco, you may raise an angry fuss about how you are portrayed .

To me, the movie was just 86 minutes of flat stereotypes towards both black, and white people (primarely Jews). Let's be honest, the portrayal of stereotypes can be funny as long as it's done in the right way. Which sadly, in this movie is not. The Netherlands has a fairly high tolerance level when it comes to different cultures, religions, sexual preferences etc. which in my eyes, is a good thing. But I must say I was a little surprised this movie got made and it was this "well" received. Even though the idea of an affluent Jewish kid falling for a girl who is quite the contrary isn't even that bad.

I personally felt like I was watching the same jokes over and over again: black people are poor, rude and poorly educated. Jews/white people are ignorant, but well behaved, and only care about money. Yes I get it now, but can we at least see some character development then? I guess not..

Anyway, nice try. But to me it was yet another title to add to the long list of failed Dutch movies.

This movie caused quite some dispute in The Netherlands, it was accused of being racist and bigoted. Especially the way the Dutch black subcultures are portrayed is supposedly wrong. I didn't see it, to me this movie is as relentless towards the white (jewish) intellectual elite as it is towards the black lower class. But it seems to want to open the eyes of all people for their limited views and narrow-mindedness. And it points out how even within groups that seem homogeneous to outsiders, people have their petty little disdains for 'the others'. The intellectual Jewish look down on the 'textile Jews', the dark people from the Antilles look down on the Surinam people. And of course vice versa.

And all this in a juicy and very entertaining comedy, with a very nice cast and some splendid acting!

The social struggle that people go through when living in a different country is never-ending. We can never please everyone and finding our place among a different culture is a continuous and sometime strenuous fight.

"Alleen Maar Nette Mensen: Only Decent People" is a very interesting Dutch movie about the differences in culture and acceptance of one's individual background. However, we as humans tend to have needs that, sometimes, do not comply with the environment where we live. And making the right choice in order to not be excluded completely is a very difficult task. Smartly critical and very actual.

Refreshing look at how black and white people live together in the Netherlands. It's a comedy, so exaggerated, but very recognizable.