“Skin” (2008) is a British film based on the true life story of Sandra Laing, a black girl born to white parents in South Africa in the days of apartheid, back when the races were kept apart by law. It stars Sophie Okonedo as Sandra Laing, Sam Neill as her father and Alice Krige as her mother. It was directed and produced by Anthony Fabian.
I like Sophie Okonedo, so odds were I would like the film too, which I did, but it made me like her even more.
To Okonedo it is a film about identity, of how you fit in.
To Neill it was about how people are shaped by their time and place.
To Krige it is about how love can overcome the hurt we cause each other.
To Fabian it is about hope, tolerance and forgiveness, of overcoming our differences.
To me it was about how utterly mad the whole idea of race is. Racists like to say that racism is rooted in nature, but anything that could separate parent from child is rooted in something unnatural.
It was very upsetting to watch. Yet they made it way less upsetting than her true story by leaving stuff out – like how she was separated from her own children for years due to both apartheid and her father’s fight to keep her white in the eyes of the law.
None of that. Instead they showed her father on his deathbed changing his mind about disowning her – something which, as far as I know, is not true. (What I know of her is based mainly on accounts in the British press.)
One of the best parts of the film is that you get to see her meet her mother again after 20 years, after her father’s death and the fall of apartheid. I knew about that, but it is one thing to read about it and another to see it.
Most would suppose that Sandra Laing looked part black because her mother had an affair with a black man. The film allows you to believe that her mother most likely was faithful and that white South Africans just are not as lily white as they like to believe, so every now and then one of them will not be able to pass for white.
Sophie Okonedo was wonderful as Sandra Laing: the hurt and confusion written all over her face, her pig-headed, never-say-die spirit, her courage. She seemed so lonely and lost I kept wanting to hug her.
Sam Neill was believable as the father even though some of his character’s actions were extreme, to say the least. Unlike Hilly in “The Help”, he was not made into a cartoon racist.
Alice Krige was good too. She, by the way, grew up in that time and place, out in the South African countryside in the days of apartheid. She is just a year older than Sandra Laing herself.
See also:
I watched the last hour or less of Skin recently on Showtime. Based on what I saw, I am one of the “most [who] would suppose that Sandra Laing looked part black because her mother had an affair with a black man.” However, I did get a glimpse of her siblings from whom she is estranged. They also do not look white. It is feasible that, ” her mother most likely was faithful and that white South Africans just are not as lily white as they like to believe, so every now and then one of them will not be able to pass for white.”
I’ll view the movie in its entirety on Netflix before forming my final opinion. It is, based on what I have seen, a good film which exposes racism in its rarest form — parents’ rejection of a child based on skin color.
dbg
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It’s about race, and the ‘value’ given to skin/skin tone difference. Europeans and other non-blacks agree to the ‘value system’/hierarchy of the ‘racial’ differences in the world. Then, there are the ‘cultural differences’, which ‘seal’ these beliefs and perceptions. So sad.
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I need to check out this film.
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Abagond:
I’m confused. Is Sandra Laing black, half-black, or multiracial? Mariah Carey comes to mind…her father is half-white and her mother is white, therefore, she’s white technically speaking. I don’t understand the logic behind that sentiment. If neither parent is black, how can they bring forth a black child? Blackness runs deep, but there’s a limit. “The Politics Of Blackness” is an industry in and of itself, which is why everybody makes a big deal about it, black and non-black alike. Too black, black enuf, not black enuf, kinda black, maybe black, shoulda been black, coulda been black, woulda been black, and so forth. Black people are so lucky, they have no idea Abagond!!!
Tyrone
Reality Mode
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“I’m confused.”
understatement of the century right there.
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Both parents are white but Sandra Laing does not look pure white. See her with her parents here:
Most white Afrikaners are only about 89% white by blood. Thomas Jefferson’s children by Sally Hemings, for comparison, were 87.5% white. Some of them could pass for white, some could not. So it is not as big of a stretch as it might seem.
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I haven’t seen this film yet. The ever continual sadness this nonsense of white supremacy/racism causes children (and many people of color) reminds me of the Dave Myers story.
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dave myers:
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Ok film and Sophie Okonedo once again brilliant, I think she is the most under rated actress of our times.
Sandra Laing looks today as black as any one in South Africa and actually was adopted into a black family much later. She thinks herself as black by white parents.
There were blacks in the family tree somewhere way back which is why she was born black for “white” parents. Just like the “white” children of the “black” parents. Which all goes to show how stupid the whole idea of “pure races” is.
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Tyrone, in South Africa classification was everything.
I liked the film and have read up on Sandra Laing. Every time I hear about her, I wonder why her parents didn’t emigrate. Their child was going through hell, and they could probably have done this.
Which of course brings up the fact that every black person in South Africa should have been able to get out of there too.
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Sam, have you seen Sophie Okonedo on Doctor Who as Liz X, a future queen of Britain? She’s beautiful.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgsSndEfesA
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Abagond, I love this movie. Ever since it came out I’ve watched it about 9 times. It’s a true testament of what the Black people of South Africa went through. Okay, for everyone who doesn’t know, Yes, Sandra Laing was born to white parents and came out Black. This isn’t as uncommon as you think. One of my best friend’s mother looks white but her parents are Black. They had French blood through slavery in the Mississippi delta area. what Sandra went through is sad but reality in so many places. Can you even fathom this type of blatant racism going on until 1994! South Africa has been though so much. There has been an influx of Black Americans moving to South Africa lately. I was trying to go some three years ago but decided not to when I met my now ex-girlfriend…hindsight huh! check out Blacks without Borders. http://blackswithoutborders.net/home.html
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greyships: No I have not, but I’ve seen her in many british tv-series and shows, and in few films, and she does marvelous job everytime. I wonder why Hollywood has not yet picked her up for the A list.
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@Sam
Sophie Okonedo was in Aeon Flux with Charlize Theron, an Afrikaner.
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I have the film on dvd and I had planned to watch it last night but never made my way to it. So tonight I’ll be doing so. Thanks for this post, Ab!!!!!
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I read the biography/book, but I haven’t watched the movie yet.
@Tyrone,
Sandra was phenotypically black or colored. Both her biological parents were white South Afrikaaners, and looked white, too.
It was believed that her mother had an affair with a black man, the reason Sandra looked biracial/black, but, as the biographer noted, Sandra resembles her older brothers, both of whom were accepted as white, despite only being lighter-skinned, with hair not as thick as Sandra’s.
They referred to Sandra’s scenario as a “throwback” where the African DNA of both parents dominated in the children.
The closest scenario I can think of to this is the Gosling’s from Jon and Kate. The kids are only 1/4 East Asian, but they look fully East Asian.
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Ebony did an article on these children in the fifties. Once given that ID one had to make the best of relationships, in which the law enforced strictly.
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I agree. Perhaps all of the time and energy given to arguing whether someone is “black” or not should be directed to more productive pursuits. Besides affirmative action programs, there are really no laws delegating different “privileges” to different racial groups anymore. Furthermore, ethnic boundaries have grown porous and fuzzy as people of varying racial origins increasingly mingle with each other. So why is it still so important to determine whether someone is white or black?
Maybe categorization can’t be avoided. In that case, a more rational nomenclature is needed to cut down on the confusion.
As it stands, the US seems to have a formal and an informal system for identifying mixed race people. The formal system is based on the one drop rule that says any African ancestry makes you ethnically “black”, UNLESS you are of Hispanic origin or have a Hispanic surname. According to this notion, Mariah Carey is a very light skinned “black” woman.
In abstract discussions about race relations and other impersonal situations, many adhere to this rigid code. In everyday life, however, more flexible arrangements prevail. Individuals of mixed parentage who appear to be roughly 50% white and 50% black (e.g. Halle Berry) usually regard themselves and are regarded as “black” or “biracial and black”. Those who look 3/4 or more white (like Mariah or Wentworth Miller), on the other hand, tend to call themselves “mixed” or “multiracial” and are oftentimes treated as “white” by white people and encouraged to identify as such, especially if they have a white mom, speak in a white American accent, and adhere to Euro-American cultural values.
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Long before science learned to meddle with genes there was Sandra Laing. At the first sight of Sandra no one not the nurse her mother father or neighbours would admit the obvious.
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I saw this and I cried so much during the movie. It was very powerful.
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I love Sophie Okonedo is a wonderful actress i want to see this.
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This was a very upsetting film to watch. I forced my self through it as some scenes were quite visceral and brought me (as a person growing up in apartheid) to stifled anger and sadness. For some part, it was quite surreal, witnessing her unimaginable tragic life even though I had also been tortured and abused by the Afrikaners (police) and their wonderful apartheid.
As upsetting as it was, Skin downplayed Sandra’s life, humanized her parents and the small flashes of apartheid life to make it digestible to audiences. Had the British film makers truly portrayed the odium of the Afrikaners, it would have been almost unwatchable . Sam Neill and Alice Krige (good actors) performances were too nuanced and did not capture that special meanness of the Afrikaners that Black, Coloured and Indian people know intimately.
One note: All those children and their teachers: they were not only Afikaners: They were of Jewish, Portuguese, Lebanese, Scottish, Irish , German, French, English, Dutch , etc . extraction. I cannot imagine the hell that Sandra had to endure during her school years.
Although accolades have been heaped upon Sophia, I did not know what to make of Ms Okenedo’ portrayal of her. The South African brogue, no matter what which background, is difficult to imitate.
I had watched this film a few years ago and if I remember correctly, there were quite a few ‘ liberties’ that were not possible.
When Sandra was in by the Black servant ‘s room(i am contextualizing the racial markers in the film) I noticed how ‘luxurious’ her room was. White madams (missus) and masters (baas) used to and still do (some/most/almost all /very/many )treat their servants abysmally and will quite often argue to the contrary. If the ‘girl’ ‘kaff*rmeid’ slept in , she would have been acccomodated in a cell-like outdoor room with the very bare essentials. I could not spot the chipped enamel mug.
Siswe’ s bakkie – van , looked American and therefore unaffordable, and the way that Black men remunerated those days it would have taken him much longer than one year to save for it.
Perhaps I am wrong, but their home/ shack that Sandra erected and then bulldozed (my family had experienced that, too) seemed too spacious. You have to remember that Black people were crammed into very small spaces and had/have no land privileges. I do not know the exact percentage but whites (5%)then and now own more than 90% of the land.
Another criticism is the piped generic background music of the film . South Africa has a very rich and diverse musical heritage.
I have since stopped watching films made by white people about slavery, African American life and apartheid stories. Actually, I have stopped watching white propaganda a while ago .
Even here, where it was entirely unnecessary,they had make the white man some kind of a redemptive character when he was not. Could they have not portrayed the complete ugliness of racial hatred as it was/is without sugar coating it with cheap self exonerating schmaltz?
(Any typos: written on a small phone)
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“The closest scenario I can think of to this is the Gosling’s from Jon and Kate. The kids are only 1/4 East Asian, but they look fully East Asian.”
I know this is an old comment from several years back, but I have to say that not one of those children looks fully East Asian. They are all quite obviously part European.
They do look more East Asian than some other people with their same racial percentages might, so I don’t disagree with Mel’s overall point about Sandra Laing’s possible parentage.
But they are obviously mixed race — just like Sandra Laing herself is quite obviously part European.
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Saw this movie. It was shameful because it was a true story. But the lady chosen to play the lead characters is a really good actress. I like her!
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