Source:
Global PostThe then-South Africa president understood that rugby was a religion, as far as the Afrikaners were concerned. And he used it to bridge the racial divide. "Invictus" is a sports movie, to be sure. Scrums, tackles and tries dominate the second half.
But
the film is not so much the story of an underdog team winning a key match in overtime as it is a look at how Mandela had strategically planned for the iconic moment.Shortly after the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa's majority rule democracy was still finding its feet. That is why black and white South Africans together rejoiced at the victory of their Springbok team at the Rugby World Cup. Even more than South Africa's dramatic win, hearts leapt at the sight of Mandela striding onto the field wearing the green and gold Sprinbok jersey to stand arm in arm with rugby captain Pienaar. Fifteen years later South Africans still talk about it as a thrilling unifying event.
But Carlin didn’t realize “how conscious and deliberate” Mandela was in using sport as political strategy until he interviewed the former president. Throughout his 27 years in prison,
Mandela’s guards were Afrikaners. Learning their culture — their language, their habits, and most of all, the game they revered with all the faith of a congregation — was part of Mandela's long-term strategy toward reconciliation. Mandela chatted about rugby players and matches with everybody from his cell keepers to the head of intelligence and he knew this facilitated deeper bonds than if he discussed politics.
Read more:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-africa/091211/mandela-invictus-moment
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
