Ginger Ailing

If the title is any indication, the new movie by French director Romain Gavras,  “Our Day Will Come,” was preceded by an extremely elaborate trailer.

Five months ago, Gavras released the controversial MIA music video he directed, “Born Free.” If you have yet to acquaint yourself with this video, you can get the low-down here. At one point in the video, a mural appears that depicts three redheaded soldiers holding guns below a banner that reads “Our Day Will Come.”

The movie, Our Day Will Come,  premiered at Toronto’s International Film Festival last week. It’s the story of a young boy and his teacher and their journey from France, where people with red hair are treated as social outcasts, to Ireland.  Intriguing, no? Especially now, when we can make the connection between the new movie and Gavras’ music video five months earlier.

In an interview with the CBC, Gavras described why he chose redheads:

“I use gingers as the oppressed people because they’re a visible minority, but they have no community, which is interesting to me,” says Gavras. “They’re kind of a good symbol for what it is to be different. It’s more about people being different from the rest of the world, and being frustrated. Extreme violence can be a product of that.”

A couple of quick notes on Gavras, himself. He’s 29 years-old, the son of French director Constantinos Gavras, and easy on the eyes. It will be interesting to see if Gavras continues to reference redheads in future work as part of a larger story that speaks to visible minorities.

Born Free, an MIA music video, was released in late April, 2010, removed from Youtube the same day, re-posted with an age restriction and pulled again the next day.

Boingboing describes the video, directed by Romain Gavras, as a “global ginger jihad.”

Of course, I don’t think this video is really about rounding up redheaded boys and injecting them with as much fear as possible before a violent death, but it’s produced with enough authenticity to make you think it is.

Whether it had to do with the current political climate in the States (the video was released right around the time new immigrant identification legislation was introduced in the state of Arizona) or it heralds back to MIA’s Sri Lankan roots (her father is Tamil), “Born Free” is about visible minorities and obscene violence. There isn’t one element in this video that isn’t designed to provoke a reaction, from the naked couple having sex in bed before being pulled from the sheets and beaten or the old man smoking crack cocaine, to the climactic and bloody end.

Here’s a quick summary care of The Guardian, in case you want to skip the video altogether:

“Here, in summary, is the basis of this year’s version of a controversial super-violent short film/promo for a new single: a set of grim looking policemen are conducting raids on grimmer-looking blocks of flats and targeting only young men with ginger hair. These men are rounded up, put in armoured buses, and taken away.

There is a suggestion that there is some kind of movement to resist this state-controlled ginger-genocide, but whatever it is, we only see a glimpse of it in this film. Anyway, when the red-headed young men arrive at their destination – a desert – they’re told to run for their lives, into the sunset. And when they pause, one of them (the youngest) is shot point blank in the head.Here, in summary, is the basis of this year’s version of a controversial super-violent short film/promo for a new single: a set of grim looking policemen are conducting raids on grimmer-looking blocks of flats and targeting only young men with ginger hair. These men are rounded up, put in armoured buses, and taken away. There is a suggestion that there is some kind of movement to resist this state-controlled ginger-genocide, but whatever it is, we only see a glimpse of it in this film. Anyway, when the red-headed young men arrive at their destination – a desert – they’re told to run for their lives, into the sunset. And when they pause, one of them (the youngest) is shot point blank in the head. “

Viewer discretion is totally required. Nudity, sex, blood, guns and murder are all depicted in this video. As Billboard.com puts it, “watch Born Free at your own risk.”

Two Canadian filmmakers are currently producing a documentary on “redheads” and they’re hosting a summit in downtown Toronto to collect as many stories as they can, firsthand, from redheads themselves. The summit is today, August 22nd at 1 PM at Trinity-Bellwoods Park.

Both of the filmmakers are redheaded men, which should provide an interesting lens in which to present the “ginger experience.” After all, red hair means different things to men as it does to women.

The Toronto Redhead Summit itself has received some attention from the press (that’s how I heard about it) but they’ve also set up a Facebook page for supporters. As far as I know, it’s the first of its kind in Canada. I only know of one other country that publicly celebrates our hair colour. In the Netherlands, Red Head Day is celebrated over the course of a two-day festival. I can just picture it; redheads as far as the eye can see, swapping stories, ancestry and SPF preferences.

There isn’t a ton of information out there right now on the status of the documentary. So I think I’ll write the filmmakers myself and ask them what their premier deadline looks like. I doubt Ginger Ailing will have any scruples promoting their documentary.

“Stuff White People Like” is a blog about, well, stuff white people like. Here’s how it describes itself:

On White People:

“They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees.

You know who they are: They’re white people. And they’re here, and you’re gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here’s a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So lose yourself in the ultimate guide (featuring brand-new entries and extras!) to the unbearable whiteness of being.”

Clearly, redheads have made the S.W.P.L. grade and it appears the blog is taking advantage of it’s mass popularity , best-selling book and has gone into the calendar business.

I don’t own the calendar. Neither does my mum, who says a friend (she can’t remember who) found this piece of paper on the ground and gave it to her to give to me. June 17th will forever be burned into my psyche as a day synonymous with redheads. And white people.