A Mumbo Jumbo Movie???
For my post this week, I decided to imagine what a Mumbo Jumbo movie would look like. Who would play who? Would it be a Drama? Comedy? Animated?. Who would direct it? I decided to focus on characters and tried to come up with actors that fit the roles they play. Without further ado, I present my potential list of characters.
Papa LaBas-Oprah
Maybe in this case we should call this role Mama LaBas *ducks*. I think Oprah actually fits this role
perfectly. Oprah in familiar with (relatively) serious roles and is generally
known for having a calm demeanor. I also think her elder presence fits super
well into how Papa LaBas deals with issues around him.
Hinkle Von Vampton-Bill Murray
This role makes way too much sense to give to Bill Murray.
Given his comedic and absurdist acting in movies such as Caddyshack and his
ability to effectively play the cartoonish antagonist role, this seemed like an
obvious fit.
"Safecracker" Gould-Seth Rogan
I’ll admit I took a little bit of creative license with this
one. I thought it would be really funny to have Safecracker Gould played by an
extremely pragmatic actor to accentuate the personality of Hinkle Von Vampton.
Thor Wintergreen-Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill tends to plays weak pushover characters, often in a
comedic way (see 21/22 Jump Street). I think the image of Jonah Hill being
reprimanded for not acknowledging his whiteness
would be a rather humorous one for viewers.
Biff Musclewhite-John Cena
And thus we get to the bonehead museum curator. I think the
tall, muscle bound John Cena would be interesting playing such a delicate role
(like museum curator). Ultimately, I think the audience would enjoy such a tough actor playing such a cartoonish character.
Berbelang- John Boyega
I chose John Boyega because of his fantastic job of playing
Finn in Star Wars. I think Boyega would be a perfect fit for the rather tense
Berbalang.
Moses-Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart playing Moses would be a fantastic twist in the
classical Biblical story. I absolutely imagine Kevin effectively being able to
convey the cunning and conniving Moses in Mumbo Jumbo. I think his humor would
fit in perfectly with the absurdity of the rest of the story.
Obviously this list covers the most important characters. Obviously there are some characters I omitted. However, if you have any ideas for more characters or disagree with a character choice let me know in the comments below.!
Mumbo Jumbo, despite its complex wording at times, would be the perfect book to make into a movie. Even though I would typically imagine it as more of a cartoonish thing, like Scooby Doo as we mentioned in class, I think it'd be pretty funny to have real life actors play the roles as well. And I could definitely imagine there being sequels too, as Papa LaBas and other characters continue to try to catch Hinkle Von Vampton and keep Jes Grew going.
ReplyDeleteReal, non-rhetorical question: What are the ethics of acting out some of the stuff in this book? Like, if in our movie we put Seth Rogen in blackface and had him read Gould's terrible dialect poem, how problematic would that be today, even if it's just acting? I guess similar to any historical movie with really racist stuff in it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be quite interesting to see Mumbo Jumbo made into a movie with this cast! I also think that I imagine Mumbo Jumbo more as an animated film or series, but it would still be funny to see it performed by real people. Betsy makes a good point about possible ethics of acting this out - blackface and all, which could be avoided if animated (possibly).
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the screenplay for Mumbo Jumbo as a movie would be like. Reading the book itself is already a wild, enjoyable, frightening, shocking, and somewhat questionable ride, so I believe it would take some really creative and efficient minds to take what happens in the book and transfer it onto the screen. In addition, would it move chapter by chapter just as it does in the book? If so, the viewer might have to have really good short-term memory because chapters often jump from one plotline to another, seemingly unrelated until further along in the book. But I agree, especially with your well-thought out cast, that it would indeed be an interesting movie to watch.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I actually think this movie lends itself perfectly to a movie. The short scenes with quick cut-aways would allow the director to seamlessly move between plot lines. In addition, the narrative style of the book and dialogue also lead itself to a cinematic representation. I agree that you may need to take some of the plot lines out of the book as it would be too much for a viewer, but I would leave that to somebody with more knowledge about the decision than me.
DeleteThis is a cool post! I think the cast that you picked is very interesting, and I would see a movie with them. I searched Mumbo Jumbo the movie because I thought I heard Mr. Mitchell mention that they were thinking about making one, I guess I was wrong, but anyway I saw that there's a 2000 film called Mumbo Jumbo, and it looks like a weird magic type movie. The movie is like the complete opposite of the novel and what Mumbo Jumbo means relating to Jes Grew, black culture, and stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of a Mumbo Jumbo movie is really interesting and that the cast you picked would make it very interesting. I wonder who you think would play Black Herman and Abdul. I think another interesting aspect of making into a movie is that the long backstory of Jes Grew that was given could actually fit really well within a movie.
ReplyDeleteBetsy, the ethics of acting out some of the characters in the movie certainly are problematic. The example you give is a perfect reminder of some of the touchy scenes in this story. I think the easiest way to portray this is unfortunately through cartoon characters, as it gives the creator more license to deal with the touchy scenes in the book (like the one you mentioned above).
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post! I thought your choice of Jonah Hill as Thor Wintergreen was spot on! Although, I was a little unclear about why you chose John Boyega to play Berbelang.
ReplyDelete