The Jungle-style Thread - Pop Culture Iconography of the Dark Continent - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 8:25 AM One more thing: The fact that this show took place on a tropical Island, just like King Kong, would point to a more Melanesian/Micronesian, (and not African), location. But the village huts are clearly African, so it shows again that all concerns about ethnological authenticity went out the window in this pop genre, and any tribes NOT from Polynesia became a melange of "dark-skinned savages" and their cliches, borrowing equal amounts from Melanesia and Africa. The disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in 1961 gave fuel to this kind of pop culture mythology: ...Rockefeller returned to New Guinea to study the Asmat and collect Asmat art. "It's the desire to do something adventurous," he explained, "at a time when frontiers, in the real sense of the word, are disappearing." On November 17, 1961, Rockefeller and Dutch anthropologist René Wassing were in a 40-foot dugout canoe about three miles from shore when their double pontoon boat was swamped and overturned.... At the time, Rockefeller's disappearance was a MAJOR WORLD NEWS ITEM. His body was never found. He was declared legally dead in 1964. Most believe that Rockefeller either drowned or was attacked by a shark or crocodile. Because headhunting and cannibalism were still present in some areas of Asmat in 1961, some have speculated that Rockefeller was killed and eaten by local people." He couldn't just have drowned, he got eaten! :)

One more thing: The fact that this show took place on a tropical Island, just like King Kong, would point to a more Melanesian/Micronesian, (and not African), location. But the village huts are clearly African, so it shows again that all concerns about ethnological authenticity went out the window in this pop genre, and any tribes NOT from Polynesia became a melange of "dark-skinned savages" and their cliches, borrowing equal amounts from Melanesia and Africa.

The disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in 1961 gave fuel to this kind of pop culture mythology:

...Rockefeller returned to New Guinea to study the Asmat and collect Asmat art. "It's the desire to do something adventurous," he explained, "at a time when frontiers, in the real sense of the word, are disappearing."
On November 17, 1961, Rockefeller and Dutch anthropologist René Wassing were in a 40-foot dugout canoe about three miles from shore when their double pontoon boat was swamped and overturned.... At the time, Rockefeller's disappearance was a MAJOR WORLD NEWS ITEM. His body was never found. He was declared legally dead in 1964.

Most believe that Rockefeller either drowned or was attacked by a shark or crocodile. Because headhunting and cannibalism were still present in some areas of Asmat in 1961, some have speculated that Rockefeller was killed and eaten by local people."

He couldn't just have drowned, he got eaten! :)

Post #496825 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 8:25 AM