I thought I had honestly seen at least one of each type of movie: foreign, action adventure, rom-com, even zom-rom-com (zombie romantic comedy). But, I hadn’t seen White Man’s Burden where John Travolta gets a beat down by the police for basically just being white. The movie takes place in a USA where whites and blacks have exchanged places.

Harry Belafonte does a great job as the mean, rich man who causes John Travolta to lose his job which sets off a series of events including the eviction of his family from their home. Besides the obvious details, there are some nice smaller ones where John Travolta’s child won’t accept the cheaper, white doll as a birthday gift but demands the name brand black superhero.

The only flaw was the anachronism of John Travolta’s wife having to ask him if she can get a job to help support the family. I’m not clear what family wouldn’t already have dual incomes or if they didn’t, how (or why) the husband would put up such a fuss. Other than that, worth watching. (If you liked The Color Purple, check out Margaret Avery. I guess there are two flaws, then, in this film. They should have given her a much bigger part.)