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The Guardian - Culture Edit Unfollow The Trees by Percival Everett review – potent satire of US racism by Jake Arnott Aug 31, 2022 This Booker-longlisted investigation of gruesome murders in Mississippi addresses a deep political issue through page-turning comic horror Percival Everett is a seriously playful writer. His 2001 breakthrough novel Erasure lampooned the dominant culture’s expectations of Black authors, in a wonderfully discursive meditation on the angst of the African American middle classes and the nature of literature and art itself (its title is a reference to Robert Rauschenberg rubbing out a drawing by Willem de Kooning). The novel within the novel is a self-consciously absurd parody of “ghetto” fiction called My Pafology. Everett’s latest work, The Trees, now longlisted for the Booker prize, is a harsher, more unmediated satire, a fast-paced comedy with elements of crime and horror that directly addresses racism in a boldly shocking manner. The setting is a small town called Money, Mississippi, “named in that persistent Southern tradition of irony”. We meet a dysfunctional white family unit with its morose matriarch Granny C, her son Wheat Bryant, and her nephew, Junior Junior. This time it’s the white folks’ turn to be rendered in grotesque caricature, and the actions of this feckless clan are played as broad knockabout, almost like a reverse minstrel show. But an ominous note is struck as Granny C expresses remorse for some past deed: “I wronged that little pickaninny,” she broods. As the tone becomes disturbingly gruesome, a deeper purpose to this cruel humour emerges. Continue reading... Continue Reading The Territory review – portrait of heroic indigenous defender of Amazon land by Cath Clarke Aug 31, 2022 Grim but inspiring documentary follows 18-year-old Bitaté, elected to lead the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people’s fight for survival Watching this gripping documentary shot in the Brazilian Amazon, you wonder if our electoral system could learn a thing or two from the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people. Voting for a new leader, elders elect 18-year-old Bitaté, a young activist who radiates energy, idealism and intelligence (often while wearing a Harry Potter T-shirt). He doesn’t feel ready for the responsibility: “I’m scared of disappointing people.” (I can think of a politician or two who might benefit from a bit of Bitaté’s introspection). The stakes could not be higher. The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are fighting for their survival, under threat from farmers seizing their land with impunity. According to environmental activist Neidinha Bandeira, protecting the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau is key to saving the Amazon. Their territory is a barrier against deforestation: “Lose them, lose the rainforest.” (Is it any wonder Bitaté is feeling the pressure?) Bandeira is another hero of the film, a battle-hardened activist who is the target of daily death threats. Her biggest fear is thugs coming for her kids. (This actually happens in the film.) Continue reading... Continue Reading

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