Relationship of Apartheid Laws to SKIN
Having become familiar to some of the key pieces of Apartheid legislation you are well prepared to be a sensitive viewer of the film SKIN. As you watch the film, try to spot the various symptoms of Apartheid on show that would have grown out of these laws.
One of the saddest things about Apartheid is the way it promoted the idea of baaskap – white supremacy. Faced with a society that was entirely unfair, it was easy for many native people to internalize a feeing of inferiority and subservience. Look out for examples of this in SKIN particularly when Petrus is inter-acting with Abraham. One of the things that Petrus seems to resent most about Sandra in the film is the fact that having enjoyed at least a part of her life as ‘white’ she retained a confidence and defiance even in the face of bulldozers sent to demolish her home.
