Black Adam

While there are infinite ways in which an educator or facilitator could employ the DVD as a resource, below you will find instructions and discussion questions according to our vision for using it as a teaching tool as part of our Diversity Studies Honours and Masters programmes at the University of Cape Town. Ideally, the DVD will be used alongside relevant critical whiteness theory. Those who are new to the field of whiteness studies or are simply looking for additional sources are strongly encouraged to refer to “Towards a Bibliography of Critical Whiteness Studies, which can be found here. Also, Jennifer Schmidt and Mary West (2010) produced a useful bibliography of resources on whiteness in South Africa, “Whiteness Studies in South African Literature: A bibliography” (PDF)


Suggested Instructions:

1. Screen ‘full length’ 8 minute version


2. Debrief using the following discussion questions:

a. What do you think the film maker, Dominic Wilhelm, is trying to achieve with this film? Has he accomplished this?
b. What were some significant or surprising moments in the film?
c. What questions does the film raise for you?
d. What topical social issues are raised by the film?
e. What does the film reveal about the relationship between identity construction and social context

3. Divide students into pairs or small groups (depending on class size) and assign them each a theme to focus on and present to the group. The ‘themes’ are available on the main menu of the film:

a.Construction of Whiteness
b.Norming of Whiteness
c.Emotion
d.Naming Whiteness
e.Postcolonialism and Whiteness
f.Deconstructing Whiteness

4. Ideally, students will present their theme to the class, relating the content to relevant literature and theory, and discussing how the literature can help one to ‘unpack’ the content of the film. Also, students could provide a critique of the film through the use of literature. The following questions could assist students in developing a critique:

a.At one point, one of the individuals in the film says, “the greatest thing that globalisation has given us is a choice”. Do you agree with this? Does everyone have an equal amount of ‘choice’?
b.Are white people the only ones who can deconstruct whiteness?
c.What other voices could have been heard in the film?
d.Intersectionality is only briefly addressed as the film maker questions what is beyond being a white man. Where else can you see Intersectionality? What do we lose if we ignore intersections?

We encourage you to provide us with feedback of your experience in using this DVD and guide as a teaching and/or facilitation tool. Please visit our blog (www.incudisa.wordpress.com) and post a comment!


This document is also available as a word doc for download.