"iBrotha" Movie Completed: What If Malcom X Evangelized The Mac?

by , 1:15 PM EDT, October 17th, 2002

In March of this year, we brought you a report on a movie being made in Britain called iBrotha. The significance of that name, of course, was our very own Rodney O. Lain, who had been writing under the name "iBrotha" for some time [Editor's Note: Rodney also penned the March story, though it was attributed to "Staff."]. The film's Web site says, "iBrotha is the story of a young man so passionate about Apple Mac computers he turns into Malcolm X to get the machines the respect they deserve. By any means necessary." Or, from the Wired story:

"I love Macs, but the film's about the fanatics," [iBrotha creator Jake] Barnes said. "Those who go a step too far. The premise is: 'What if Malcolm X evangelized Macs? Would he really?' Some think he would."

Wired is reporting today that the movie is complete, and making the rounds in the film festivals. Wired also notes that the film's Web site is dedicated to the memory of Rodney O. Lain, who took his own life in June. As in our original report on the movie from earlier this year, however, we should stress that Jake Barnes came up with the idea independently from Rodney's writing persona. A quote from Mr. Barnes originally published in the March story:

People's devotion to the Mac can touch on the fanatical/ religious, hence the use of Malcolm X to portray this. It's an affectionate look at Mac radicalism but also a recognition that it's a bit silly. By equating the popularity of an OS with a human rights struggle we can show the lack of perspective that sometimes affects Mac heads.

It's also something I've passed through myself. There was a time when the highlight of my day was the updating of Macsurfer's and I would go into shops just to check the Macs were running fine and at optimum levels (virtual memory off, cursor blinking on fast etc.) . But that's mostly passed now.

Seems to have struck a chord with people on the race and platform level. The reaction's been almost unanimously good. It's also a London thing, style, attitude and music wise. Copland is a yoot.

There's a lot more on the film, its creator, and other related information in the full Wired article, and we recommend it as a good read.

The Mac Observer Spin:

As Rodney's friends, we also appreciate the nod to our own iBrotha at the movie's site.

iBrotha Movie Web Site