Ali vs Foreman

My God, Ali was a political leader

“When We Were Kings” was able to remarkably reflect the different dimensions of Muhammad Ali in its own production. Muhammad Ali was the greatest athlete of all-time; he felt most at home in a boxing ring; he was eloquent and poetic; he was also a member of Nation of Islam associated with Black separatism; he was a Muslim, African-American boxer. Muhammad Ali cannot be understood as a figure without doing justice to all of these dimensions. The movie, although based primarily on his iconic fight against George Foreman, stitches different elements of his life together in a way that bring the aforementioned traits and more to the forefront- all together to create a picture of the personality of Muhammad Ali and what it meant to the African people. The movie begins with playing scenes of Muhammad Ali fighting and speaking in succession with scenes of the African and American political landscape of the time, clearly indicating that Ali cannot be separated from politics.

 

Africa as home

The setting of the movie in Zaire, Africa where the famous fight took place works in unison with what Ali believed in. Throughout the movie, he can be seen owning his blackness unashamedly. He stands tall and broad in the face of all white critics. He criticizes the American Black population for trying to follow the standard set by the Whites. He refuses to fight against Vietnamese in the name of American nationalism, knowing that it’s not his war. He outright calls Africa home, and at the end of the movie, when interacting with African people after his fight, he tells them to be thankful that they have not been corrupted by America. It is, as if, he sees the identity of an African American as slightly polluted. He expects them to shed the white American-ness and learn and embrace the culture and history of Africa and derive their identity from this home.

Ali vs Foreman

By choosing to compare the two African American boxing personalities returning to Africa for a grand match, the movie was able to highlight what stands out in the personality of Muhammad Ali even more. When Foreman lands in Africa, he takes his German Shepard with him- offending the local sensitivities. Foreman, a Black man from America, feels out of place in Africa. And when you view this in comparison to the ease with which Muhammad Ali is interacting with the locals, as an equal and sometimes, putting them at a higher place than himself as Africans, it becomes beautiful to watch. Ali was called egoistic. In his own words, many would have him whipped. But there is a certain modesty in the way that he experiences Africa. He might be, in his own eyes, the greatest boxer ever but it can be claimed that he wishes that African Americans could be as unadulterated Africans as the local. He was, therefore, to the Africans, one of their own. He had knocked out whites and American blacks alike, and he had stood up to the white government demanding he fight their war.

He belonged to Africa as much as Africa belonged to him, and he was proud of his people just as much as they were proud of him.