Cultural appropriation and writers

Baartman was a Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa in the early 1800s to be shown in circus acts and other such places and eventually died in France. Her remains were put on show in a museum there until Nelson Mandela demanded they be returned. Eventually they were, and she was given a proper burial in South Africa.

Many people were angry that Beyoncé would think of “stealing” this story,. They feared she would not give it the proper research and respect. They labelled it another instance of cultural appropriation. A Khoikhoi chief, Jean Burgess, said that Beyoncé lacked “the basic human dignity to be worthy of writing Sarah’s story let alone playing the part”.  This view was countered by South African Guild of Actors member, Jack Devnarian on the BBC website who said filmmakers had the “right to tell stories of people you find fascinating and that’s what we must be careful not to object to”.