With the upcoming release of Leon Schuster’s ‘Mr Bones 3: Son of Bones’ in theatres nation-wide, South Africans have given their unabashed opinions about the flick. Some claim that Schuster films are ridden with “racist undertones” and thus, they will not be watching, while others are more open to seeing it for nostalgic purposes and genuine laughs.
Back with a third instalment of his infamous 2001 comedy film “Mr Bones”, Schuster seeks to bring uncontrollable laughter and tears of joy to citizens across the nation with his latest offering. Officially titled, ‘Mr Bones 3: Son of Bones’, the film centres around Mr Bones’ son, a single man in his twenties adamant on finding love, played by the returning Alfred “Shorty” Ntombela. Leon Schuster also returns to the franchise to reprise his iconic role as thee Mr Bones.
The upcoming comedy film boasts a star-studded cast with the likes of South African actress and comedian Tumi Morake, who is joined by other well-known names such as Jay Anstey, Sans Moonsamy, Daniel Janks, Sthandile Nkosi and Jerry Mofokeng.
The film was announced to hit theatres on the 15th of April 2022, which caused a buzz on social media as audiences were divided on whether to support the film or not. Some users have indicated that the films produced by Schuster have racist undertones and that they profit from caricaturizing or exaggerating the traits of people of colour and thus, they will not be supporting ‘Mr Bones 3: Son of Bones’.
One tweeter lamented “Are we going to comfortably sit through another film with racist undertones? Whiteness will be out here whiting. Just another day in a pandemic stricken South Africa”. Another user added “No, at some point Alfred Ntombela & other black people involved in Leon Schuster productions need to be accountable for enabling this racist mockery.” Contrastingly, another user who is excited for the upcoming film added, “There are many fans of Leon Schuster’s Mr Bones who can’t wait for the 3rd installment to drop…Woke tries to ruin everything yho”.
With the nation-wide release of the film just a little more than 2 weeks away and a severely mixed response from South African citizens, it should be interesting to see how much support the franchise, with which many people grew up with, will receive. Will you be seeing the film or do share the perception that supporting it also means supporting “racial mockery”?
