Soldier Bo(d)y: The Transnational Circulation of the African (American) Savage Child Image

Abstract

Olson looks at the ways African childhood is depicted in Hollywood cinema throughout history. She connects these portrayals to the ways that black children are still depicted in film today. Olson here discusses the film Invisible Children and the cinematic reach of the white savior ideal. In this chapter, Olson connects the stereotypes about Africa and Africans and argues that these stereotype’s form the basis for the cinematic trope of the African child soldier.