History Film / Skin2008

* ChocolateBaby: Sandra, naturally. It averts the usual suspicions, however-Abraham never seems to believe that Elsie might have cheated on him, and he accepts Sandra as his own from the beginning. This becomes part of the problem as he (and the government, eventually) think of her as an Afrikaner girl, and it was ''not'' acceptable-or legal-for Afrikaner girls to marry blacks in apartheid South Africa...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skin_8.jpg]]

* PapaWolf: Abraham Laing drifts between this, [[spoiler: [[AbusiveParents Abusive Parent]] and KnightTemplarParent]]

%%* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

* StarCrossedLovers: Sandra and Petrus. [[spoiler: They get together though. Then he turns into a DomesticAbuser...]]

%%* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

''Skin'' is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid South Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black girl born to white Afrikaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era South Africa (to be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to casting her vote in the first free elections of a post-apartheid South Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features Creator/SophieOkonedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's mother, Elsie.

-->''Never, never, never give up''
-->Abraham Laing

* ButtMonkey: Sandra Laing.

* EtTuBrute
* HopeSpot: Many.
* LoveHurts

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

* StarCrossedLovers: Sandra and Petrus. [[spoiler: They get together though. Then Sandra discovers he's a DomesticAbuser...]]

** Arguable. [[spoiler: Petrus ''becomes'' a DomesticAbuser over time as he gets increasingly disillusioned with what's happened to his life and blames the political regime, and the white minority. This ties into his growing resentment for Sandra, who remains a product of her white upbringing, and maintains contact with her white mother.]] However, it's no justification for [[spoiler: urinating over his wife in broad daylight, in front of the entire neighborhood.]]

{{Film/Skin}} is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid South Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black girl born to white Afrikaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era South Africa (to be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to casting her vote in the first free elections of a post-apartheid South Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features Creator/SophieOkonedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's mother, Elsie.

* [[spoiler: AbusiveParents]]

* [[spoiler: ThePollyanna]]: Sandra

{{Film/Skin}} is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid South Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black girl born to white Afrikaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era South Africa (to be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to casting her vote in the first free elections of a post-apartheid South Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features SophieOkonedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's mother, Elsie.

{{Film/Skin}} is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black-skinned girl born to white Afrikaaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era Africa (To be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to her casting her political vote in a post-apartheid Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features SophieOkonedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's mother, Elsie.

* DisproportionateRetribution: What Abraham very nearly gets on Petrus, thank God he was apparently trained in the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy.

** Arguable. [[spoiler: Petrus ''becomes'' a DomesticAbuser over time as he gets increasingngly disillusioned with what's happened to his life and blames the political regime, and the white minority. This ties into his growing resentment for Sandra, who remains a product of her white upbringing, and maintains contact with her white mother.]] However, it's no justification for [[spoiler: urinating over his wife in broad daylight, in front of the entire neighbourhood.]]

** Arguable. [[spoiler: Petrus ''becomes'' a DomesticAbuser over time as he gets increasingngly disillusioned with what's happened to his life and blames the political regime, and the white minority. This ties into his growing resentment for Sandra, who remains a product of her white upbringing, and maintains contact with her white mother.]] However, it's probably no real justification for [[spoiler: urinating over his wife in broad daylight, in front of the entire neighbourhood.]]

* ItGotWorse

{{Film/Skin}} is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black-skinned girl born to white Afrikaaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era Africa (To be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to her casting her political vote in a post-apartheid Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features SophieOkonedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's father, Elsie.

** Arguable. [[spoiler: Petrus ''becomes'' a DomesticAbuser over time as he gets increasingngly disillusioned with what's happened to his life and blames the political regime, the white minority and subsequently the people he feels are connected to, or would benefit from the apartheid regime. This ties into his growing resentment for Sandra when he realises that she still maintained contact with her mother which to him seemed like an act of betrayal.]] However, it's probably no real justification for [[spoiler: urinating over his wife in broad daylight, in front of the entire neighbourhood.]]

* TheWoobie: Sandra.
* {{Wangst}}: Amazingly averted, given that Sandra is really a ButtMonkey.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film does not let up when it wants to prove a point about how awful life was for blacks and black-skinned whites in apartheid-era Africa

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: [[spoiler: The ending, where Sandra, after 20 years of being unable to talk to her parents, finds her mother (Her father had already died of cancer) and her mother, near-death herself, gives Sandra a key. Which unlocks a cupboard where she finds a box. And in the box is her teddy bear, the only thing in her life that has never hurt her.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Plenty.
** The Headmaster, [[spoiler: when he hits Sandra with the cane enough times to make her wet herself (For no apparent reason except her skin colour)]].
** Petrus' last confrontation with Sandra. There are [[EtTuBrute hints]] throughout the movie alluding to this before it finally happens.
** Sandra's mother refusing to allow her dying father to speak to her may be a debatable example, but it seemed somewhat harsh to this troper.

* {{Squick}}

* TearJerker: Quite a few, but the ending of the film is this and a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* NightmareFuelUnleaded: Some of the sequences, such as [[spoiler: the headmaster caning young Sandra]] ''will'' scare you.

{{Film/Skin}} is a film based in apartheid-era and post-apartheid Africa, following the life of Sandra Laing, a black-skinned girl born to white Afrikaaner parents. The story drops many [[{{Anvilicious}} anvils]] about racism and living as a black person in apartheid-era Africa (To be expected, given the setting). The story progresses from when Sandra is a schoolchild, to when she begins searching for a husband, to her casting her political vote in a post-apartheid Africa. The film was given 10 awards in 8 different film festivals and nominated for one in another. It features Sophie Okenedo as Sandra, SamNeill as Sandra's father, Abraham, and Terri Ann Eckstein as Sandra's father, Elsie.