DarrenHusted

While the British Empire was responsible for most of the slave trading in the world (and indeed the early US settlers left the UK because the government were trying to restrict slavery) in the UK when we think see black characters on screen 'slavery' is not the first thought, and indeed Mel B's own roots go back to the Caribbean not Africa. Because slavery was abolished earlier in the UK there is less of a connection to it than in the US. It is understandable that a black actress might see Mel B in a loin cloth and think 'slave', but that costume was a generic tribal outfit. Most people in the UK with black root trace them to the post-war Caribbean Wind Rush, not back three generations to when they were promised 40 acres and a mule. One thing I missed in my list was the "based on an idea by" credit which the Spice Girls get. Not a surprise because they are playing themselves, but while the credit is not common it is occasionally used. The other example being Gosford Park, John August even did a blog post about it. http://johnaugust.com/2009/based-on-an-idea-by

Things that everyone missed; 1. clearly meant to be an A Hard Day's Night/Help! style film. 2. The bus is clearly meant to be a TARDIS like environment. 3. The director of the film was the regular director for the series Absolutely Fabulous (and directed the charity vidoe of Who Do You Think You Are, which featured Jennifer Saunders). 4. When Mark McKinney begins his pitch to Richard E Grant he is clearly doing a parody of the REG screenwriter in The Player pitching his film to Tim Robbins. 5. The slavery stuff only reads to an American audience, Mel B was doing a generic cavewoman thing, not tribal Africa. 6. Richard O'Brien wrote Rocky Horror. Meat Loaf was second choice after Frank Bruno. 7. Azazel from First Class (Jason Flemyng, the Rupert Murdoch assistant) and Nightcrawler (Alan Cummings) in the same film, though they never meet. 8. The film was number 1 at the box office at the same time as the album and the second single (Too Much, which is the opening credits song). 9. The sgt mjr in the training sequence is Michael Barrymore. Four years after this film was released he became embroiled in controversy after a man died at a party of his.

Home city? There were five of them from five different home cities.