Rent A Rasta
When white women flock to Jamaica for a little fun in the sun, the R&R they’re often looking for is not “Rest and Relaxation” but to “Rent a Rasta” according to director J. Michael Seyfert. His eye-opening expose’ of the same name sheds light on a barely acknowledged form of sex tourism, namely, white women who visit the Caribbean Islands to get their groove back with the help of black locals. This documentary claims that, each year, as many as 80,000 females from a variety of relatively-wealthy Western nations descend on Jamaica alone.
Most of those inclined to indulge their Island Fever with wanton abandon are apparently middle-aged and/or overweight spinsters. Ignored by white men, and afraid to date blacks openly due to the social taboo, they look for satisfaction at remote resorts amidst the anonymity offered by a virtual paradise. These decadent dames safely lure their boy toys with money, electronic gadgets, designer clothes, baubles, or whatever material item it takes to get uncomplicated sexual favors in return along with the strict understanding that like in Las Vegas, “What happens in Jamaica, stays in Jamaica.” As one satisfied customer, a 45 year-old spinster from the Midwest explains her addiction to her hedonistic getaway, “A girl who no one looks at twice gets hit on all the time here.
All these guys are paying her attention, telling her she’s really beautiful, and they really want her. It is like a secret, a fantasy, and then you go home.” While this glimpse of the lucky ladies’ rationale for their no-strings liaisons is certainly informative, the picture is actually far more interesting when chronicling the history of Jamaica, winding its way from the slave days through the rise of the Rastafari to the present. Framed from this perspective, we suddenly see a persistent pattern of utter subjugation and economic inequality, with islanders providing stud service only being the latest form of exploitation. (Excerpt from amazon.com)
Watch the full documentary now
There isn’t very much here about “rent a rasta” a more apt title would be “rasta” because it goes more into rasta lifestyle and the roots of rastifarianism and spends only a brief period going into this rent a rasta business. It could be an interesting subject – but this documentary really isn’t very good – even the music and the narration leave room for desire.
to amanda
thanx for the info now I don’t have to watch this ****
I enjoyed the film and understand where its coming from. Real rastafari have always been exploited while being looked down upon in their own homeland. Fake rastas sell **** and
do so as their country is void of any real opportunities. Every worked for $80 usd per week?
40 hours at $2 per hour, or $80 a night with some white broad, take your pick.
the film is low budget but high n intellect, I like it, especially in a time that we watch 100 million dollar films of big monkeys running around Hollywood backlots.
If the creators of this documentary wanted to highlight sexual tourism in Jamaica; they did not do a good job. While sexual tourism does exist there, the culprits are called gigolos, not “real” Rastafari. They should just have stayed on topic of the history and beliefs of Rastafari.
On the other hand, if they wanted a sex tourism doc it should have contained interviews with these women and their gigolos, gone to hotels, clubs etc. documenting on these so-called relationships.
This doc is mixing two very different subjects and not making and not making the case for either.
think these “rastas” spend too much time smoking dope! lifes just one big party wake up!!
I thought this was a doc on sex tourism , turns out its just some religeous mumbo jumbo documentary about rastafarians. Pretty dull.
Good documentary. It interviews many real rastas and explains what they are about. I am a major fan of reggae and respect rastas because they are all about peace, love, meekness, hard work, and are strict nonconformists rejecting modern society with its greed and corruption. I am a christian but rastas often act like jesus said to act than regular christians. The old white fat whores who go to jamaica to practice fornication and abuse innocent poor people can go to hell.
The rastas are not reflecting biblical teachings of Christ. At one point the commentator said that they only accept those portions of scripture that reflect their believes which shows they are false followers of Christ. Many of the rastas who talk about their “religion” speak of things that are against the Word of God. Why talk about God when they are committing fornication, using vulgar language drinking, smoking ganja etc Well interesting how Christ is right that many shall say to him on judgement day, Lord, Lord but shall not enter the kingdom of God as Jesus will tell them he knows them not because they practice lawlessness or sin in their lives and yet, think they are followers of the Holy God.
You can worship Superman all you want Karenep; it works for you. In the mystical sense, I think Rastas–who are largely influenced by Orthodox Christianity and deification–have a superior philosophy to any evangelical or fundamentalist forms, which is what you represent. You do not represent every Christian or every person who is influenced by Judeo-Christian cosmology. Peace
Furthermore, Rastafari is not a religion; it is about intuition and finding the truth within yourself. It has nothing to do with conforming to any standard doctrine, and that is why many Rastas draw inspiration from outside of Christianity and Judaism.
You should be happy that there is a philosophy that at least encourages people to study the Bible who would not study it otherwise, and if it is the absolute unflawed word of God that you say it, then it should prove itself shouldn’t it. Well, in my opinion, it proves itself to be contradictive. Why are the geneologies different in the gospels of Matthew and Luke?
Where does the Bible say smoking cannabis is bad? I thought God gave man every plant. Furthermore, if you’ve been keeping up on your anthropology, you would know that the term “kanneh bosm” which has been erroneously translated as “aromatic reed” or “calamus,” is actually CANNABIS, and is an ingredient the holy annointing oil. Moses was commanded by the burning bush to use cannabis. Peace
Obviously, there are dangers to reckless fornication and reckless drinking, and even reckless cannabis use, but that should not be the basis of living a holy life. In my view, a holy life rejects bloodshed, hatred, prejudice, ethnocentrism, racism, tyranny, corruption, greed, etc. Just because 2 people don’t get married in a church and aren’t recognized by the government as married does not mean their shared love and sexual experience is not recognized by God. The body is the temple, shared worship is good, but churches are not required. Finally, any god that condemns free-thinking is no god I believe in. We are all fragments of God’s wisdom. Therefore, be critical of what I say and think for yourself and explore spirituality and religion for yourself, because this is no sin.
Michael Edward: Great question about the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. How very observant of you!
I can explain way (briefly) why the geneologies are different. In Matthew, the geneology is the Kingly line of Abraham, to David to Joseph. This is the royal line and the son of Joseph would have the right to be “king”.
However, there was a problem; God had cursed one decendent of David that was so wicked (he was a king), that his punishment would be that no biological son of his would ever again sit on the thrown of David (Jaconiah I think was his name). He was taken away to Babylon, had his eyes blinded in captivity and died there in exile.
In Luke, the liniage of David that we see there is Mary’s line. She also was a decendent of David through a different blood line than the curesed Jaconiah. The lineage goes to her father who was the step-father of Joseph.
As you know, Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph, and the biological son of Mary (conceived of the Holy Spirit). In Jewish tradition, adoption is equal in all ways to a natural born son; therefore, Jesus had the right to reign as king via Joseph’s line, but was the blood son of David via Mary’s uncursed lineage as well, just as was promised David by God that the Messiah (the Christ) would be of his lineage biologically.
To make it simple: the right to king came from Jeseph his adoptive father, but the bloodline came from Mary, so her geneology had to also be listed. Was that helpful?
This is by far the worst documentary we have ever seen! When we read the summary we were excited about seeing it! We were sure that we were going to get some insights into the “beach Boys/rent a Rasta culture in Jamaica. In the beginning we saw some of the slavery/slave trade history of Great Britain and Jamaica and then they showed something about the tourist women and then the documentary went completely off base. We saw more of the Rasta culture, music and Ganja smoking then what it was supposed to be. It was poorly edited and it lacked subtitles.
I am truly sorry but this is too tumbs down!
BB and Mina Quabaq
You where defenetly looking to see sex action and it is not about that. It’s about root/cause for In’I movement to evolve and how today In’I stills suffer with a false image white people sell to the wolrd about In’I Rasta. How money corrupt the minds of people who are false nyabhinghis, selling them selfs for money…”foxes on white sheets”
Understand?
Probably many of you have not been to Jamaica, or at least not spent time with a true Rasta.
I think you’re right, those of you who say this is not a well done documentary about sex tourism. BUT, it’s a fantastic and simple, informative documentary about the Jamaican Rastafari. I agree with
Ras0mar– >> how today In’I stills suffer with a >>false image white people sell to the wolrd about In’I Rasta.
For this, I give this documentary 5/5.
This is not an indepth doc on the impact or origins for the holiday-sex industry affecting Jamaica, it mentions the trade at the start and then goes into Jamaican life in general, namely around religion.
The quote from the bible Psalm 146:8 is incorrect, the actual line according to that is “The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous”
I believe he meant Psalm 147:8 :
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth. Who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for the service of men.
That was a great documentary. Loved the insight into the rasta lifestyle and the people.
possibly the worst doco ever do not waste time
do not watch for following reasons
-1 you cant understand what they are saying half of the time
-2 Has little to do with sex tourism at all
-3 prolonged ravings and non sense about religion
-4 director was too high to edit movie properly
i hope i just saved you 45 min
thank me later
Please do not waste your time to watch this doc. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SEX TOURISM in Jamaica. Instead it is about the Rasta movement. Every single one of the interviewees statement is incoherent and unintelligible. Very very bad doc.
I would love to hear these “Rasta”talking about some new scientific innovation they created to better their lives instead of blaming the “man”. Wake up, buy a computer and start reading. Trust me your lives will change.
this is sure the most f*%$d film in years:
I came away informed of an exoitic ulture
I learned to listen for strange dialects
I groved to an exquisite soundtrack
My neighbor dropped by and wouldn’t leave
without finishing to watch it and raid my cookie jar
man, what a BAD flim, as they say in MoBay
I would have even paid to to see this one.
jAh
I was similarly disappointed with this documentary, and I request that the blurb for this doco be changed to reflect it;s true content.
….I hate to say it but this doco was ‘dread-ful’! ;-)
True, it tells little about the Sex tourism industry; however, I think a lot of you are a bunch of sex perverted weirdos who may need to reflect on why you are SOOOOO disappointed. I think the true question on intellect should be posed to you seeing as though you “don’t understand” the historical context and why it is imperative to unearth in order to get a better understanding for the sexual exploitation. And as for the “no subtitles” crew. Are you kidding?
Great Documentary!
GREAT FILM if you have eyes and ears, sure it’s low budge, but high on intellect. unfortunately them youtubers are looking for
bootie-shaking teenagers and not for a good film on a serious subject. Very well-paced informative film done. A true INDIE flick.
As a Jamaican myself (living in North America) I agree with Amanda’s opinion. While the documentary did a good job highlighting things about the Rastafarai belief system and way of life, it was not very in-depth about the topic of sex tourism or the other damaging socio-economic factors surrounding the country (not all of Jamaica is poor and destitute, many areas have moderates and extremes in terms of wealth distribution). This documentary leaves so many gaping holes in terms of discussion on the issue and possible solutions to sex tourism (which is common in many other 2nd–3rd world nations as well; like Thailand).
If you wanna learn more about rastafarai, give this a go. Other than that, give it a pass–there are better Jamaican documentaries out there.
I am always fascinated how really dumbed down our western world has become. no one read, no one listens, no one gets anything other than the premasticated opinion of some blond and blue-eyed
news anchor-thing. I just saw the trailer for RENT a RASTA and
it explains exactly what the film is about. Hard to follow all these posts about what the movie does and does not deliver.
I realize that sex is more in demand than history and that most
posters wanted to see white MILFS getting boned by a big bamboozer, which the film doe snot deliver, but from what I understand, it give voice to a few fringe, very expressive characters who have plenty to say if you have the ability to listen. The sex trade for rastaoid gigolos is an established fad, just as the Jamaican Tourist Agency promoted everything Jamaica with dread-models. RENT a RASTA asks: what do the REA RASTAS think about being USED to market everything Jamaican.
And as for you “sub-title” guys and gals, get some Q-tips and
put your ears to work, enjoy a sexy caribbean accent and make and effort to understand what initially seems “foreign”. Ya’ll
don’t be so ignorant, there’s 256 countries out there and the USA is just one, with the most Walmarts, granted.
This is a daring documentary which exposes sex tourism in Jamaica as not merely the harmless indulgence of horny white women gone wild, but as a burgeoning trend which is wreaking havoc on Caribbean culture and family structure.
Two different things are trying to be discussed here. One is how colonialism is more prominent in Jamaica. Poverty makes one try to survive by any means necessary. Colonialism makes Jamaicans accept by any means necessary attitudes about how they survive. Rastafari was conceived as a Pan Arfican Movement in the 20′s. Rastafari was raped of its Pan African Roots when in the late 80′s and 90′s, and until today, when The Jamaicans not practicing Rasta’s but instead invented a RENT A DREAD buisness profiting from the love the world had for Rastas after Bob Marly shared are existance with the world. So in conclusion a Rent a Dread is a survivalist of the colonial system , and a Rasta is a man woman or child who alone depends on a higher source for survival. That Rasta would not need to be saved by theses women. His love is truely in Africa and a African family.
I agree….this doc is not really about the women that go to Jamaica to get boned, it’s more about the Rasta culture in genenral. Not a very good movie, but I have to say:
The guy at 22:12 looks a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. Maybe they had a bigger budget than we thought?
great introductory documentary about rastafarianism, sex tourism, a product of slavery? sure thing. so what do you
need to see more proof, I thought it was interesting to see
people rarely interviewed and hear their point of view, as opposed to fat white broads calling their call boys “fiance”
if you were looking for deep throat and the devil in Miss Jamaica, you got the wrong flick, but learning something new
is sure possible watching this indie film
I just got finished watching it and I thought it was excellent. That was a great documentary. Loved the insight into the rasta lifestyle and the people.
should be under a new title,maybe under bible bashing,documentary…i wish to learn something new,didnt here!!!!Seems like mostly,german whites looking for black ****…how ironic!!!Nevermind we all entitled to our own oppinion.Thanks as usual V for the upload.Owen
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Terrible…terrible…terrible. I would not let any of those guys touch me with a condom equipped ten foot pole . Are you kidding me? I too thought that this would be an interesting documentary (Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, gag rolph).
This documentary doesn’t address the title “Rent a Rasta.” Its more a disorganized collection of the worldview spectrum of the Rastafarian faith and philosophy.
I wanted to get more information on the sex tourism: more personal accounts; do the men feel exploited and what happens to the relationship after the woman goes home.
Overall, A poor documentary.
boring boring boring boring almost nothing to do with title
Very poor documentary; badly edited, unfocused. And since the filmmaker decided to look at Rastafari together with sexual exploitation and sex tourism, it seems totally ridiculous that he completely omits any discussion of the virulent sexism, misogyny and homophobia of Rastafari and of Jamaican culture more broadly.
Could the perspective of one of the first men we meet who describes himself not as a gigolo but a “girl-ist,” proudly proclaiming that he is no f@g (“batty-boi”) and that real Jamaican men “love” (really like to f*ck) women, have anything to do with the “big bamboo” sex trade’s flourishing in Jamaica? Seems like an obvious connection, but it’s totally ignored here.
It also seems like the film suggests that many of the men who go with foreign white women for $$ are simply posing as Rastas to heighten their exoticism. If that’s the case, and a *real* Rasta would never be a white woman’s gigolo, then why does the filmmaker focus on Rastafari at all?
Though some of the film’s defenders here say that the commenters who’ve asked “where is the sex tourism?” are perverts, I think it’s just the opposite–this filmmaker exploits the sensational subject of “sex tourism” as a lure for a film that is mostly about showing righteous Rastas in comparison to “nasty,” “whorish,” “fat,” “old” or “sexually undesirable” white women. There’s no question that these women have and use a tremendous economic advantage, but given the predominant views about gender, sex, and sexuality in Jamaica (views this movie conveniently ignores), their money would seem to be just one part of the dynamic that’s at work.
@karenep
There is no proper practice of Christianity. Everybody creates Christ in their own image. As for the breaking laws, do you mean the laws of man or god? I’m pretty sure smoking Marijuana isn’t a sin (check out Gen. 1-12 for further reading). And I’m quite sure there was allot of wine drinking going on in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
Rasta’s prime beliefs consist of equality, the body being sacred and universal love. For all the killing going on in the name of Christ across the planet, I would like to think Christ would consider weed and love pretty low on his list of damnable offenses.
Ahhhhh. Uhhhhhhh. Whaaaaaa. What ever floats ones boat.
Total BS… This documentary does not spend much time addressing rent a dreads (rasta) at all. Nor does it show that most of these gigolos are not rastas at all. It should have just be called “Rasta” as one commenter said.
Error on my part…It does show that most of the gigolos are not rasta but it just focuses more on rasta than the intended topic.
I just watched RENT a RASTA again, and it deals 30% with rentables, and 30% with “real” rasta issues like history and repatriation and the rest is a mix of voices but gnarly characters otherwise NOT seen on TV. If you are looking for sexual details. of course your wang will be left hanging.