MORAL of this film? If you're diagnosed with cancer ...

well to me it seems like he got some really bad advice from his doctors and friends. in the end he did everything he could to beat the cancer so it wasnt like he didnt care.

Uh, seriously? That's not something only black men do---men of all colors and in every damn culture on earth do that. Black men are not the only men on earth who are absentee fathers, and every black man is not an absentee father, either. I hate it when people say 'Black people are this" or "Black men and women are that" when we---black people--are not a damn monolith, and we damn sure don't think with one hive mind. There are white absentee fathers and white fathers who were abusive and screwed-up af, but they don't get stigmatized the hell out of like black people do. So get off that racist bull****, please.

That my friend is bending over backwards to make excuses.

The guy was octo mom if she could sing.

The solace of your father being famous when he had run out on you is a poor consolation prize.

I'm not the one holding this self interested guy up as a role model.



i'm just calling bull when I see it. this guy was irresponsible to the core, and he gets all this adulation because why? he made music? sorry but once you take a look at it objectively, there is plenty to be critical about. as i said already, this guy is the octomom if she had musical talent, and if she were even more irresponsible and just ran out on her children completely.

its funny how pointing out a guy ran out on a bunch of his children is now somehow self righteous... you might consider that your worship of celebrity is distorting your morality.

I thought being a singer was a job. As in one that pays for you to live. I don't see why any artist would decline money for doing their job. This is of course outside of taking money that is obviously connected to a morally bankrupt family/cause etc.

I was born in Jamaica and my family left when I was 2 months old for Canada. Unfortunately Bob is typical when it comes to a lot (not all) of Black/Jamaican men who have children but don't take responsibility for them/take an active fatherly role in their lives. Bob is also typical of a lot of artists that the world knows and loves but were/are not good parents. However this is not just an issue for Black people. As a social worker, I come across a lot of White/fill in blank men who have kids and leave the mothers, as Bob's father did to him and his mom. My father is still married to my mom and our family is in tact. However, I can see with my cousins who didn't have their dad growing up how that has affected their lives.

I liked the film for the most part. I found the backdrop of the history with the violence and political struggles interesting as my parents lived in Jamaica during that time. They left in 1982. I see myself as Canadian so to find out more about Bob and Jamaica is nice. I have his bio 'Catch a Fire' that I will read soon.

I however did not like how they downplayed his running around with different women and even saying that he wasn't a womaniser and that it was the women who went after him. I can't believe that Rita Marley was ok with getting women out of his hotel room when on tour either. All the women seemed ok with his running around and if they were complicit in his infidelity then I suppose they take some of the responsibility for that.

In terms of the cancer yes, Bob received bad advice but he put other things ahead of his health as other mentioned in their posts. The last ditch effort to fight the cancer was doomed from the beginning. I don't know of any cases where the cancer has spread to every part of a person's body and they survived but I guess anything is possible.

The moral of the story was that Bob, like us all is human and we all have flaws. He was greatly talented and his music has reached all over the earth. From a ghetto in trench town he was able to see his way out of it with music. It doesn't mean that his shortcomings as a father or husband should be overlooked. I take from the film to be focused on what you want and just keep working towards it. The humour on the moral of the story in above posts isn't lost on me, just adding my take.

What money Bob made, Bob gave back. He supported much of Trenchtown on his own. He did not live lavishly, he basically just toured and recorded.

What the Marley family has done since his death however, has been an affront to Bob's memory and his message.

"In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty."

The crass commercialization of Bob Marley in the name of a quick dollar has been shameful.

Marley rolling papers, Marley lighters, Marley beer cozies, Marley watches, Marley incense, etc.

Terrible.

But to say he sold out...is just wrong. He never took a penny from a brand endorsement, never compromised his music to please his record label...he always stayed true.