Selma Alabama, the movie, Selma. It is worth the watch; it is historical, it
is powerful, and makes us remember from whence we came. The Civil Rights Movement is a movement that
is rooted well with Dr. King, however, this film did a great job in spotlighting
some other unknowns of the movement such as Hosea Williams, and John Lewis, the
now senator from Georgia.
As a huge history buff, this film gave mentions to
“failures” of Dr. King’s organization such as Albany, GA. Now whether or not the SCLC actually used the
media as a strategic entity is somewhat unknown, but it was portrayed outwardly
in this movie. It also gave way to
exploring the infidelity issues that Dr. King had; never going into great
detail they made it clear that he cheated.
What really must be appreciated about this film is the way they focused
on Dr. King, however the big picture was really the struggle in Selma, and the
voting rights act. Many Americans lose
facts along time, and I believe that the voting rights acts sub-plot of the actual
events that occurred in Selma need to be explored more in our history
books. It was good to see how they
failed in Selma and the violence that occurred on the first planned march was
critical to showing a more complete Dr. King, and not just the super-hero that
we as Americans make him out to be. It
was good to sort of bring Dr. King down to the human that he was, to see that
he stayed behind because of marriage issues.
The acting was superb; there is little criticism that can be
stated about the performances that were made.
The cast as a whole had a communication of community about them that
created an authenticity about their portrayals.
I felt “Selma”, and knowing they recreate the march every year in Selma,
made me want to go online and search about when they are doing it to be a part
of it.
The Civil Rights Movement would not have been successful
without the consciousness of white America.
This film did a wonderful job of spotlighting that point without being
overtly “white-privileged-hollywood” about it.
What is meant by that, is they stuck to the facts, and showed the time
for what it was, showed how defeat occurred when no one but Blacks
marched. Young people, or people not old
enough to remember those times, will have a much clearer picture of how much of
an impact t.v. had on the movement. The
film (and maybe the times) gave the feeling that they were alone in Selma, no
president, no protection, only segregation, and disenfranchisement. Three times, it took them three times to
complete that march; it took a white clergy-man being killed to have them
complete it successfully—that says something about American then, and today.
Over all the film did a great job in portraying the events,
it did a great job in filling in some of the holes I think we forget or gloss
over. It reminds us of the terrorist
that America was, as Ferguson reminds us of the terrorist they still are.
The movement is real, the struggle is real,
and both continue for us as African-Americans, and us as Americans. It does take a total and united front for us
to move past this construct of race, history, and the continuance of
inequality. There are still two
Americas, now being spliced into three as the Latino/Latina community grows,
and films like this are important to remind us of the blood, sweat, and tears
it takes for real change to occur.
