Selma

After seeing how many critics liked this movie, I was excited to see it. After it was over, I have to admit that "Selma" was not as good as I was hoping for. In terms of racism-themed films, you can organize them along a feel-good/feel-sorry spectrum. An example of a feel-good movie is "Remember the Titans" and an example of a film on the feel-sorry side of the spectrum would be "The Butler". I would place "Selma" on the middle of the spectrum alongside "The Help" but I like that movie more because "Selma" had a slow pace. This release of this film is timely.

While this movie is dramatic, there were many scenes that were uninteresting and therefore slowed the movie down in terms of pace. "Selma" did inform me though that voting rights were being denied to citizens even after segregation was eliminated in the south of the US. That shocks me, as did much of what I saw in this show. Some films that depict this era of American History seem unforgiving towards the rest of society even though decades have now passed since these atrocities (2015 marks the 50th anniversary of this march). What pleased me about "Selma" was that 1960's society is not portrayed as flawed but instead only the racists in the south are depicted as the antagonists. If the death of protesters was not enough to show the world how bad things in the South still were after the end of segregation then the death of white people by racists was all the evidence needed. The movie does a good job in portraying this. I was surprised to read after seeing this movie that the state trooper who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson was not prosecuted until 2007. He pleaded guilty. Another part of the true story that got to me was what happened to Viola Liuzzo. Turnaround Tuesday, as it is known today, was actually planned in advance but only with a few. The idea behind it was to publically obey the law. That is why the state troopers backed off because they knew that if Martin Luther King marched, he would be violating the restraining order. I liked the scene between President Johnson and Governor Wallace because it shows just how Wallace and others in the south wanted to preserve their way of life at the expense of others. LBJ's portrayal in much of "Selma" however was quite inaccurate. For starters, he didn't use the FBI to belittle MLK. It is true that the two men did butt heads but not to this extent and not on this particular event. Both men had different priorities but the same goals. The point is that some dramatic license was taken with the scenes involving Johnson and this is important to note. The release of this movie comes on the heels of civil unrest in the United States (more specifically in Ferguson, Missouri) due to racism. Many parallels are being drawn between both sets of protests but one clear difference is that Martin Luther King held peaceful protests. Racism is still a problem today but this movie sends a clear message that fighting evil with evil is not righteousness. Ending racism will not happen through rioting, burning cars or the killing of policemen. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who protested with him in the 50's and 60's did none of those things and only went as far as using civil disobedience.

I have seen David Oyelowo in quite a lot of movies and he has acted in racism-themed movies before such as "The Help" and "Red Tails". I also liked him in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". Despite all the times I have seen his performances, this role is the first time I have taken note of him. He did well as MLK. Whenever his character was preaching, I fully believed his acting. However, my favorite performance of his remains his brief scene at the start of "Lincoln". Oprah Winfrey is a producer on the film along with Brat Pitt and she also plays Annie Lee Cooper. Tom Wilkinson's performance as President Johnson was fine but his the familiarity of his face prevented me from fully accepting him as the 36th President. Tim Roth on the other hand was able disappear into his character. I also like seeing Martin Sheen. I am glad that Lee Daniels chose to direct "The Butler" instead of this movie because "The Butler" had too much of a "feel-sorry" mood. Some filming for "Selma" was done on location in Selma, Alabama and I am glad for that. This movie won Best Song at the Golden Globes and the Oscars. One of the songwriters, Common, plays a main character in the film. The show was also nominated for Best Picture at the Acadamy Awards giving Oprah her second Oscar nomination because as mentioned, she was a producer on "Selma". I think I would have liked this movie more if the nervousness felt in certain scenes were extended throughout the movie. I am sure that back in 1965, those who were racist didn't think of themselves as racists. History would eventually prove who was on the right side of the battle portrayed in this film and that is an important lesson for all of us. We must have an open perspective because only God can tell us what is truly right and what is wrong. If we are informed and listen to the spirit of Him who knows all things, "we shall overcome."

3.5 Stars