Watching Selma evoked many thoughts, one of the strongest being that I am an uneducated dolt with the intelligence of a well-crafted leather shoe.
I should know this story. The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his cause descending upon Selma, Alabama to ensure that blacks are allowed to vote in the Great and Ignorant South is an important chapter in the Civil Rights story.
Instead I see that Oprah is in it and assume that she’s Selma and she’s going to sit on the roof of a bus or some such. Who’s ignorant now? Like so many others, I learn of what is important because the movies tell me so. It happens every year around this time as I recently was introduced to Alan Turning (The Imitation Game) and Chris Kyle (American Sniper). Last year I learned all kinds of terrible stories about racism (12 Years a Slave, 42, Fruitvale Station) and Selma is this year’s example.
These are valuable lessons but I think there may be some danger in relying on Oliver Stone for your facts about the past.
Just a joke as Selma is not a Stone treatment of Dr. King. From what I’ve been able to find (on the Internet, of course- my other surefire source for facts) this is a very accurate depiction of events and, most importantly, the man. Selma tells a striking tale under the guidance of director Ava DuVernay but it is the humanizing of Dr. King that makes this film a must see. We have seen and heard the speeches but this paints a vivid picture of the man and his struggle. Thank British actor David Oyelowo for bringing a legend to life. No small feat to avoid caricature and he delivers those speeches so well that I was ready to march upon Montgomery myself. If nothing else I may take a pilgrimage to George Wallace’s grave for a proper pissing.
The lead cast is made up of mostly new faces while the rest of the film’s peripheral characters are made up of some familiar faces (Marin Sheen, Cuba Gooding Jr., Niecy Nash, Tim Roth). The script by first time movie scribe Paul Webb is focused and straightforward. There is very little flash to the film technically but it does transport you to the time.
Is it White Shaming? There are very few white folk in the film that aren’t evil, hate spewing pigs and it takes about an hour in half for a Caucasian to say anything nice. As a white 39 year old who was never a part of these acts and has no relatives that owned slaves or anything, it is still hard not to feel guilt watching something like this. A massive crime perpetrated against people for so many years for absolutely no reason other than perpetual ignorance is a horrid thing that cannot be undone.
While it is painful to relive this part of the past, it must not be forgotten and the shame that may come with that is whatever it is. Being reminded of these facts should be more of exercise of seeing where we were so we can see how far we’ve come. And how far we have yet to go.