Conversations with many people have taught me many things. Conversations with people who have seen the movie Selma have shown me that many things have still gone untaught. One thing that the film that was Oscar nominated for Best Picture, but remained snubbed in all other categories but Best Song continues to teach us is that we want our heroes to look like us. My recent post on American Sniper speaks of perspective. Selma is a really good movie. However, because it's based on historical events (traumatic to a large percentage of the populace) perspective will determine how you receive it. Take MY perspective for instance. The legislation allowing Blacks the right to vote unencumbered is barely older than my 44 years. I remember Black History Week, while many of my younger peers are only familiar with Black History Month. My hometown only lifted bussing segregation in county schools within the past 30 years. I've seen enough racism first hand, but films like Selma are important.
Selma takes place in 1964 and paints a much different picture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr than many biopics of the past. Much like many people only physically portray Jesus in their minds as a frail victim of a falling humanity, not a blue collar son of a carpenter, Dr. King has only been singularly assessed. Ava DuVernay and Paul Webb pull back the proverbial curtain to show a sharp and cunning, yet flawed King. There are also moments of stubbornness, arrogance and infidelity on his part. To the dismay of another portion of moviegoers, Lyndon B Johnson gets the same treatment, as he trivializes King's movement into three words, "this...voting thing" and repeatedly reiterates to J Edgar Hoover that he prefers King over their civil rights movement as opposed to any more Malcolm X types.
There are many powerful scenes in this film such as Annie Lee Cooper attempting to register to vote and being administered Black Literacy Tests much like ones used in Alabama and Lousiana during that era. By the way, you will be timed on those. The Bloody Sunday scene on Edmund Pettus Bridge is also powerful as it made the nation aware of the lack of humanity based on melanin. How coincidental considering who the bridge was named for. Perhaps the most powerful scene for myself is an earlier dialog between Martin and Lyndon in the Oval Office. It is here that King tells Johnson that it CAN'T wait. That a major key to equal rights under the law is voting, which can give Blacks the power to control legislation, elect officials and serve on juries which is key to justice. Powerful for me because that right was pounded into my head as the generation ONLY previous to mine literally fought and died for it, yet it is STILL underutilized throughout my community nationwide. Then again, that's MY perspective.
I remember the tension at work the night Barack Obama was elected as the first Black President of The United States of America. The following weeks of conversation showed me who were Democrats, Republicans and who just didn't like the thought of a Black man heading the most powerful country in the world. I also remember a whimsical observation of a friend of mine once. He said, his daughter, who is very smart has ONLY EVER known a Black President. That's kinda cool. I trust he and his wife to make sure that she understands what it took to get there. Part of that journey is allowing her to see Selma, letting her know that recent events such as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant and others signify that in many ways we are STILL walking...
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