Selma
Today is a holiday, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
So yesterday we saw the movie Selma.
The plot of the movie concerns the events in Selma, Alabama in 1965. Dr. King went to Selma to lead a protest march in support of legislation which would ultimately be called the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was a violent time in American history, and the movie is not shy about portraying the violence.
The movie begins with Dr. King accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1964.
Juxtaposed with this image of peace is a scene in a church. A group of African American girls are walking through the church, chatting about hairstyles...I knew what was going to happen, I remembered about the 1963 Birmingham church bombing ... Still, I jumped when the explosion came...
Overall I thought the movie accuratly portrayed the history and captured the mood of the Civil Rights movement. Like many, I was not happy with the portrayal of LBJ as obstructing the legislation, when in fact he raised the concept of voting rights legislation prior to the events in Selma.
And I was surprised to learn that Malcolm X played a role in the events in Selma, showing up in support of King just 3 weeks before Malcolm X was killed.
Interesting exchange between LBJ and George Wallace. Johnson tells Wallace to think about how they'll be remembered in 1985, when they will both be dead and gone.
Definitely worth seeing, both for the historical importance and the moving performances.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
So yesterday we saw the movie Selma.
The plot of the movie concerns the events in Selma, Alabama in 1965. Dr. King went to Selma to lead a protest march in support of legislation which would ultimately be called the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was a violent time in American history, and the movie is not shy about portraying the violence.
The movie begins with Dr. King accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1964.
Juxtaposed with this image of peace is a scene in a church. A group of African American girls are walking through the church, chatting about hairstyles...I knew what was going to happen, I remembered about the 1963 Birmingham church bombing ... Still, I jumped when the explosion came...
Overall I thought the movie accuratly portrayed the history and captured the mood of the Civil Rights movement. Like many, I was not happy with the portrayal of LBJ as obstructing the legislation, when in fact he raised the concept of voting rights legislation prior to the events in Selma.
And I was surprised to learn that Malcolm X played a role in the events in Selma, showing up in support of King just 3 weeks before Malcolm X was killed.
Interesting exchange between LBJ and George Wallace. Johnson tells Wallace to think about how they'll be remembered in 1985, when they will both be dead and gone.
Definitely worth seeing, both for the historical importance and the moving performances.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Comments
Post a Comment