Many millions of people try very hard every day to do good in this world. It's easy to forget that when we're accustomed to paying more attention to violence and hate. But I believe that in the end love and good are stronger than hate and evil. Hate can and does kill, definitely, but love and hope aren't based in the body--they're based in the spirit, and they can't be destroyed, even in death.
Martin Luther King Jr. understood this, and although his life was cut short by an assassin's bullet, he is proof that love and hope go on after death. His life, his words, his actions, and his memory inspire us today, even in the face of ugly racism and prejudice that still exist. King wasn't a typical man, or even a typical activist. He had something else. It almost seems as though King was touched by the very hand of God.
And so I was very happy that Selma, one of the few biopics to tackle King's legacy, handled his story (or rather, a small portion of his story) with grace and accuracy (for the most part). If you're going to make a film about the greatest American Civil Rights activist, you better not fuck it up.
Instead of tackling his entire life, director Ava DuVernay focuses on the months leading up to and during the march King lead from Selma, AL to Montgomery as a non-violent form of resistance against racist (and illegal) restrictions on voting in the area. This was a pivotal time in American history: President Johnson had already signed the Civil Rights Act the summer before the marches, but certain areas of the south still put up barriers to prevent black Americans from voting. The march at Selma (and pressure from King) spurred Johnson to push through the Voting Rights Act, which became law in July of that year (1965).
King and Johnson's relationship is the one aspect of Selma that's been called into question by many people, including one of King's fellow activists, Andrew Young. Young spoke out saying the film was very accurate to what happened in real life, except that Johnson was more on board with the Civil Rights Movement and had a less tenuous relationship with King than the film suggests. Selma indicates that Johnson (played with a touch of comic relief by Tom Wilkinson) wasn't fully on board with King until after he meets with the repulsive Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth, clearly eating up his role as racist asshole supreme in the few scenes he has). Even if this portrayal of Johnson isn't 100% accurate, the scenes with King and Johnson and Wallace and Johnson, are some of the best in the film.
Other scenes, such as the second attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, are so powerful they sent chills down my spine. When the first attempt to march ends with Selma police beating the shit out of the marchers, King makes a call to people--particularly clergy--everywhere to come to Selma and try to march again. And answer the call they did: 8,000 people began the march in Selma, and by the time they reached Montgomery, there were 25,000 folks as part of the campaign (by the way, much thanks to Wikipedia for helping me with all these details!). Seeing nuns, priests, blacks, whites, women, and men all together in support of equal voting rights...well, powerful is an understatement.
David Oyelowo gives a spot-on performance as King, and it's fucking insane that he (and DuVernay) wasn't nominated for an Oscar. He captures King's cadence, accent, and mannerisms perfectly (based on my knowledge of footage I've seen of King). King struck me as someone both intellectual and down to earth, gentle yet unusually magnetic. He was obviously a very rare kind of leader who not only inspired people to take action, but kept them from acting out in violence with only his words and vision. I'm not sure we'll ever have another leader like King.
The only issues I had with Selma were the few problems typical to historical biopics. There was awkward name-dropping ("J. Edgar, what do you think about this?", etc) and a whole lot of speechifyin' (makes sense, given that King was an amazing speaker). More telling than showing in a few cases. The song that plays over the closing credits, which was nominated for Best Original Song, seemed anachronistic and out of place. But other than those few quibbles, the movie is excellent.
I have to say, though, that Selma didn't pack near the emotional punch as another film that looks at the black experience in American history: 12 Years a Slave (which, yes, I've promoted a billion time on this blog. Seriously, see it) had a far deeper emotional impact on me last year. Granted, as harrowing a story of the struggle for equal voting rights is, it has nothing on the sheer horror of slavery. Still, Selma could have been a touch less emotionally distant.
Overall, Selma is an excellent film that focuses on a small part of the decades-long struggle for civil rights so that the modern viewer can experience the depth of hatred and ignorance--and the triumph of community and equality. To paraphrase King: the arc of the moral universe is indeed long, but it does bend towards justice.
A
King (center) at Selma with John Lewis, Jesse Douglas, James Forman, and Ralph Abernathy (courtesy history.com)
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