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| Selma 2015 |
"But Peter plus the other apostles answered and said: “We really should obey God as opposed to men."
Acts 5:29
Regular readers defintely won't be surprised to understand that a film which gave the U.T. administration a conniption fit caught our attention. Furthermore, we be aware of the need to set the historical record straight about Lyndon Johnson. Ava Duvernay's masterpiece, Selma, isn't going to disappoint.
Selma catalogs the 1965 campaign created to make voting rights too politically hot for Lyndon Johnson to ignore. At any time, despite passage from the 1964 Civil Rights act (which Johnson obstructed in 1957), local officials in Dixiecrat states enacted absurdly high barriers to voter registration. Johnson was determined to disregard the situation to ensure he could focus his political capital on creating new entitlements and expanding the war in Vietnam.
Martin Luther King Jr., who led the campaign, decided to stand in Selma for political reasons. The Dixiecrat county government, which controlled voter registration, was notoriously hostile to civil rights. At once, the image-conscious City of Selma was (relatively) sympathetic on the protesters (most of enough time). This dynamic enabled organizers to relocate (relatively) freely inside the city while putting together the county courthouse being a media friendly setting for any confrontation with Dixiecrat county sheriff Jim Clark (who controlled access towards the voter registration office). Nonetheless, King's presence had not been universally welcomed among local activists.
Selma uses FBI monitoring of King (originally ordered by Bobby Kennedy) to be a plot device. In the film, Lyndon Johnson specifically orders the FBI to learn "what Martin Luther King promises to do next." The film depicts events such as murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson (enabled by Dixiecrat Governor George Wallace), Turnaround Tuesday, and also the murder of James Reeb having a precision for the purpose a seven paragraph review canrrrt do justice. From the Dallas County Courthouse, towards the Edmund Pettus bridge, to your Alabama Statehouse, Selma illustrates King's masterful use in the court of public opinion. Eventually, needless to say, events on the surface forced Lyndon Johnson to go on King's issue.
Selma 2015
While Selma portrays King favorably, the film isn't hagiographic. The film deals openly with King's serial adultery. One in the most poignant scenes inside film depicts Coretta Scott King's heartbreak upon receiving evidence her husband's dalliances. Even here, however, the villany of Lyndon Johnson with the exceptional FBI can be seen. Johnson ordered the FBI to deliver the (illegally obtained) recording to King's wife within a (vain) try to intimidate King into abandoning the Selma campaign.
One artistic note: as well as it's moving plot, Selma's cinematography is spectacular. While the scenes where citizens were beaten were tragic, we were holding an artistic tour de force that leaves the viewer feeling like events are under 10 feet away. This author is only able to imagine the painstaking labor that went into finding costumes, props, and vehicles in step with this 1965 period piece.
Public opinion is among the most powerful weapon activists may use to change government policy. Unfortunately, additionally it is extremely difficult to mobilize. In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. with the exceptional allies masterfully choreographed their Alabama campaign to make a recalcitrant Lyndon Johnson to go on their issues. Ava Duvernay's Selma is important viewing for any individual serious about changing government policy. Make them check out heat until they understand the light. Selma 2015
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