No film seems quite as relevant or crucial in regard to today’s battle for equality as “Selma,” the biopic that traces the struggles of Martin Luther King Jr. and fellow activists in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to secure tangible voting rights for black people.
With an overwhelming appeal to emotion, “Selma,” directed by Ava DuVernay (the first black female director to ever be nominated for a Golden Globe), presents us with the terrible and honest events leading up to the march. It is quite a tearjerker, but also a reminder that the tragic events, rendered in an unbelievably graphic and realistic manner by today’s cinematic standards, closely mirror recent images of police brutality. Despite the hope that “Selma” gives us, the violence it depicts is only a reminder of how much there still is to overcome in America today.
With protests cropping up throughout the country in response to the court cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, young and inspired revolutionaries are begging for a change in the way our legal justice system sees and treats young black men. By mulling over the political roots of today’s injustices, “Selma” gives us a reason to believe that our current vision of equality is highly flawed and in need of immediate revision.
King’s incredible intelligence and oratory skills are represented with complete and uncanny perfection by David Oyelowo (“A Most Violent Year”). If anything, the movie deserves undivided attention for the reimagined-in-crystal-clear-HD speeches that made this man so legendary and were so crucial in galvanizing the masses.
It’s not only the speeches that make the actor’s representation so real and magnifying, but also the one-on-one conversations that underscore his own trials and tribulations. The often-heated and dramatic dialogue between King and President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson, “Good People”) on the issue of black people’s voting rights leave little to be desired; Dr. King presses a man of power into the corner of his own moral ineptitude.
Historians have disputed “Selma’s” portrayal of this relationship, arguing that LBJ wasn’t quite as big of an asshole as the film made him seem. Most commentators argue, based on a recorded phone call between the two, that Johnson actually worked with King to bring about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and that their relationship was relatively amicable.
Despite any creative liberty taken, it’s easy to see DuVernay’s point in making LBJ an enemy of the Civil Rights struggle. Even if his impenetrable nature and apathetic outlook was dramatized, it was only to show — with cinematic flair — the political barriers faced by black Americans were practically insurmountable, and reached the very top of the political sphere. It took prolonged force and perseverance for King and his allies to overcome a system incapable of seeing justice.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes of the film captured the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Stanfield, “The Purge: Anarchy”), a young man who was brutally beaten and shot in a small town restaurant in Alabama after engaging in a peaceful protest. Returning to this scene, as well as the audience reaction of highly vocal disbelief, comes with a realization of how close this occurrence is to the modern day experience of black Americans. Although “Selma” focuses on the struggle to obtain voting rights in the American South, this is simply a stale bureaucratic example of the overall pursuit for equality in a political system that doesn’t appear to care about needless violence against the black community.
DuVernay captures the solidarity of the Civil Rights movement with an elegant and artistic ease, crafting powerful scenes like that of dignified men and women linked arm-in-arm, set to motion by pivotal background music. With the Edmund Pettus Bridge overlooking the action, black citizens — joined by white advocates — lead the way to their own freedom, regardless of the crude weapons and hateful faces that line their path. Rapper Common and singer-songwriter John Legend won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “Glory,” a soulful part-ballad, part-rap anthem proclaiming “Selma is now.”
Despite flaws in historical accuracy, “Selma” is a testament to the power of art in times of social unrest. By revealing the suffering of innocent people and their struggle in times of doubt and uncertainty, “Selma” attempts to tear at the foundations of ignorance and hatred that still plague American society today.
Led by the inspiring words King employed in Selma nearly 50 years ago, “This right here, is the next great battle,” citizens will continue to fight for equality for all.
