Biz of Film
Miyah Stewart
While the South was constitutionally segregated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation was already prevalent in some areas, rendering it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, the battleground of the struggle for suffrage became the city of Alabama. Selma shows the story of Martin Luther King , who is played by David Oyelowo, at the height of the civil rights movement when he organizes the famed marches. Selma, to be honest, is a decent film. It’s not a terrific movie, but it’s decent. Despite feeling like a bit of a miscast, David Oyelowo gives a fine performance as MLK, but it is not enough to maintain interest in his character, which is shameful given the great and brilliant man he portrays. I honestly think that they should have cast someone else more interesting, but I’m not taking anything from David Oyelowo, he played the part very well. Before watching the film, I already had previous knowledge of what had gone down in Selma, Alabama. My grandfather had marched with the King front line. He never misses an opportunity to tell us about the things he saw and the fear those people felt. Seeing it on film, made me feel connected to all of those people. It made me confused, and at one point I felt anger and sadness as I did when watching Queen and Slim. Even till this day, I wake up not knowing how someone will react to my skin color or how I will be treated for having the skin color that I do. With that being said, I cannot even begin to imagine how blacks felt during that time period. Racism was much more open and it wasn’t really seen as an issue to those who were not being affected by it. Overall, I enjoyed the film and how the director’s choice to tell it. Although, there were some parts added to make the film more interesting, I really enjoyed it
Biz Of Film 