4 Little Girls

Thanks to Spike Lee for telling this story in such a compelling manner. However, the use of the autopsy photos was so unnecessary. The horror of the event is evoked clearly by the lines on the faces of the survivors, and in their voices. I know the intent was to nail the point home, but for me, as a parent, seeing and hearing the story told by the family was almost too much to take in all at once.

Spike Lee did an excellent job with this documentary. I too, was extremely shocked that it did not win the Oscar the year it was nominated. One of the victims was my cousin, my fathers favorite niece at that. Growing up and learning about this tragedy first hand was very enlightening and yet tragic all at the same time. This film definitely captures the pain and suffering of my family and of the entire black community that lived through such racially biased times in Birmingham, Alabama. I think that this film should be seen by all, and not just during Black History month. In my opinion, there is no justification for the actions of those involved and it took some time and patience but they too had to pay for their crimes.

Spike Lee's documentary about the horrible 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that claimed the lives of four young girls. As a documentary, it achieves everything it should: it informs us, it moves us, and it reminds us of the evil that we Americans have in our past, and still have today. "Never forget", indeed. It goes without saying that this was an awful act of hatred and bigotry, its impact still sharply felt by friends and family of the victims. There is one amusing moment: a clip of George Wallace, years after the fact, trotting out his black "best friend" for the world to see, and the man clearly has contempt for Wallace. Speaking of trotting out, however, I question the need for Bill Cosby to chime in, or Jesse Jackson for that matter. There are plenty of articulate and interesting interviewees already involved without pulling in a couple of celebrity pals. It pulled me out of the film for a moment. Other than that, however, a strong and memorable film.

...Everytime you see the oscars, the movies about the holocaust win the awards. Spike's movie lost out to a holocaust documentary that year. And I finally saw it with my own eyes. Hollywood sucks. This movie should have won the oscar for best documentary that year.

I watched this documentary yesterday afternoon. I remember learning about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (its importance in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s) but I never saw how the effects on the people whose lives were permanently altered and not just from reaping the benefits like we do today. This documentary opened showed this viewpoint.

It brought tears to my eyes to listen and see the relatives of those four girls who were killed. Unless you have a blind eye, a deaf ear, and a hard-a** heart, it is impossible to not be moved when you see these girls' sisters and mothers describe that Sunday morning when Addie, Denise, Maxine, and Carole were killed. I could see the hurt in the mothers' eyes and hear pain in their voices when talking about their babies.

I highly recommend watching this documentary. Spike Lee did an outstanding job.