Selma, Lord, Selma

I wanted to rent this movie because I am writing a story for pre-teens/teens about some of the struggles of blacks in the 1960s. I was very touched by this movie. All the acting was good, the story, based on truth, was interesting. I really got caught up in the people's lives, feeling their pain and longing, sorrowful (almost crying) at the injustice and mean things many white people did. They gave a good balance, though, by showing the white preacher (Jonathan) who was helping the blacks (he was an actual person). This is a good clean family movie, with some violence, but nothing graphic. It was thought-provoking, too--would I be brave enough to stand up for right in the midst of adversity?

I watched this movie on the Disney Channel recently and was outraged at the portrayal of the murder of the young Episcopal seminarian, Jonathan Daniels. The movie showed him being shot while alone on a side street in Selma. In reality he was killed in Haynesville in an attack on a group of civil rights workers. Jonathan was killed by a shotgun as he pushed Ruby Sales out of the line of fire. A Roman Catholic priest was wounded in the attack. The Disney version does a great injustice to Jonathan's memory and to the herorism of the priest who was wounded.

Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep" is a true masterpiece--an unsentimental look at ghetto life, rich in detail, marvelously flirting with an unexpected and regarding nonnarrative structure. "Selma, Lord, Selma" doesn't offer the same joys--it too obviously is a television project, with clearly identifiable "good guys" and "bad guys" and a strong sentimental thrust. Burnett seems to have been forced into removing the subtleties of the historical events he portrays by the limits of working with Disney. In the end, this movie is greatly affecting--it is hard to watch it with dry eyes--but it is not likely to make someone who isn't ignorant of the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. to think about the events in a new light.

I am a teacher in an alternative school in the Southeastern US. As part of Black History Month, I showed this movie to my students, then had them read other IMDb comments and make their own. Here are some of their comments. (Unfortunately, because of school policy, none of the students can be identified by name.)

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I think people should rent this movie because it is based on a true story and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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This is a good movie because there is not a lot of blood and gore for young children to see (teacher's note: there is none at all). This is also a good movie because it is educational and good for inspiration in people's lives.

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The movie was very good...it had a great meaning to it.

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I thought this docudrama was a diamond in the rough for a Disney movie. Even though the story was not exactly what happened in real life, they managed to get some good acting and a respectable portrayal of MLK. The portrayal of Jonathan Daniels was off key, though they managed to portray him as he was somewhat. This movie gets 7/10 stars.

A wonderful film for pre-teens. (Those who have and are reading of the struggles of African American's during the M.L.K times.) It is sad, yet with hope! And a great turn for (usual bad guy!)character actor Clifton Powell as M.L.K!