Selma (2014) is a very powerful movie that reminded me how deep-rooted the issues of racism is in the United States, and how brave leaders have emerged to tackle it. By focusing on one key event in civil rights movement among many others, the movie was able to give a very detailed picture for better historical accuracy.
In the movie, Martin Luther King. Jr., leads a demonstration with thousands of people — only Black locals at first, but adding in white allies after then — who marched from Selma to Montgomery in search for equal voting rights. It depicts Dr. King as he evaluates benefits and risks associated with the march, gets incarcerated, gets condemned for his inability to continue the march, makes a uniting speech, and finally makes worthwhile changes happen. As I study about community action and social change, I am inspired by his ability to evaluate the situation and decide what is the best, unafraid of attacks he may receive for his opinions or actions. Although Dr. King is not an easy character to be acted out, David Oyelowo played this role with much-needed dignity and determination. Other actors actors, including Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Keith Stanfield, E. Roger Mitchell, and many others as well as the hundreds of extras in the march scenes, really made the movie impactful.
There was a lot of depictions of violence, from people getting beaten up to police spraying tear gas all over. While these images can be triggering to some audience (I was surprised that it wasn’t rated R), I think it was necessary to include these. It is difficult, if not impossible, to talk about Black rights movement without mentioning multitudes of violence done on them.
Overall, I was very glad I watched this movie. Many friends of mine went as well, and I appreciated that we were able to spark a conversation on civil rights movement and racism based on the movie. If you have not been to Selma yet, I highly recommend it. You can find the showtimes at the State Theater here.
