THIS IS NOT FUNNY: I just saw Selma yesterday and was incredibly moved. Not just because I am black, hell anyone who knows me knows that my blackness is constantly challenged by white and black people alike, but because it is probably one of the most inspiring and socially relevant movies I have ever seen. People are marching in the streets today, as in 1965, because there is a need to protest injustice. Selma puts this expression of collective moral striving into context. That is to say that what is going on today stems from a history of systematic oppression that extends through the civil rights era, through a horrifically enslaved arrival, and beyond. Placing these issues into context is important so people in society do not view what is going on around them as isolated events born of nothing. Along with humanizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in general, Selma also illuminates the history of unchecked, unrestrained, and unpunished police brutality in America. This is one of the most important issues we have been dealing with on mass for the past year and to have artists who have created such a masterpiece to address that issue disregarded is truly a disservice to society. Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo are two artists who deserved to be recognized for their extraordinary achievement. Ive seen all the other movies. And while I think it deserves to win in all categories due to its social relevancy, at the very least these two deserve artists deserved to have been nominated in their respective categories. I could write an entire essay about this issue. Ha! I have written essays about this. But I guess I just read this and it really infuriated me. It made me think about how black actors only get awards for perpetuating negative stereotypes which are culturally unsustainable. It made me think of how narrow black people are perceived to be. It made me think about how these issues need to be at the forefront. And it made me angry that there is a force that is either consciously or ignorantly standing in the way of social progress. But it also made me want to get involved in some way. So I guess that is something.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:11:46 +0000
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