BEFORE: Well, November's already been a challenging month, there have been at least three sociopathic teens, one of whom was Jeffrey Dahmer, and also a kid claiming to be a wife's dead husband, so that happened. But on the plus side, teen Barack Obama grew up to be President, I hear. Plus we had a Russian bride and her scamming Russian friends, a corrupt NYC mayor (aren't they all?), and tons of bad luck down on a cotton farm. Dakota Johnson tried to cut it as a record producer, and Mark Wahlberg tried to cut it as a drug-free smuggler. And it's not over yet, tonight I'm back on the never-ending civil rights struggle, but just five films to go after this before Thanksgiving. I should reach my next mark before we drive up to Massachusetts, but if not, the last film's on Hulu so I can watch that remotely. Then I'll try to squeeze in one or two more films before December starts.
Anne Heche carries over from "My Friend Dahmer".
THE PLOT: Civil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, over the issue of school integration in 1971 Durham, North Carolina.
AFTER: I guess all of the civil rights battles were important, from Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat, to MLK's marches on Selma and Washington, and the "I have a dream" speech to Malcolm X's umm, moments, which I can't really remember right now. I guess this film wants me to realize that there were lots of little moments along the way, too, like integrating Durham, NC schools, which in 1971 were still separated by race. They apparently didn't get the memo in the 1950's and were still very set in their ways, until a fire closed down the black school and integration became necessary to provide all students with an education. Because there were simply no other buildings in the Durham area that could have been turned into a school, I guess?
I mean, I know you can't build a building overnight, but there must have been some other option, like turning a warehouse or an old shopping center into a school, instead of having a 6-month legal battle over what to do. Look, I'm pro-integration, I'm glad it happened, every cloud has a silver lining, so the fire was a disaster that was also an opportunity to integrate, but if there's a segment of the community that's dead-set against it, and you want to get the kids back into school and learning as soon as possible, I'm not sure that a protracted debate is the quickest solution, that's all I'm saying. Yes, now we have computers and tablets and Zoom and remote learning, we're blessed with technology that wasn't available in 1971 - but back then, was this REALLY the quickest option, to get black people and white people on a committee to determine the best course of action to present to the council? While a suggestion like "Hey, let's convert that sports stadium or that deserted molasses factory into a makeshift school..." could be acted on much more quickly. I'm just saying. This way the African-American kids could be learning again before they're three grades behind.
Change takes time, I was just listening to a Q&A the other day after a documentary about boycotts, and they referenced how long the anti-apartheid boycott took, after other countries divested in South Africa it took a few years before the economic impact of the boycott had an impact and forced the issue. Now the same process is going on with Israel, and there are companies that have divested from Israel, and then there are boycotts against those companies, and then there's another movement to have THOSE boycotts declared illegal, which is a bunch of B.S. because capitalism states that money talks, and a boycott is a form of protected speech, in a way, as everyone's free to spend (or not spend) money in support of whatever cause they choose (umm, except supporting Nazis or racism, I guess). Besides, if you run a company that boycotts Israel, how can you be against a boycott of the boycotters, aka an anti-anti-Israel boycott? It seems hypocritical to only support the boycott when it isn't against YOU.
I bring this up because one of the lead characters here runs a gas station, but is also a leader of the local KKK chapter, which means that he won't sell gas to black people, on principle. He hates black people so much that he refuses to acknowledge them as potential customers, though doing so hurts his business, he could be making twice as much money as he does, and the trouble there is that you can't spend your pride. He's got this completely backwards, if he hates black people he should be even MORE eager to take their money, hell, if he hates black people he should jump at the chance to sell to them, and try to charge them double, right? That would make more sense, this is like cutting off his own legs and then complaining about not being able to walk around. It's one thing to be ignorant, but as they say, you can't fix stupid.
Remember a few years ago, during the before-times, when gay marriage became a thing? A few states were ahead of the curve, and then some lawsuits were filed against gay marriage, which pushed the whole thing up to the Supreme Court - and that kind of backfired, because the ruling was that marriage for straights only was a form of discrimination, so suddenly it had to be available to everyone, across the whole country? That should have been an economic boon for banquet halls, tux & gown rentals, caterers and wedding planners because suddenly TWICE as many people getting married (theoretically, OK, maybe it was just like 1/3 more people...). But there were some people who didn't get the memo, like that county clerk who wouldn't approve gay marriages, even though that was now her JOB, and several bakers who wouldn't make cakes for gay weddings. WHAT? Why are you suddenly against making more money? The gays are getting married, you should be jumping at the change to make more cakes at exorbitant prices than you were before? You can stand on principles, but you just won't get rich that way - AND you'll get so much backlash for being homophobic you could then get boycotted and go out of business entirely. Well, at least you'll still have your principles.
Back in 1971, the Durhamites brought in a mediation expert, who formed a charrette to discuss the issue and come up with the best solution. This was like a two-week think tank with white people and black people divided into discussion groups, and forced to sit next to each other and realize that the people with differently colored skin are also, duh, people. The black people ask to hold Gospel music sessions at the end of every day, but in exchange for that, the white people ask for the right to distribute KKK literature. Yeah, this should go well.
Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis are on opposite sides of this issue, two of the more vocal and active members, but one's a black-tivist and the other's a Klan Cyclops. When forced to become lunch partners during the charrette, will they each be able to see the other side of the argument, to see the other person as a human, can they work together to achieve some kind of common goal, or if not, at least an understanding? Well, we know the school eventually got integrated, so it's not much of a mystery, but at least it's nice to see people change their thinking, or at least accept change after being set in their ways for so long. I guess maybe even the small victories are important, too, if they lead to progress. Obviously, Jared Kushner was never going to bring peace to the Middle East, but maybe, someday, someone competent will.
Also starring Taraji P. Henson (last seen in "Smokin' Aces"), Sam Rockwell (last heard in "Trolls World Tour"), Wes Bentley (last seen in "Beloved"), Babou Ceesay (last seen in "Eye in the Sky"), Bruce McGill (last seen in "The Lookout"), John Gallagher Jr. (last seen in "10 Cloverfield Lane"), Nick Searcy (last seen in "The Ugly Truth"), Sope Aluko (last seen in "Venom"), Carson Holmes (last seen in "Instant Family"), Nicholas Logan (last seen in "I Care a Lot"), Gilbert Glenn Brown, Caitlin Mehner (last seen in "Ocean's Eight"), Dolan Wilson (last seen in "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"), Kendall Ryan Sanders, Chris Cavalier (last seen in "Life of the Party"), Ryan Dinning (last seen in "Just Mercy"), Tim Ware (ditto), David Plunkett, Al Hamacher, McKenzie Applegate, Brody Rose (last seen in "Gifted"), Kevin Iannucci, Nadej K. Bailey, Susan Williams (last seen in "The Accountant"), Jessica Miesel (last seen in "Hillbilly Elegy"), Ned Vaughn, Dawntavia Bullard (last seen in "Den of Thieves"), Elizabeth Omilami, Arin Logan, Kameron Kierce, Charles A. Black, Aaron K Smalls, Bart Hansard, Jeremy Daniel Madden (last seen in "The Founder"), Morgan Brown, Robert Harvey (last seen in "Stuber"), Cranston Johnson, Afemo Omilami, Jack Montague, Chanté Bowser, Rhoda Griffis (last seen in "The Rage: Carrie 2"), Shane Jackson, Michael H. Cole (last seen in "The Devil All the Time"), Annie Cook (last seen in "Irresistible"), Rae Olivier.
RATING: 6 out of 10 glasses of sweet tea
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