Selma Movie Analysis

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Ava DuVernay’s 2014 film, Selma is a powerful piece of cinematography that captures the civil rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. King and his followers aimed to advance equal voting rights for African Americans through non-violent protests and activism in 1965. The film also depicts Reverend King’s relationship and discussions with President Lyndon B. Johnson regarding possible solutions to the racial conflicts in the state of Alabama. I believe that the film portrayed Johnson fairly considering his political struggle with Congress while confronting the immense pressure of Dr. King’s voting rights campaign and legislative demands. Johnson’s hesitant stance towards voting rights is justified by King and Johnson highlights the president’s reluctance to act on the voting rights demands of the Reverend. Johnson points out that civil rights agenda has always been the priority of his administration. Yet, he explains that the eradication of poverty for all Americans is his current focus and urges Dr. King to “not start another battle when we haven’t even won the first.” (DuVernay) Government is a bureaucratic intensive process requiring gradual steps and procedures to function. Tackling too many issues may become problematic for a government because it creates congestion and inefficiency. Johnson’s governmental position requires him to appeal to these procedures to maintain order. On the other hand, Johnson expressed to Dr. King that “I want to help. Tell me how.” (DuVernay) Dr. King's request that African Americans be given the ability to vote without federal or state intervention. Ultimately, Johnson is portrayed as a government official that is not familiar with grass-roots activism efforts and the day-to-day experiences of the black community that deal with systemic racism. His portrayal as an unsympathetic government official is critical to understanding distinctions between civil rights leaders and Johnson states that his legislative agenda does not give him the ability to pass the Voting Rights Act in 1965 because “You’re an activist, I am a politician. You have one big issue. I’ve got a hundred and one.” (DuVernay) Selma underlines that presidential responsibilities are complicated and unique in their own respect. The president has to be given some time to accomplish his goals due to the size of his agenda. Johnson also states that “This bill has been almost impossible to craft you hear me? You think your juggling; I’m juggling too.” (DuVernay) Once again, Johnson display of frustration towards the impatient demands of Dr. King is due to his heavy workload. Dr. King’s demands come from a civilian and activist perspective, which stress the importance of immediate change. Dr. King possesses the activism expertise and civil rights experiences to implement change. Yet, he may not be completely familiarized with how the governmental system utilizes political strategies and bill sequencing to implement change within society. In actuality, Johnson did not think that the voting act was not necessary it’s just that he was just strategically planning when the bill was going to be

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