The Great Debaters Analysis

700 Words2 Pages

The Great Debaters is an American biographical drama directed by Denzel Washington in 2007. It tells the story of a persistent teacher, Melvin Tolson, who tries to make an elite team for debates of the small group of students at Wiley College. In the end, they will face and fight the invincible debate team from Harvard. The Great Debaters is a great example of an intellectual movie which reveals many social and moral issues and states the problem of racial discrimination on the background of the United States of the 1930s.
The Great Debaters is a motion picture, which reveals many problems, despite the straightforwardness of the main plot. It is an unquestionable advantage for the film since it expresses the quality of screenwriters. That is
To state the key arguments in narrow time frames is huge pressure. However, in the film, the characters easily operate with the quotes meanwhile an ordinary student is often focused on the problem under time pressure. Particularly, the team's performance causes restrained emotions because a spectator reacts to the environment and social background to a greater extent. This point can be marked as a disadvantage since due to the title and annotation one expects intriguing verbal battles and intellectual challenge on social issues. The film by Washington can be noted for a great style. Thanks to scenery, costumes and details it was able to convey an authentical atmosphere of the United States of the 1930s.
The Great Debaters is a wonderful experience for the speaker, an example of a multicultural approach for the sociologist; an excellent fragment from the history for the historian. The theme of racial discrimination will be relevant in all times and in any country. Also, the movie makes us think about the mistakes of society as a whole, about the herd mentality of people, ie, the fact that if it is a choice of the majority, it does not mean that it is correct. Although it is hard to say that the team of Wiley University melt the ice of racial prejudice in this context, but for sure the film presents a great

Open Document