<h2>Selma Review</h2>
Selma Is A Must Watch Film: Long Live The Spirit Of The Good Reverend.
The first time I ever heard of Martin Luther King Jr I think I was 14, I was listening to a Joburg based youth radio station called YFM, if my memory serves me right, I believe the show was called The Kamakaze Heat with Rudeboy Paul and Unathi, and Unathi had said something profound about black history and black leadership, at the end of that link she screamed : “oh man…Martin Luther King Jr, I should have been your spokesperson”. So with a tinge of concern I tried to find out from my peers and my illeterate-but-so-ever-wise grand mother who Martin Luther King Jr was, and no one knew, we didn’t have Google back then, and growing up in a far away village in Limpopo called Zebediela, we didn’t have electricity, let alone televisions and smart phones (we still don’t have electricity thanks to the shenanigans at Eskom, I am sure the good Reverend must be turning in his grave, seeing that governments are still letting their people down). Eventually my youngest uncle told me in a raucous manner that Martin Luther King was that “I have a dream…guy”.
Now, trust me when I say Selma will sure be educational to many without being an obligate history class. The film portrays Martin Luther King Jr in a different light, it doesn’t celebrate his allure as a legion of his admirers might have prefered. But, rather this film shows us a Martin Luther King Jr who is a cheat and a man struggling with trepidationion and self doubt, a juxtaposition between family intimacy and grassroot activism. Cynics have said this film is too sugar coated to be believable but I guess that’s because this film shows us a Martin Luther King Jr we were not aware of, either that or they are referring to the subtle and nonchalant way his wife (played by British actress Carmen Ejogo) confronts him about his marital infidelity, I must admit that, that scene is a bit like…uhm..really?
Martin Luther King Jr is played by the brilliant Nigerian-British actor David Oyelowo and his performance is nothing short of razor sharp, how and why he got snubbed for Best Actor at the Oscars beats me. His gripping performance delineates how one man was able to inspire a people too scared in their subjugation to revolt. The cast is ideal, even Oprah Winfrey is outstanding as Annie Lee Cooper, the music is moving, the cinematography is brilliant, I haven’t seen black actors so well lit in a while.
The timing is perfect, because in all honesty, America is yet to achieve the ideals that Dr King’s work and commitment to social justice embodied, not when kids like Trayvon Martin are still butchered because of racial hatred, not when J Cole and Kendrick Lamar still find a need to record songs like “Be Free” and “The Blacker The Berry” respectively. Another notable performance is by Tom Wilkinson who plays President Lyndyn B Johnson, a cumbersome man who looked grandular with melancholy. Henry G Sanders is also superb, he plays Jimmie Lee Jackson’s grand father, shout out to Keith Stanfield as well, he plays Jimmie Lee Jackson (I take it you know who Jimmie Lee Jackson is because it’s February, meaning it’s Black History Month).
Ok, so maybe we are still far from achieving the utopia that Jesus Christ and Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela had envisaged, where the sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners are able to sit together at a table of brotherhood, but we can get there, films like Selma serve to remind us of the work that we must all still put in, until we live in a world were children are not judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. This is stellar film, I think you should go see it, at the cinema particularly, it’s a better experience. A special shout out to the Director, Ava DuVernay, in the past she directed Middle Of Nowhere, also starring David Oyelowo, I hope this marks a lifelong-fruitful collaboration between the two. Amandla.