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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Selma (Best Picture Nominee #3)



The film Selma isn't good. In fact, it's poor. Most of the reason for this is Ava DuVernay, the director of the picture. In looking at her past credits, it's clear why the movie is so uneven. The pacing is horrible and the story is more interesting if you just go out and watch a documentary like Freedom Riders.

The historical accuracy is Selma is also way off. Lyndon Johnson is played as an inept villain who seemingly tried to block the Voter's Rights Act from being passed. That never fucking happened. I'm no Johnson fan and think, in fact, that he was our nation's worst president but get the guy right, for pete's sake.

Don't waste your time with this film.

1 comment:

GuardDuck said...

Haven't seen the movie yet, so I don't know exactly how this is portrayed. But:

but, as the historian notes, Johnson did delay pursuing the Voting Rights Act until he was certain it could pass. In a movie about Johnson, the nuance as to why he did what he did might be vital; in a movie that centers the experience of the demonstrators in Selma, however, it’s significantly less so.
Does "Selma" Get LBJ Wrong?