When talking about this movie, you have to start by discussing the magnificent performance that David Oyelowo turns in as King. He is able to take a larger than life icon and turn him into a believable person. He makes us believe in the character as a husband, as a father, as “Uncle Marty,” as a reverend, as a leader, and as a man who has been worn down by an impossibly ambitious crusade against racial inequality. He is questioned, his faith is shaken, he loses his temper and verbally lashes out in anger, he doubts himself, he gets tired, he is unfaithful to wife. And yet, we never lose admiration for him. There are even times when I found myself questioning his methods, especially when he essentially baited the sheriff of Selma into attacking his unarmed followers in order to gain national attention. But through it all, Oyelowo is able to play King in a way that his mistakes and flaws make him human and inspiring. You get to see the other side of King and it makes him all the more impressive. He wasn’t a saint, he was a regular man that believed God had created all people equal.
Equally deserving of admiration is Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon Johnson. The scenes between Wilkinson and Oyelowo are simply fantastic. Wilkinson portrays LBJ as a president with too much on his plate, being pulled in countless directions. He views King as a threat to the peace he is so desperately trying to achieve. This is an important storyline in the movie and actually functions as the vehicle through which much of the film is told (FBI reports as they track King’s movements). In their shared scenes, Wilkinson refuses to back down, matching, and even at times besting, the power and intensity that Oyelowo brings. Because of Wilkinson’s performance, Johnson’s inaction isn’t perceived as apathy towards the black community, but rather as an intentional choice made to prevent the powder keg of civil unrest from exploding.
The supporting actors do a fine job of filling the story with sympathetic characters. When tragedy befalls them, you genuinely feel for them. Perhaps the best thing that can be said is that as a viewer, it’s almost easy to forget that Oprah Winfrey is in this movie. You have done a masterful job of crafting a compelling movie when you can overshadow Oprah.
What allows Selma to be truly relevant is its approach to the subject of race relations. The movie isn’t interested in delivering ham-fisted clichéd answers but rather focuses on raising deeply important questions; it doesn’t offer easy solutions but asks where you start when the whole system is broken. At times, MLK himself is overwhelmed by the question. His camp is divided, there’s conflict between the local group and King’s nationally focused followers. There’s even several scenes were others have to encourage King to keep going. The movie displays a variety of approaches and beliefs and allows the audience to discuss and decide the appropriate course of action.
The movie also makes a bold choice to highlight the common man as a symbol for universal struggle instead of showing the more historically significant deaths. The most poignant moments of the movie are when young, innocent people die. These deaths, and reaction to these deaths, are shown while the more notable death of Malcolm X is only mentioned (King’s death is only referenced by text). This elevates the story and actually makes it more relevant today. This isn’t the story of the death of Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. or Michael Brown or Eric Garner or James Reeb (a white supporter of the march from Selma to Birmingham); no, this is the story of America’s struggle to eliminate hate and inequality. It’s called Selma, not titled after MLK because the story is about the movement, not the man. Without making a clear statement about today’s situation (aside from Common’s reference to Ferguson in the end credit song “Glory”), the movie is able to remind you of the value of a human life.
Selma is a celebration of humanity and life. It is a timely reminder that people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They deserve the opportunity to exercise the rights granted to them as citizens of this country, whether that’s the right to vote or the right to a trial by a jury of their peers. Martin Luther King Jr. is shown as a man driven by his faith who found success because of his ability to see beyond the current situations. He saw the bigger picture and fought until his death to achieve that vision of equality. It becomes clear that we have yet to achieve that goal, but rather than condemning us for that, Selma simply encourages us to push past our fatigue and weariness in order to grow closer to someday fulfilling that dream.
