Ava Duvernay's Selma Film Analysis

Ava DuVernay’s Selma tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Freedom Marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to secure voting rights for African Americans. Having come out in 2014, Although any historical film is an interpretation of history, this movie accurately depicted what African Americans went through. The first scene introduces Annie Lee Cooper who was denied the right to vote after not being able to name the 67 county judges in Alabama. This was one of the many real requirements meant to restrict blacks from voting. In the film, she was asked to Cooper later joined the movement after becoming inspired after one of MLK’s speeches at Brown Chapel Church. Although minute details about events were accurate, many critics have been questioning if the representation of President Lyndon B. Johnson. In the film, Johnson is depicted as …show more content…
However, due to his speeches remaining under copyright, all of his distinctive phrases had to be rewritten. As the director, DuVernay said that her “goal was to capture the complexity of every character in the film, including King, who is hardly portrayed as a flawless saint.” By revealing his flaws as well as his strengths, the film portrays him as a hero rather than a perfect leader. The movie includes scenes which acknowledges his affairs after the FBI sends an audiotape to Coretta. The FBI did actually send tapes like these to the family in order to make him lose his reputation. Other sides of King’s life was shown when in jail after the first Selma protest. He states to Ralph Abernathy about how he was concerned about how men have been beaten and broken down for generation. “So what happens when they say that’s enough? They stand up to be struck down.” The was worried that white supremacists would “ruin [him] so they can ruin this movement.” Moments like these really give the viewer a peek into MLK’s mind and to the insecurities that he