Selma Movie Review

Within this quote there are multiple metaphors that help bolden King’s thoughts: “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” “island of poverty,” and “vast ocean of material prosperity.” These metaphors explain how it still felt nearly impossible to end discrimination, and how Negroes are on their own with no support. The use of the metaphors display a deeper and stronger meaning to the topics that King was passionate about. These rhetorical devices brought to the non-colored portion of the audience’s attention of how difficult the life of a Negro was and that freeing the slaves one hundred years ago was not enough.

Subsequently, King exercises the strategy of pathos, the emotion appeal. In his statement, "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God\'s children". The great use of imagery with the contrast of light vs. dark here definitely draws audience’s attention. Moreover, by making references to the government as a "Bank of Justice" that gave African Americans a "bad check," King describes the situation of the African American people. He proclaims that the "Bank" is not bankrupt and that it was time to "cash the check". These metaphors are easy to understand and are something that the audience can relate to.

They bring this up in connection to protests going on today and how critics will often state that the protest has gone on long enough and that it needs to people worked years and faced brutality and racism for years in order to get their equal rights. The other changes in the movie are relatively minor and either have a logical reason such as not having the right to copy Dr. King’s words or to create emotional reactions such as having Jimmy Lee Jackson die in his mother’s arms rather than in a hospital. In my opinion, as far as movies go, Selma is more accurate than

With the people of The United States of America categorized as the audience, King speaks to people of all races and ethnicity. This discriminated audience included the grasping appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos. As each appeal is fully informed of the rhetorical purpose, King finds a way to encourage all three. Through several metaphors and types of imagery, he makes the decision to speak to all of the appeals in order to accomplish to need for change. Clearly aimed directly at the hearts of blacks and making the whites feel ashamed of their actions brought together a turn in society as they knew it. This specific structure geared towards the audience was the main reason why King impacted Americans across the country and not just at the march. These different appeals mixed within the audience to help King influence his purpose of racial equality as each type of person could relate to his moving words.

When the Fellow Clergymen have the emotional resonance, they might comprehend what King was talking about which is how unjust the law is for blacks. One the other hand, we can find out the determination and confidence of King to work for people for sake of the justice reaching and realization. As the president, he must shoulder the responsibility of serving all American people at that time.

Like instruments in an orchestra being brought in one by one to a melody that fills the ears of its listeners and drives out any other thoughts, King then targets the white moderate population, the white voters. He tries to place this audience into the shoes of the black people by giving vivid descriptions of the trials they have been going through and invoke empathy in their hearts. He says: "When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your brothers and sisters at whim . . ." This statement brings up an issue every culture has had to deal with, death. Death in the American culture is one that is associated with loss and grief. King deftly imposes this loss on the shoulders of his white audience making it clear to them the pain the black people have been dealt.

King exposes the institutionalized racism in Birmingham by informing his audience on the immorality of the church. King exposes the cowardice that white churches promotes that

As the movie began, I noticed the story was not just about King. Many other iconic leaders of the SNCC and the SCLC that helped bring forth an awareness of black inequality and triumph to end voter discrimination aided King. The film showed the struggle of African Americans as they fought for their right to vote. In multiple scenes, King sat with President Johnson to speak of the Black vote and how it is a step to changes in America, giving

He questions the audience about society and what they have done for their community. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity,” (King). King knows how to bring the people into the speech to involve every single person standing before him and make them feel like they are apart of the speech. He mentions what has been taken away from them which creates anger within the crowd. King’s ability to appeal to the audience through emotion affected society for decades after and changed the sense of pride the African Americans had.

The primary purpose of Dr. King’s eloquent and dramatically delivered speech is that of persuasion. King’s claim is the Negro people are still not free one hundred years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This warrant is supported by King’s effective emotional appeal to his African American audience. He supports this with the following: "but one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” This is emotional because after one hundred years of oppression, the African American community has still not achieved their cultural and economic potential according to King. He is endeavoring to persuade his audience, fellow minorities and

No matter where in the world or what period in time, there is always someone being oppressed or experiencing some form of maltreatment or discrimination. Throughout history, people have been judged or had their basic human rights infringed upon. That is why movies like Selma are so important because they shine a light on these events and transgressions, that need to be brought to people’s attention. The movie Selma was a real eye-opener in terms of the events that took place during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. It presented many of its arguments in ways no adaptation of the story had successfully done before. Many of the actor portrayals of historical figures were so veracious it was as if the figures themselves were carrying out the plot of the movie. The overlying themes of the movie were also very apparent and easy to, if not to relate to, at least understand and empathize where the characters were coming from in a sense. Not only the dialogue, or strictly what you see being depicted on screen alone make the movie so gripping and emotionally poignant, things such as the music, or how the movie is put together and laid out to affect the emotions of the viewers.

The film called “Selma” is analyzed, a historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and released on November 11, 2014. The film is based in Selma during the 1950’s to Montgomery in voting rights. The film actors are David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was a history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaign to protect equal voting rights through an epic movement from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the main character in this film, the actor who played his role David Oyelowo. In this movie, he is responsible for so many things such as: In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. who was a part of the Southern Christian

This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie

Equality and Justice - false promises a nation was created to protect. The historical drama, Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay, depicts some of the struggles African-Americans faced in the pursuit of equality and justice during the mid 1950’s to 1960’s, and the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in his attempt to overcome such inequalities. Even before its release, Selma received backlash from critics who claimed it falsely depicted Lyndon B. Johnson at odds with Martin Luther King Jr, and alleged that the murder of the four girls at the Birmingham Church occurred in September 1963, rather than at the end of 1964, which the film suggests. Regardless of such claims, the film, Selma, does depict a historical event set forth by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965. During this time period, racial segregation was prominent, especially in the southern states. The government justified such segregation based on the 14th Amendment’s wording of “separate but equal”. However, many African-Americans were dissatisfied and demanded true equality. It was not until the mid 1960’s, after Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, that racial tension began to decline. Although Martin Luther King Jr.’s role was invaluable in the Civil Rights Movement and required great courage, Selma aims to portray a complex side of King, mixing his bravery and determination with self-doubts and internal conflicts in his pursuit of justice and equality.