With The Great Debaters Denzel Washington returns to the director's chair for the first time since Antwone Fisher in 2002. This is his second turn as a director. The film tells an inspiring story that helped plant the seeds for the civil rights movement. It is an important story that is enlightening and puts a positive spin on a dark spot in our recent past, a past that some still hold onto today. Yes, it deals with racism, an evil that still needs to be dealt with to this day.
Seeing a film like The Great Debaters can be an eye-opening experience to those who have not experienced racism. It shows just how bad it was (and this doesn't even scratch the surface), as well as how far we have yet to go. While 1935 seems like a long time ago, it is a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme, and there are those who would wish to hang on to those misguided and flat-out incorrect beliefs.
The Great Debaters is a good movie. It features strong acting, good writing, and good directing. There is no denying that it is a good movie, plus it has a strong pedigree with two Oscar winners on the screen (Washington and Forest Whitaker), not to mention Oprah Winfrey is one of the producers (Harpo Films is one of the companies backing the film). However, despite the talent involved, I cannot help but feel as if I have seen this movie before.
This film falls prey to the same traps that afflict many other true life stories. Many stories that get the big screen treatment have nothing to do with each other, this is a given. It is also assumed that the stories will undergo changes to help punch up the drama while keeping the bigger picture of the story intact, more or less. The problem is in the distillation process, as the bigger, more epic reality of a story needs to be shortened. The entire story, beginning to end, needs to fit inside the running time of a two hour movie (more or less). This editing process leaves the core beats to hit, and as fate would have it, the majority of these stories will match each other in many of those beats. So, telling this story becomes more a matter of how you tell it than what it says. That is not to say that what it says is not important, but the narrative structure of these inspirational tales has become somewhat predictable.
Article comments
1 - Mr. Unite Us
The Great Debaters is a great movie, and is welcome change from the buffonery and thuggery Black performers are often limited to. The movie stresses hard work, determination, and not quitting. Lessons students and us former students can benefit from. I encourage everyone to see this movie. A friend of mine is taking thirty students. Congratulations to Mr. Toulson for making his team the best of the best and for uniting thousands of White and Black Amkerican farm workers during. Reminds of what a difference can one person can make.
Article about the real life great debaters.
2 - DeVron
This movie was very inspiring and motivating. It gave us a glimpse of the dark past but it also demonstrated and reminded us that success can be procured in spite of some of the worst circumstances. I believe that although the characters focus on a black college experience that other races can appreciate the themes and messages that this film reveals.