""Who's the judge?"
"The judge is God!"
"Why is he God?"
"Because he decides who wins or loses, not my opponent!"
"Who is your opponent?"
"He doesn't exist!"
"Why does he not exist?"
"Because he is merely a dissenting voice to the truth I speak!""
- from The Great Debaters
I can't recall the last movie which left me truly uplifted, inspired, and at the same time intellectually stimulated in the end since "The Great Debaters". Its powerful cast and excellent script made this film a top-notch drama. Starred and directed by Denzel Washington, this movie is loosely based upon the story of Professor Melvin Tolson who coached and led the Wiley College Debate Team in the year 1935 to an almost undefeated season and ultimately challenging and winning over the national champions from Harvard which was an incredible feat for an all-black college back then.
As the team moves toward its goal, it faces several challenges down the road including issues of sexism, an arrest and union busting, Jim Crow laws and rituals, driving through a lynch mob, a love triangle, jealousy, and a nationwide radio broadcast. Also embedded in the plot is the story of ambition, justice, equality, love, and friendship.
Watching this film made me ruminate on those segregation and disfranchisement cases Ive read in my Constitutional Law class during my freshman year in law school. This includes the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson which held that segregation laws are constitutional thereby coining the absurd phrase "separate but equal". In 1954, however, the landmark decision of the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education overturned the earlier rulings including the Plessy Decision by declaring that state laws establishing separate public schools for black students denied them equal educational opportunities. The court stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and racial segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.
This movie is definitely worth watching as it appeals to the emotions as well as the intellect. It's a pity it wasn't shown in our local cinemas.
2 comments:
I actually loved "Plessy" and "Brown". I find the American cases really easy to read, and they do have a way of expressing ideas which only native English speakers can express.
hi gp! yeah, me too:)
i think its because they have a whole history and developing discourse of such doctrines that they elucidate better than our own SC who sometimes merely borrow or copy US concepts when it comes to Consti issues.
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