Director Ava DuVernay has mainly been criticized for her depiction of President Johnson as being a reluctant or obstructionist political actor. DuVernay was quoted as saying that she wasn't interested in making a "white savior movie," perhaps implying that Johnson has been given too much credit for his role in the civil rights movement. DuVernay admits that not everything in "Selma" is historically accurate, but she's entitled to fictionalize events under the rubric of "dramatic license."
Indeed, the most compelling scenes in the film appear to be those involving Johnson's political machinations. DuVernay would like to us to believe that King and Johnson's relationship was much more confrontational than it was. Joseph Califano Jr., a former LBJ top assistant for domestic affairs, points to a recorded phone conversation between King and LBJ on January 15, 1965 in which LBJ appeared to be much more constructive than confrontational.
However, DuVernay attempted to justify her portrayal of LBJ as a reluctant actor, citing a 2013 article by Louis Menand in "The New Yorker." Menand maintained that Johnson was not proactive after progress toward getting the Voting Rights Act passed had slowed: "Johnson had the most ambitious legislative agenda of any President since F.D.R. (his idol), and he explained to King that he was worried that Southern opposition to more civil-rights legislation would drain support from the War on Poverty and hold up bills on Medicare, immigration reform, and aid to education. He asked King to wait. King thought that if you waited for the right time for direct action (as nonviolent protests were called) you would never act."
In DuVernay's best scene, LBJ finally "comes around" and tells off George Wallace face to face. What's so great about this scene is how LBJ attempts to appeal to Wallace on his level, even employing the "N" word to show Wallace that he's just a "good old boy" at heart. But when Wallace won't listen to reason, LBJ makes it clear that the days of the Old South are numbered.
DuVernay undoubtedly would have liked Johnson to come around sooner and attempts to slightly steal his thunder in his famous "We Shall Overcome" speech by having him speak before a sparsely populated House of Representatives (Bill Moyers insists that the chamber was completely packed and LBJ's speech was "electric").
The rest of "Selma" is pretty much in part, a by the numbers hagiography. DuVernay chose David Oyelowo, a British actor who starred in her earlier feature, "Middle of Nowhere," to play Martin Luther King Jr. Oyelowo is sadly miscast playing King as a grim-faced, stoic preacher, failing to convey a shred of King's warmth or humanity. For those who wish to see the definitive portrait of King, they can find it by viewing the 1978 TV Miniseries: "King", starring the sensational Paul Winfield. There is no comparison between the two performances and one can find the entire Winfield miniseries on Youtube under the films of Paul Winfield.
DuVernay is more successful when she sticks to straightforward historical events. There's a compelling scene when Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper is rebuffed by a racist clerk when she attempts to register to vote at the county courthouse. Coretta Scott King has little to do in "Selma" so I suppose her meeting with a seemingly muted Malcolm X proves to be her character's most exciting scene. The revelation that King was still miffed by Malcolm X's earlier claim that he was an "Uncle Tom," also proves to be quite fascinating. The two confrontations with the racist police in Selma are competently done, but I can't help once again recommending the Winfield miniseries, as the police-protester clashes there, seem more realistic.
Except for a memorable confrontation where Andrew Young talks down a vengeful crowd of dispirited King demonstrators, the "supporting players" simply don't stand out. This is particularly evident when King is greeted by his staff at the safe house in Selma (by the way, this is about the only time you see Oyelowo smile during the entire movie).
Eschewing a "warts and all" approach, DuVernay puts her MLK on a pedestal. There's little hint of the "family man" or charismatic leader. DuVernay unfortunately was hampered (stymied if you will) by the King family, who always demand financial remuneration whenever any of his speeches are used in fictional portraits such as "Selma." DuVernay paraphrased King's speeches, but little of it sounds spoken by the great man!
Adolph Reed Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania implies that DuVernay "inscribes a monolithic and trans-historical racism as the fundamental obstacle confronting, and thus uniting, all black Americans." One can't but help note that DuVernay believes that there's a continuity between the protests of the civil rights era and the recent protests in Ferguson. While the Civil Rights Era was a monumental and seminal part of American history, to equate Martin Luther King's non-violent movement with the events that occurred in Ferguson, seems absurd. To my mind, MLK probably would have rolled over in his grave had he seen the pathetic and self-destructive acts by those who were caught on camera rioting in Ferguson.
Even though murders of blacks by police are statistically extremely low, media exposure has convinced many people that this happens all the time. While African-Americans were true victims of endemic racism until the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, the cries of victimhood today, especially in regards to "police brutality." are not clear-cut. Some police may be outwardly racist as well as "heavy-handed" or "insensitive." But recent events have also proved that some African- Americans intentionally provoke the police, leading to tragic overreactions.
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