THE OFFENSIVELY AWFUL
5. Ghosts Of Mississippi (1996)
This film is a chore to watch and a wasted opportunity, which is a real shame because it tackles a very important and tragic event the assassination of heroic movement leader Medgar Evers. Unfortunately though, it does so in a way that is all too common with films depicting this era, and that is by filtering it through the eyes of a white African American protagonist played by Alec Baldwin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS5Eg55ACYM There is enough substance and drama in Evers life to fill many motion pictures and his legacy is enormous. If youve ever heard the song Mississippi Goddamn by Nina Simone, then in some way you have been touched by this assassination for example. His stature amongst African American activists was immense and his legacy deserves respect. But rather than focusing on the mans achievements, struggles, and sacrifices, what we get is the story (a heavily altered story no less) of a white American lawyer and his struggles to redeem white America by putting away the murderer of Evers thirty years later. The film barely scratches the surface of any substantial African American history, and its critique of race relations in American is about as deep as a puddle. African American agency is all but forgotten about in the film, and the film appears simply to reflect larger issues in and around the popular narratives of African American freedom struggles namely the idea that positive changes from the movement were the result of white people redeeming themselves, rather than African Americans fighting for it.