What is all the rage in reviewer land is this film, the Great Debaters, made by Denzel Washington, taken from real life of such notables as james Farmer, that has as its subject a small little known black college in southern U.S.A .that produced debaters on a national debate team par excellant. They went on to compete against the great Harvard University and they won!
It is not the success of these men and woman to rise to the top in an often considered "white realm" of intellectual acumen but that the reviewers are mixed in their applause for this film
Reviewing films is not just a simple act of providing the advertising arm for a multi million dollar industry. it is also the art of informing others of what you see and what you think. And this act of written disclosure is best done with a large dose of personal tidbits about the reviewer so that the reader might judge not just what is said but who is saying what about the film reviewed.
And for whatever reason, this film, the Great Debaters , has elicited a great debate.
Not of overwhelming, earth shattering proportion but a debate that focuses on the reason the film was made, the message the film strives to convey and the right of someone so well known as Denzel Washington to engage in this seemingly simple film about people who might not have mattered at all in the course of american history had it not been for this debating team rising to levels of achievement rarely dreamed of, and certainly not embraced as possible by the participants.
Join the fight. Join the controversy. Join the reviewers debate on whether or not this is a good film, a great film, a film that can and should be recommended by reviewers, family members and all who care about what makes
america potentiously a country where excellence triumph over roots.
Need i say more?
Linda Z
WBAI Women's Collective
Active member
WFCC