Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature & Teaching English Language and Literature for Secondary Schools

Be. Tomas Varga

The Demythification of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Master's Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey A. Vanderziel, B.A.

2016 / declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

Author's signature Acknowledgement I would like to thank Jeff Vanderziel for being such a wonderful and inspiring mentor. I am also grateful to Derrais A. Carter who gave me some invaluable advice on the topic, Tom Hanzalek who was always willing to help when needed, and my friends who made the studies all the merrier. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for their unwavering encouragement and love. Table of Content

Chapter 1 - Introduction 1

Chapter 2 - The Civil Rights Movement 5

Chapter 3 - The Movement in the American Cinema 17

Chapter 4 - The Humanisation of King 26

Chapter 5 - The Demythification of King 41

Chapter 6 - Conclusion 57

Works Cited and Consulted 59

English Resume . 62

Czech Resume. 63 Chapter 1 - Introduction

But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over.

What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement

which reaches into every section and State of America. It

is the effort of American Negroes to secure for

themselves the full blessings of American life. Their

cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just

Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the

crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

And we shall overcome.

Lyndon B.Johnson

The quote comes from President Johnson's speech he delivered to a joint session of United States Congress on March 15, 1965. The speech was a response to the violence that ensued after African Americans and their supporters attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7 but were brutally stopped by the law enforcement units (the events are further dealt with in the next chapter). The march was a part of the ongoing campaign of Civil Rights groups, whose main goal was to eliminate the discrimination African Americans faced when they tried to register to vote. Even though Article 15, Section 1 of 15th Amendment to the United States

Constitution states "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," some states, mostly in the Deep South, introduced measures such as literacy tests (the correctness of the answers was determined solely by the white

1 clerks), Poll Taxes (paying a special tax to be registered), and Vouchers (voters-to-be had to have an already registered voter vouch for them), which made it difficult (and sometimes even impossible) for African Americans to register. Therefore, the Civil

Rights groups (especially King's SCLC) pressured Johnson to change the law and put a stop to the discrimination on the state level. Hence, in the same speech, Johnson declares his plan to propose a new legislation which would improve the voter registrations for African Americans on all levels of elections: federal, state, and local

(the bill became later known as Voting Rights Act of 1965).

The introduction of the law was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement at that time. However, the path to its formation was full of obstacles. As was hinted at above, the major event that set the wheels moving was the attempted march in Selma,

Alabama. The march was just a culmination of the events that were taking place in

Selma from the beginning of 1965 under SCLC-organised Selma Campaign. Its main goal was to pressure the politicians to change the discriminating laws, which prevented

African Americans from registering to vote or made it at least difficult for them. The campaign was just one of many Civil Rights Movement activities, which were trying to improve the lives of African Americans. However, despite the significance of the Civil

Rights Movement and its undisputable influence on the American society, it appears to lack notable coverage by the film industry. As the thesis will try to show, even such a notable, widely respected, and celebrated figure as Martin Luther King Jr. appears in a fairly small number of fictionalised accounts. The thesis's ultimate goal is to manifest that Martin Luther King Jr.'s character in fictionalised accounts King (NBC miniseries production from 1978), Boycott (HBO production from 2001), and Selma (Paramount

Pictures production from 2014) is demythified as opposed to the glorified, and haloed way his character has been portrayed in other productions. The following paragraphs

2 present the thesis's structure together with the approach applied to the analysis of

King's depiction.

First, the thesis will establish the time period to which the term "Civil Rights

Movement" refers. Then it will briefly summarise the aspects and structure of the

Movement, specifically concentrating on the Selma Campaign. The main idea is to demonstrate the importance of the Movement in the American history, thus suggesting that it should deserve a fair share in the number of film productions. The subsequent chapter, "The Civil Rights Movement in American Cinema" tries to illustrate what accounts inspired by the Movement have been made so far. Although the main focus of the thesis is on fictionalised accounts, this chapter also mentions documentaries. It is mainly because they form a sizeable group of on-screen visualisations of the

Movement's period. The chapter shows there are far more documentaries about the era than fictionalised accounts. The chapter does not analyse every account individually, but it splits them into four categories: school integration, notable figures of the Civil

Rights Era, Movement involvement, and Mississippi events. By doing so, I try to show the typical topics covered by the documentaries, television productions, or feature films which depict the 1950s - 1960s period. At the same time, the chapter sets to indicate that the number of accounts featuring the leader of the Movement, Martin Luther King,

Jr., is quite low. Out of all the fictionalised accounts, he is the main character in only three of them, namely King, Boycott and Selma.

The following chapter then takes a closer look on the television productions

King and Boycott. Its main purpose is to show the demythified aspects of the productions, but also to point out that the productions are not so popular. I present various opinions on why that might be: one of them is that the miniseries King came too soon after the 1960s events. There are also harsher opinions, for instance that the

3 production was considered too highbrow for people to watch. I also draw attention to the way King's character has been glorified over the decades after his death. Right at the beginning of the chapter I present a poll, which shows how unfavourable King was in his time compared to his high popularity nowadays. All in all, the chapter deals with two out of three fictionalised accounts, where the viewers see King as the main character and it serves as a prequel to the last chapter "The Demythification of King."

This chapter focuses on the most recent production, Selma. The chapter's main aim is to demonstrate how the director, Ava DuVernay managed to depict King as a human being, rather than a glorified, mythical persona. I will concentrate on three main scenes, which I feel are the most significant in his demythified depiction. The first is a scene where King picks up SNCC leader, John Lewis and they drive together around Selma.

The second is a jail scene, consisting of two parts. The first part shows King in jail with his closest aid Ralph Abernathy, the second part portrays King talking to his wife

Coretta after Malcolm X's visit to Selma. Lastly, I will focus on a scene, where Coretta confronts King after listening to audiotapes which suggest King had an extramarital relationship. My claim is that all these scenes help to establish a far more realistic image of King than people are confronted with on daily basis.

4 Chapter 2 - The Civil Rights Movement

With regard to the focus of the thesis, it is crucial to present the reader with some basic information about the African American Civil Rights Movement and its impact on society. The Civil Rights Movement is used as an umbrella term for a series of events which took place between 1954 and 1968. The Movement might still be considered active even nowadays because SCLC and NAACP still exist and are active in organising conferences and workshops. For the purposes of this thesis the term refers to the period between 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education ofTopeka) and 1968, the year of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. In general, the Movement is considered to have begun with the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Brown v. Board of

Education ofTopeka (Romano xiv). Thurgood Marshall, Chief Counsel for the

NAACP, who later became the first African American Associate Justice of the

Supreme Court in 1967, challenged the school's policy on segregation by presenting a series of comparative studies and analyses in which he showed that discrimination on the basis of colour had a negative impact on black children. First, he stated black children studied in far worse conditions than the white children. Second, Marshall presented a controversial study by Kenneth Clark, in which Clark had showed that black children considered themselves to be inferior or lower when compared to white children. When given a choice of biracial dolls, black children preferred white dolls over black ones (Dierenfield 23). Marshall's efforts led to one of the most significant victories on the field of law, which encouraged many African American activists to multiply their efforts in challenging inequality.

Despite its importance, this crucial victory was not a product of a clearly structured organization. The Movement was a fluid entity and the events from the fourteen-year-long period were not organised by a particular group but rather by

5 multiple assemblies of activists achieving varying degrees of success. The most prominent organisations, which prepared some of the main events of the period, were the National Association for the Advancement of the Colored People (NAACP),

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Southern Christian Leadership Conference

(SCLC), and the Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Although the organisations were independent and often had different strategies to achieve the same goal, they cooperated on a number of occasions. In case of the March on Washington in

1963 it was SCLC with the help of A. Philip Randolph, who had originally come with the idea of a huge rally in Washington in 1941 (Dierenfield 87). In another case, the

Selma Campaign in 1965 was co-organised with SNCC. Needless to say, the organisers were not always successful in achieving their goals. These were, for instance, the efforts to desegregate buses, schools, lunch counters, and shops, or the plans to increase the number of registered African American voters. While the members of NAACP managed to achieve major victory in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the

Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-56, and the March on Washington in 1963, the

SCLC's activists failed to achieve significant changes in Albany, Georgia in 1961-62 and in Chicago, Illinois in 1965.

For the purposes of the thesis, the SCLC's activities are the most relevant. This particular organisation was the most successful when it came to arranging rallies and non-violent protests throughout the South. Martin Luther King Jr., together with Ralph

Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Joseph Lowery, founded the conference in 1957 following the success of the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955-56. From that time, King and his aides organised or participated in a number of rallies, sit-ins, and two major marches: the March on Washington in 1963, and the Selma to

Montgomery March in 1965. All of these events were designed to raise white

6 consciousness in order to gain a wider public support for the issues the African

Americans were facing (e.g. the segregation of buses, lunch counters, schools, and the ability to vote). All of the organisation's activities were done in accordance with the non-violent approach. King was one of the most prominent proponents of this strategy.

The principles were simple: the protest participants (of any colour) were required to do nothing, and react to all the insults and attacks by simply doing nothing. SCLC arranged meetings where volunteers simulated the possible scenarios—together with the whites' responses to the protesters—which could occur during the protests.

Out of all these achievements, it is the Selma Campaign from the spring of

1965, that is the most relevant for this thesis. Even though Selma, Alabama is a fairly small town some 50 miles west of Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, it became one of the most important places in U.S. history. In the spring of 1965, the members of

SCLC were invited to the town of Selma to help with the town's African American voting rights situation. Even though African Americans had the legal right to vote, they first needed to register at the Dallas County Board of Registrars' Office. However,

Charles Fager, a civil rights researcher at the University of Atlanta and author of highly acclaimed book Selma 1965, quotes from a letter to King written by the members of the

Committee of Fifteen (a group of influential African American figures in Selma): "the county Board of Registrars was opened for business only two days a month, took long lunch hours when it was, and if the members processed fifteen applications in a day, that was a lot," (9). Furthermore, as King pointed out at the first mass meeting in

Brown Chapel, Selma on January 2, 1965, "At the rate they are letting us register now, it will take a hundred and three years to register all of the fifteen thousand Negroes in

Dallas County [Alabama] who are qualified to vote." The speech marked the beginning of a "determined, organized, mobilized campaign to get the right to vote everywhere in

7 Alabama," (Fager 9). The events that ensued after his speech in Brown Chapel have helped in transforming not only Selma, or the state of Alabama, but American society as a whole.

Prior to King's arrival in Selma, the SNCC had already been active in the town.

On the one hand, the two organisations, SNCC and SCLC, shared the same principle of non-violent protests. On the other hand, they did not agree on the strategies to employ in order to achieve their aims. For instance, SNCC members tried to raise black consciousness by organising mass voter registrations, literacy programs, or by directly helping people who wished to register (Civil Rights Movement Veterans Website,

Freedom Day in Selma). Despite all their hard work, the SNCC members failed to significantly increase the number of registered voters. Out of the 15,000 African

Americans eligible to vote in Dallas County, Alabama, a little over two hundred were actually registered in 1962. By the end of 1964 (two years after SNCC's activities begun in Selma) no more than 100 black voters were added to the list of voters, making the number of registered African American voters in Dallas County increase to a mere two per cent (Civil Rights Movement Veterans Website, Selma Voting Rights

Campaign). The numbers serve to point out that SNCC needed help in order to achieve any major change in the voting situation. Up until then, Selma was not on the SCLC's list of priorities. There were at least a dozen other places where the SCLC rallied people to rise and oppose the discriminatory system (Fager 26). At this point, Dallas

County Voters League (formed by the most prominent Civil Rights figures in the

Dallas County area, Mrs. Amelia Boynton, Mrs. Marie Foster, Mr. Ernest Doyle, Rev.

John D. Hunter, Mr. James Gildersleeve, Rev. Henry Shannon, Mr. Ulysses Blackmon, and Dr. Frederick D. Reese) issued a formal invitation to SCLC and Martin Luther

King, Jr. asking them to help with the state of affairs in Selma (Fager 9). King and his

8 aides complied and came to Selma on January 2, 1965.

Various SCLC leaders were dispatched to different cities and towns all over the

South to coordinate sit-ins, rallies, or mass registrations. The strategy was to test white counteractions against the protesters. If the whites' opposition was mild and non• radical, the event received considerably lower amount of press coverage, which was undesirable for the SCLC members. The success of SCLC's events and fights was heavily dependent on dramatic responses from white people. In other words, only with the uproar of the white population could the leaders hope for improvement in the lives of African Americans. However, sometimes they were not successful to achieve that objective, for instance in Albany, Georgia. The local police chief Laurie Pritchett did not fall into the "non-violent trap" and was careful when carrying out his duties while dealing with the protesters. While on camera, he met non-violence with non-violence, thus the protests in Albany drew little attention from the mass media. Although, it is difficult the say, whether he was also non-violent without the press. When it came to the imprisonment of the protesters, Pritchett arranged them to be scattered all around the southwest of Georgia, preventing the local prison from filling up. The upshot of this strategy was that the Albany Movement (formed by the NAACP, SNCC, and later the

SCLC) ran out of manpower sooner than Pritchett ran out of jail cells (Dierenfield 79).

As a result of Pritchett's actions, the media gradually lost interest in the protests in

Albany because there was not enough action, which would draw viewers to the television sets.

All in all, when King's non-violent tactics were met with relatively low or no violence, they were ineffective in creating a significant social impact. The African

Americans participating in these protests were not brutally beaten, and the law enforcement officers did not lose control when dealing with them. This kind of "non-

9 violent" response was exactly the opposite of what King, his aides, and the whole of the

SCLC wanted. In order to achieve their goals (in this case change the laws so they would not discriminate African Americans when they registered to vote), the SCLC leaders needed as much national media coverage as possible. They hoped such publicity would inspire the general public to become more engaged. As a result of the media attention, King hoped for massive support from wide range of people around the nation. After their defeat in Albany, the SCLC leaders realised that the best way of attracting national attention to their protests is to provoke unnecessary and ill-founded violence. Therefore, most of the campaigns King and his aides organised were designed to provoke violent responses towards the participants of the protests. One could even argue, the more violent and persistent the whites' opposition, the more successful the non-violent fight was (e.g. when King agreed to commit children to protest in

Birmingham after he ran out of adults in 1963). King and his aides therefore realised that continuing the fights at places where the Movement received low or no coverage at all would not only mean a waste of manpower but could also lead to local people's dislike of King and SCLC staff. Mainly, they might have been seen as attention- seekers, or trouble makers who do not have a wider support from the community. It could also result in a depressing mood inside the African American community if they were constantly beaten and there were to be no hope in significantly improving their lives. Therefore, if King and SCLC were to become unfavourable among the broad public they would lose the necessary leverage when it came to influencing the government, and eventually changing the laws. For that reason, the SCLC were careful where to concentrate their efforts and handpicked only locations which looked promising when it came to provoking the violent responses from the white community.

It so happens that the town of Selma was one such place and thanks to the Dallas

10 County Voters League, Martin Luther King Jr. and his aides arrived to town and began one of the most important campaigns in the Civil Rights Movement.

As mentioned earlier, SNCC had been trying to increase the number of registered voters in Selma by organising mass voter registrations at the Dallas County

Board of Registrars' Office as early as 1963. However, by 1964 only as little as two per cent of the Dallas County's black residents could vote (Civil Rights Movement

Veterans Website, Selma Voting Rights Campaign). Furthermore, not a single African

American occupied a seat in the town hall, the city council, or in other government position. Needless to say, that alone might not make it the best place to convince hundreds of people to try to register to vote, mainly because there were hundreds of other places in the South, which were in much worse state in terms of registered voters than Selma. For example, in the Alabama Counties of Lowndes and Wilcox, not a single African American was allowed to vote (Fager 86). Eventually, King was invited into Selma to challenge the ways Dallas County Board of Registrars' Office functioned.

If it was only up to the city officials (namely Mayor Joe Smitherman and the Public

Safety Director William Baker) the efforts of the SCLC members would most probably not be as successful as they were. Whenever Smitherman or Baker were in charge of the events in the city, the responses to protests were calm and coordinated. For instance, Baker prevented protesters from marching at night in the borders of Selma.

Hosea Williams (one of the SCLC leaders) led a march as a response to Jimmy Lee

Jackson's death (the circumstances of his death are described later in the chapter).

However, Baker convinced the marchers to disperse. His main concern was that they would eventually meet Sheriff Jim Clark, his men and the State Troopers and the march would turn violent (Fager 82-3). Baker prevented this potentially violent conflict because he was aware of the protesters' intention to provoke violence in order to attract

11 media attention.

However, King and his aides managed to get attention of the mass media when they concentrated their efforts on the Dallas County Courthouse. The main reason was quite obvious: the Dallas County Board of Registrars' Office was placed inside the

County courthouse building. The second reason why SCLC wanted to protest in front of the courthouse was that the building was in Sheriff Jim Clark's jurisdiction. King and SCLC leaders knew that Clark was not a patient man, he was a "Bull Connor" type.

Connor used high-pressure fire hoses, and dogs on both the children and adults. As one of King's aides remarked, "Bull Connor gave us the civil rights bill, and Jim Clark is going to give us the voting rights bill." For his hot-blooded character, King and his aides deliberately chose to intimidate Clark in order to provoke him into (violent) action (Dierenfield 113). Clark's responses to the protest in front of the Courthouse were violent and unjustified, exactly what King had hoped for. King had rallied several dozen people who demanded to be allowed to register to vote. Eventually, Clark lost his temper and violently attacked the protesters, one of them being Annie Lee Cooper, local Civil Rights activist and a member of the Dallas County Voters League. After the initial overreactions, Baker and Smitherman held long discussions with Clark to convince him to be calmer in his responses to the Civil Rights activists. Because they knew Clark was capable of controlling himself, as several previous non-violent confrontations had proved. For instance, when teachers decided to demonstrate their support by marching in front of the County Courthouse, Clark had hard time keeping his anger in check, but he did nothing, just watched (Fager 38). However, after several uneventful marches and failed mass-registrations, the campaign started to lose momentum at this point and the mass media began to lose interest in the protests.

During one such period, when the mood in Selma was calm and not much was going

12 on, C. T. Vivian (another member of SCLC and King's aid) decided to visit a nearby town, Marion, about 30 miles northwest of Selma. He managed to convince the locals to organise a night march. Night marches were considered to be the most dangerous ones, because of the vulnerability of the marches and their tendency to turn into a violent mob. The night march ended almost as soon as it began. The marchers were met by State Troopers and other law enforcement units shortly after they left the Mount

Zion Chapel. Police Chief T. O. Harris ordered the marchers to either disperse or return to the church. When Reverend Dobynes, the march's leader, kneeled to pray, a state trooper struck him in the head. Soon, other troopers as well as bystanders ensued in violently beating the marchers (Branch Pillar of Fire 593). The marchers scattered into the night, trying to hide wherever they could. However, troopers pursued even those who managed to get into opened restaurants and counters. That was how two troopers caught Jimmy Lee Jackson, his mother, and grandfather. The troopers started beating them and after a short struggle several shots were fired. One of the troopers shot

Jackson in his stomach (allegedly in self-defence). Jackson died in hospital a week later

(Branch Pillar of Fire 598-9).

The surrounding African American community was grieved by Jackson's death.

Churches all around Selma held sermons and SCLC leaders used these sermons to calm the aggressive emotions and to stress the importance of unity and non-violence (Fager

90-2). After a while, James Bevel (major strategist of SCLC and King's aid) came with an idea to make arrangements for a major march from Selma to Montgomery. The plan was to end the march in front of Governor George Wallace's office in Montgomery,

Alabama. The first attempt to march took place on Sunday, March 7, 1965 and was led by SNCC leader John Lewis and Hosea Williams, King's closest aid. As soon as the marchers (some 600 people) crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge they were met by the

13 Director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety Al Lingo , the state troopers,

Sheriff Jim Clark, and his posse. The law enforcement units were equipped with gas masks and batons, some of them were even mounted on horseback. Major Cloud asked the marchers to disperse because their march prohibited the city ordinance of non- assembly (a measure devised by Smitherman and Baker to prevent African Americans from being hurt even more, hence earn national coverage). However, the troopers almost immediately fired tear-gas grenades at the marchers and started beating them.

Dozens of protesters ended up in the hospital. The whole incident was thoroughly recorded by the witnessing reporters (Fager 99-101). Later that night, major television corporations interrupted their prime broadcast of Judgement at Nuremberg to show their viewers what happened in Selma on that day. The sudden interruption of the programme brought the unexpected viewers back from Nazi Holocaust events into real- life Selma, Alabama where similar atrocities were committed. The events later known as "Bloody Sunday," made hundreds of people sympathetic to the African American cause, many of whom came to support them by marching with them in the eventual successful Selma march (Branch Pillar of Fire 54-9). King decided to repeat the march to Montgomery.

The second try took place on March 9. The event became known as Turnaround

Tuesday, because King did not cross the bridge even though the law enforcement units had withdrawn as soon as the marchers drew near them. Despite the clear path, seemingly without obstacles, King decided to turn around and go back to the Brown

Chapel. His decision angered the marchers, mainly because they did not know what was happening. King did not want to continue with the march because Judge Frank

Minis Johnson (United States Federal judge serving 1955 to 1999 at the District and

Appeals Court levels) issued an injunction prohibiting marches until hearings from all

14 sides (SCLC, the representatives of Selma, and the state of Alabama) took place later that week. (Branch Pillar of Fire 69-71). If he proceeded with the march he would be violating the Federal Court order. King's decision to turn around caused an uproar among the African American community as well as the visiting supporters. One could argue that King's vague explanations suggest he was fearing what awaited the marchers behind the law enforcement units (Branch Pillar of Fire 78-9). Eventually, another march took place on March 17, this time it was well prepared and was sanctioned by the Federal Court. Through his incessant vicious acts, Jim Clark played an important role in paving the road to the Selma to Montgomery March, to the new Voting Rights

Act, and to the whole new chapter in the American history.

In conclusion, the hard work of the members of all the Civil Rights organisations contributed to achieving significant changes in the voting legislature as well as in the lives of ordinary Americans. As Dierenfield points out in his assessment of the Movement,

The most obvious successes were to end systematic racial

terror and the most degrading features of Jim Crow in the

South. Blacks are legally entitled to live, eat, shop, and sit

on buses where they wish. The old tricks that

disfranchised black voters have disappeared, resulting in

black legislators, mayors, and sheriffs. Local officials

increased black home ownership, provided better services,

including indoor plumbing and paved streets, and hired

and promoted blacks in police and fire departments.

136

He goes on to point out, "Thanks to government jobs and corporate investment, black

15 income is the highest in history, and a majority of blacks have now reached the middle class," (136). The essence of Dierenfield's argument is that the activists managed the desegregation of buses, lunch-counters, and schools, and the major revision of the

Voting Rights Act. All these achievements significantly improved the lives of ordinary

African Americans all around the South. The Civil Rights Movement with all its organisations, including, but not limited to, NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and its individual sympathisers form an important part of U.S. history. Therefore, it might be surprising, as the next chapter will try to point out, that the film industry has paid so little attention to events, people, and organisations grouped within the Movement.

16 Chapter 3 - The Movement in the American Cinema

As it was hinted in the previous chapter, this chapter will focus on the representation of the Civil Rights Movement in the American cinema. Before diving into the actual analysis of fictional and non-fictional accounts, it might be worth stressing the impact the visual representations of the 1960s might have on the viewers.

As James W. Loewen from the University of Vermont points out in the opening line of his paper on Teaching Race Relations from Feature Films: "In this video age, our students construct much of their understanding of race relations from visual material,"

(Loewen). Therefore, it might be vital to consider the influence the film industry has not only on students of Loewen's, but the whole society in general. What it all comes down to is the possible impact the portrayals of the African Americans have on the formation of people's opinion. The main concern lies within the visual representation of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. First, the chapter focuses on the most common types of depiction, i.e. documentaries and television productions. Second, it will discuss the fictionalised accounts inspired by the the Movement.

The findings are divided into three main groups: documentaries, television productions, and feature films. The analysis of these three portrayals is divided into two levels. The chapter's main purpose in the first level is to provide the reader with a summary of the accounts featuring the events and people of the Civil Rights

Movement. The second level of the chapter narrows the focus of the analysis on Martin

Luther King Jr., the leader of the Movement and the central figure of the thesis's analysis of the feature film Selma (analysed in detail in the last chapter). As the chapter will try to point out, there seem to be two types of King's representation in the

American Cinema; it is either a glorified, or humanised portrayal.

17 First, the focus will be on the documentary and television accounts of the

Movement for the past 50 years. Both types of accounts are split into four categories: school integration, notable figures of the Civil Rights Era, Movement involvement, and

Mississippi events. The reason behind the merge of these two genres is that television productions often employs docudrama genre. The Oxford Dictionary defines docudrama as "A dramatized film (usu[ally] for television) which is based on a semi- fictional interpretation of real events; a documentary drama." In other words, it has certain aspects of a documentary, but the scenes can be adjusted to serve the purposes of the television. For example, some entirely fictional scenes are made to look authentic by being screened in black and white, or hazy. An example of this is the opening scene of the NBC miniseries King from 1978.

There are several documentaries and television re-enactments which have a common topic area: the integration of school system. Three of them (a documentary

Nine from Little Rock from 1964, and two television productions Crisis at Central High from 1981 and The Ernest Green Story from 1993) depict nine African Americans who try to integrate an all-white Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas in 1957. There is also a documentary Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment from 1963, which portrays the integration of the University of Alabama in 1963. There is one television history drama dealing with the legal aspect of the desegregation of the school system,

Separate But Equal from 1991. Ruby Bridges (1998), the most recent television production from this category, is a real-life based story of six-year old Ruby Bridges who is the first one to attend an elementary school in New Orleans in 1960.

The second category groups together documentaries and television accounts, which feature important personae who were members of the Movement, as well as the its opponents. These include documentaries about Martin Luther King Jr. King: A

18 Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970), The Witness: From the Balcony of

Room 306 (2008), and Alpha Man: The Brotherhood ofMLK (2011). The first account documents King's life through uncut, unvarnished, and unretouched newsreel, the second focuses on King's assassination, and the last concentrates on King's fraternity years. Then there is Malcolm X (1972), a biopic based on Alex Haley's The

Autobiography of Malcolm X released in 1965. As the title suggests, it portrays the life of Malcolm X, a Civil Rights activist. In addition, there are some documentaries about less notable but still important Civil Rights figures. For instance Home of the Brave

(2004) documents the life and murder of Viola Liuzzo who helped with the organisation of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. The Barber of Birmingham

(2011) shows James Armstrong, a voting rights activist and the original flag bearer for the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. The last of the documentaries, Julian Bond:

Reflections from the Frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement (2012), shows the life and thoughts of activist Julian Bond who helped to establish the SNCC. As for the television productions, there is King (1978), a miniseries commissioned by NBC portraying King's life starting at the time of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56) and ending with King's assassination in 1968 (the following chapter analyses the event in detail). Another account is George Wallace (1997), a film about Wallace's years as the Governor of Alabama.

The last category, The Movement involvement, features documentaries The

March (1964) depicting the 1963 March on Washington; 4 Little Girls (1997) an account of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963;

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2003) documenting the 1960

Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter sit-ins; Dare Not Walk Alone (2006) depicting the 1964 St. Augustine movement, which played a significant role in the

19 passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and another The March, this time from 2013 capturing the 1963 March on Washington. There are three television products, Sins of the Father (2002), dealing with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church;

Freedom Riders (2011), a PBS film marking the fiftieth anniversary of the first

Freedom Ride in 1961; and Eyes on the Prize (1987-1990), a 14-hour long documentary thoroughly and extensively covering the Civil Rights Movement from

1954 till 1985.

The ultimate category, Mississippi events, features accounts depicting the events and people from Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. The first documentary on the list, Freedom on My Mind (1994) documents the efforts to register African

American voters, Freedom Riders, and the formation of the Mississippi Freedom

Democratic Party. The second, Mississippi Cold Case (2007), captures the murder of two young black men by the Ku Klux Klan during the Freedom Summer in 1964 and the 21st century quest for justice by the brother of one of the victims. Then there are two more documentaries, Neshoba (2008), covering the event and attitudes in

Mississippi 40 years after the 1964 murders, and Freedom Summer (2014) documenting the events of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. In addition, there are two television accounts, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. The Ku Klux Klan (1975), dealing with the murder of three Civil Rights activists (James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and

Michael Schwerner) in 1964, and then there is Freedon Song (2000) based on real-life events in Mississippi featuring the Freedom Summer and the SNCC activities

(arranging the Freedom Riders).

The preceding paragraphs tried to briefly summarise the types and the number of documentaries and television productions, which depict the events and people of the

Civil Rights era. The following lines will be devoted to the fictionalised accounts of the

20 same period. It is worth pointing out that while there is a fairly high number of documentaries and television productions which deal with the events and people of the

Movement, there are not that many feature films. The first fictionalised depiction came in 1988 and was called Mississippi Burning. The account is loosely based on the events of the 1964 murder of the three Civil Rights activists James Chaney, Andrew

Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. The film's main characters are the two FBI agents who came to investigate the murders. The account is criticised for its focus on the white

"heroes" who came to help the African Americans. In addition, the names of the murdered activists are never mentioned, they are left nameless and without in-depth character. Moreover, the African American community is shown as passive and with lack of hope. The truth is, in the summer of 1964, four major Civil Rights organisations

- SNCC, NAACP, SCLC, and CORE joined their efforts and arranged what later became known as Freedom Summer. The campaign's main aim was to encourage mass registration of voters throughout Mississippi. It was during this campaign that the three

Civil Rights workers disappeared. At first, FBI was reluctant to investigate the case, claiming it was a local matter. The Civil Rights groups demanded FBI to investigate the disappearance of their workers but it was not until Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy stepped in and issued an order that the Bureau started working. Therefore, it is staggering that the film Mississippi Burning depicts the African American community as docile. The director of the film, Alan Parker, even admits the depiction was biased when he said, "Our heroes are still white, and in truth the film would probably never have been made if they weren't," (May). Parker's own words make it clear, Hollywood did not want to make films inspired by the Civil Rights era which would depict the

African Americans as the true heroes. Mississippi Burning shows one of the ways the

Movement period was and is depicted by the film industry.

21 There is one more fictionalised account set in Mississippi, Ghosts of Mississippi

(1996). It depicts the murder of Civil Rights activist Edgar Evers and the ensuing investigation. The film received mixed reviews from the critics. Their main concern was a lack of historical accuracy and filmmaker's poor job in visualising the Evers's civil rights efforts in Mississippi, for instance together with NAACP he helped with the enrolment of African Americans into the University of Mississippi (Sitkoff 1178). In addition, there are three films, The Long Walk Home (1990), Boycott (2001), and The

Rosa Parks Story (2002), which are set in the midst of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

(1955-56). The Long Walk Home was originally a school project at University of

Southern California, which was later expanded to a feature by Miramax Films. The film shows the viewers in what way the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott influenced ordinary African American workers, as well as it managed to portray that some whites could become sympathetic to the cause. Boycott is 2001 HBO television series depicting the life of Martin Luther King Jr. from the beginning of his career as the Civil

Rights leader, to his 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. The depiction is notable for another humanised depiction of King, similar to the one seen in the miniseries King (the similarities will be further developed in the next chapter, "The

Humanisation of King").

Then there are accounts, which portray significant figures of the Movement.

Malcolm X (1992) is a biographical drama written and directed by Spike Lee. The film takes the viewers on a journey showing them Malcolm's most important life events, such as his criminal career, his conversion to Islam, his journey to Mecca, and eventually his assassination in 1965. Lee's Malcolm X was highly acclaimed and critics praised it for its approach to the depiction of one of the Civil Rights activists. Apart from Malcom's, there is one more fictionalised portrayal of King (in addition to the

22 television miniseries King from 1978), Our friend, Martin (1999). This particular depiction stands out from the rest because it is animated. Our friend, Martin tells the story of racial segregation through the narration of two high school boys, one white and one black, who travel in time to meet King throughout the Civil Rights era of 1950s and 1960s. It is a comprehensible portrayal of the events, which could be used in classrooms to spark students' interest in the topic.

Furthermore, there are two films which do not directly deal with the Civil

Rights Movement, but the Movement forms a certain part of the narrative. The first,

Hairspray (1988, 2007 remake), features a major subplot of Baltimore segregation of

The Corny Collins Show in 1963. The other one is Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013). It is a real-life-inspired story about a field slave becoming a servant in the White House.

The film tracks the life of Cecil Gaines who, as a little boy, witnesses the murder of his father by the hand of their master. He later becomes one of the White House butlers, serving under seven United States presidents. Although Gaines himself does not participate in the Civil Rights Movement, his son does. The film features original footage from SNCC organised sit-ins, and Freedom Riders. All in all, The Butler gives the viewers a chance to see in what way did the Movement influence even people who did not actively participate in it (Cecil Gaines was not openly against the Movement, he was just cautious about his views on the matter).

Lastly, two accounts are inspired by the 1965 Selma Campaign. The first,

Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) is a Walt Disney Pictures production inspired by real-life experiences of an eleven-year-old Sheyann Webb during the events of the Selma

Campaign. She was the youngest participant in the Bloody Sunday march. The film's representation of the events is quite visual, the viewers see a young girl crying because of the tear gas the law enforcement units used to disperse the marchers. In this sense,

23 the account is similar to DuVernay's Selma (2014), which is also explicit in showing the beatings of the marchers. The major difference in the two representations is in the main character. While in the former the events are seen through the life of a young

African American girl, in the latter the viewers follow Martin Luther King Jr. himself.

All in all, this chapter tried to put together a collection of accounts which deal with (or are inspired by) the Civil Rights Movement. As it can be seen, there are about three times as many documentaries and television productions, than fictional accounts.

The ratio shows that there is a preference in making the former type of depiction over the latter. What is more staggering when looking at these accounts set in the 1960s, is the fact that even such prominent figure of the period as Martin Luther King Jr. is not seen in more than six productions. When we extend the search criteria and look at all the accounts which are set in the sixties but do not necessarily feature Civil Rights, the number increases to thirty-one. Furthermore, if we consider about four hundred productions set in the sixties, then only about eight per cent of them feature King. In comparison, President Kennedy is present in about one third of these accounts. These findings have important consequences for the broader domain, the potential viewers have far less opportunities to gain information about Martin Luther King Jr. than they have when it comes to JFK. Therefore I would argue that it is pivotal to analyse accounts which feature King as the central character because they provide viewers with a unique opportunity to see him in other productions than facts-driven documentaries.

The following chapter, The Humanisation of King, concentrates on the analysis of two previously mentioned portrayals, the HBO film Boycott (2001), and the NBC miniseries King (1978). They stand out from the rest of the portrayals of the era because unlike other fictionalised accounts, these two feature King as the main character. Above all, their depiction of King is humanised as opposed to the commonly

24 accepted glorified, and haloed portrayals of his figure in the popular culture. The next chapter analyses both accounts more thoroughly, providing the reader with specific cases of the humanised depiction.

25 Chapter 4 - The Humanisation of King

In order to illustrate the importance of humanised accounts of King, I will first briefly mention the ways King's glorified, mythified, and iconic representation is visible in society. To begin with, it is necessary to state that King was nowhere near as popular in his time as he is nowadays. As Kevin Bruynell points out in his essay "The

King's Body," "in August 1966 King was viewed favorably by 33 per cent and unfavorably by 63 per cent of Americans polled," (77). He further stresses the fact that

King's leadership in the Civil Rights Movement never earned him high approval ratings. Furthermore, when King started focusing on the economic equality in the mid- to late 1960s with the Poor People's Campaign, which demanded "the U.S. federal government a $30 billion annual investment," his ratings suffered even more (77). The general disfavour in the sixties could be a result of radical notions King was putting forward at that time (e.g. fighting for desegregation, and later for the poor). On the other hand, when a survey was done in August 2011, King reached an almost unanimous approval rating as high as 94 per cent with only 4 per cent viewing him unfavourably (Bruynell 77). These findings show the transition that King's image has undergone over the decades, from an unpopular 'trouble-maker' to a glorious hero.

According to Clayborne Carson, the media are one of the causes for the creation of the

King myth. He claims, that "One aspect of the emerging King myth has been the depiction of him in the mass, not only as the preeminent leader of the civil rights movement, but also as the initiator and sole indispensable element in the southern black struggles of the 1950s and 1960s," (448). He further argues that:

The King myth departs from historical reality because it

attributes too much to King's exceptional qualities as a

leader and too little to the impersonal, large-scale social

26 factors that made it possible for King to display his

singular abilities on a national stage. Because the myth

emphasizes the individual at the expense of the black

movement, it not only exaggerates King's historical

importance but also distorts his actual, considerable

contribution to the movement.

448-49

Carson proceeds to explain that the main distortion lies in seeing King as a

"charismatic figure who single-handedly directed the course of the civil rights movement through the force of his oratory," (449). It is not just Carson who comes with these claims. There is also Scott W. Hoffman, who argues in his essay "Holy

Martin: The Overlooked Canonization of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," that media helped transform King's symbolisation in the popular mind by combining his name with clever catchphrases (124). Therefore, while he was referred to as the leader of

SCLC, or a Baptist minister, at the beginning, already in 1957 the image of King had started to become distorted. An editorial was published in The Indianapolis Recorder on February 2 of that year which read, "it is perhaps not overly bold to see [Dr. King] as a twentieth-century Moses in leadership or a St. Paul in courage," (125). Hoffman draws attention to the attempts to canonise King, to make him a saint. For instance, "In

1988, at observances of Martin Luther King Day, the Reverend Joseph Lowery, president of SCLC, told the New York Times, 'To be sure, I'm excited by the holiday, but without the holy day, the holiday could be out of harmony with the honouree,'"

(138). Even some popular singers help with the mythification, for example, U2's lead singer Bono Vox dedicates one of the band's songs (Pride) In the Name of Love to

"...the Reverend Martin Luther King—saint," (138). All these instances suggest that

27 media and even some influential figures have created a bias bubble around King's persona over the decades, which warps the perception of his true self by gradually turning him into a 'super-human.' Carson puts these mythified portrayals in contrast with what King was like in reality. He states, "King was a leader full of self-doubts, keenly aware of his own limitations and human weaknesses," and, "He [King] was at times reluctant to take on the responsibilities suddenly and unexpectedly thrust upon him," (449). For example, during the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56),

King was not at all confident and secure in his leadership role when he was receiving death threats and was inevitably worried about his life and the lives of his wife and children (449). The essence of this argument is that King was a human being with all its virtues and vices.

The bubble effect is not exclusive to media only, for it has been quite prominent in American cinema as well. The depictions in the case of fictionalised accounts are usually limited to King being portrayed as a liminal character (e.g. in Lee Daniels' The

Butler, Timequest). In some accounts his depiction is based on the "I have a dream..." hero (e.g. Gandhi vs. Martin Luther King Jr. Epic Rap Battles). In the Lee Daniels' The

Butler's case, King is shown only for a brief moment in a motel room with other Civil

Rights activists. A note on the screen informs the viewers it is in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. It is unclear who the people around King are, we see Gaines's son Louis and his girlfriend Carol Hammie among them. Both were shown to be members of the

Black Panthers, so it is unclear whether they decided to work with SCLC and King or not. In any case, King's role in the account seems to be moralising. He lectures Louis on the role of African American servants in the society, pointing out that they might be seen as subservient, while in fact they are in many ways subversive. The representation is not that different from portrayals King has in other fictionalised accounts. For

28 instance, a film Timequest was released in 2000. It is a film about a time traveller who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, by doing so he significantly alters the course of events. In this timeline, Robert Kennedy eventually becomes the President and appoints King as his Vice-President. King is seen in only one scene, when Kennedy is considering to eliminate a prisoner who seems to be the time traveller. King is opposing the suggestion that a man should have an "accident."

Thus, we see another example of King being the carrier of moral values and saviour in the feature films.

Epic Rap Battles is a YouTube channel which produces short clips featuring two characters having a rap battle. The choice of characters is wide-ranging, from

George Washington rapping against William Wallace, or Michael Jordan confronting

Muhammad Ali, through Romeo and Juliet battling against Bonnie and Clyde up to

Gandhi vs. Martin Luther King Jr. A behind the scenes clip is also released together with each episode. Therefore one can watch the process of clip making as it happened.

During the production of Gandhi vs. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s clip, the producers brainstormed ideas on how the episode should look like and what it should have. Jordan

Peele, who plays the King's character in the clip, says ".. .if you could make his lines feel like 'I have a dream speech that would be...," {Epic Rap Battles). Although he is interrupted by another member of the production team, his intonation and the way he is presenting the idea suggest he wants to make their fictionalised look like the hero from the March on Washington. The actual episode confirms this assumption, because King is in fact seen as if on a podium rapping a speech. The Epic Rap Battles episode is used to illustrate how rooted the King's mythified is in the contemporary culture. His image of a hero and leader is used even in productions, which are clearly made for entertainment purposes.

29 In addition, there are other forms of mythification of King's character. For instance, streets, schools, and health clinics are named in King's honour as well as memorials built all over the country to commemorate the Civil Rights leader. As Dwyer summarises: "Memorials have been erected in towns and cities whose names are synonymous with the struggle against white supremacy: Topeka, Kansas; Little Rock,

Arkansas; Oxford, Mississippi; Montgomery, Alabama; Albany, Georgia...," (Romano

5). Among the most recent ones, a thirty-foot statue of King was unveiled in 2011 at the

National Mall in Washington D.C. and became known as "Martin Luther King Jr.

National Memorial." The memorial was designed by San Francisco-based ROMA

Design Group, whose proposal was inspired by King's "I Have a Dream Speech," and its purpose was "not to be commemorating a sad event of the grief that came about as a circumstance of American history," but rather "to really create an uplifting environment," (Bruyneel 81). As for the design itself, the memorial features a dominant statue of King, whose rendering was a topic of numerous discussions because at first

King's representation was "a stiffly frontal image, static in pose, confrontational in character," and United States Commission of Fine Arts did not like the way King was portrayed (Bruyneel 86). In the end, King was reshaped to have "a less furrowed brow,

[and] a softer mouth," (Bryuneel 86). In addition, designers decided to engrave fourteen quotations from King's speeches on the memorial. These include, "We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice," or "If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional.

Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective." Even more radical quotes, such as "I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see

30 our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world," are taken out of context because in the same speech King said:

We were taking the black young men who had been

crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand

miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which

they had not found in southwest Georgia and East

Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel

irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as

they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable

to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch

them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor

village, but we realize that they would hardly live on the

same block in Chicago. I could not be silent in the face of

such cruel manipulation of the poor.

Beyond Vietnam

The most notable parts are the parallels he draws between the fact that young African

Americans are sent to fight for values that they had never received in their home country. All in all, the quotations seem to lack the meaning King intended them to have. Therefore, the memorial serves as yet another device for mythification of King's character and world views.

These were some examples of the accounts, which help with the mythification of King's persona. These types of representations are the most numerous ones, there are some which do not fall into the bias bubble of King's representations. These are the

1978 NBC miniseries King, the 2001 HBO film Boycott, and DuVernay's Selma from

2014. The rest of the chapter will focus on the first two accounts summarising their

31 strengths and weaknesses while offering examples of the humanised representation.

The miniseries docudrama King was commissioned by the Network

Broadcasting Corporation which spent about $5 million U.S. dollars on the production and marketing. Popular black and white actors, such as Paul Winfield (King), Cicely

Tyson (Coretta Scott King) were casted into the main roles. The story follows King from his early years when he was as a minister under his father's supervision through the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 which popularised him and marked the beginning of his leadership. The story ends with King's assassination in 1968. The miniseries is significant for two reasons; it is the first account featuring King not only as the main character but also as a human being. Viewers have a unique opportunity to see King in behind-closed-doors situations with his family or aides and not only in his usual forms (in a pulpit or a podium). Also, the people around King are shown to play an important role in his life. For example, Coretta, his wife, is one of King's most prominent supporters. She is constantly reminding him of the purpose of the

Movement, of the ideology, and the need to carry on. Hence, viewers see even King need some support from the people around him, and that he did not do everything on his own.

The critics of the account could be divided into two main groups, each group criticising different aspects of the production. The groups could be said to be divided along racial lines into two groups, white versus black critics. No matter which group, even the most vigorous opponents praised Winfield's performance, many of them claiming it was the best in his career (Fuller 44). When it came to the rest of the issues, the critics' views on the account diverge from each other. The white critics quite favoured the miniseries and saw the docudrama genre as the only major drawback. As it was mentioned in the chapter on The Civil Rights Movement, docudrama combines

32 elements of fiction with the elements of documentary. In the case of the miniseries, fictionalised scenes are blurred and black and white to make them look authentic and originating from the 1950s or 1960s. However, these scenes are completely made up

(i.e. not based on real-life events) by the producers or are reconstructions of past events with certain creative liberties. The resulting images might confuse viewers because they have difficulties in distinguishing what is real and what is a made-up fiction. Hence, many critics said that the genre of the miniseries confused people by making the scenes look authentic while in fact they were not (Fuller 45). A Washington Post editorial once even featured the following pronouncement:

Television is much too powerful a medium of

communication to be playing so loose with the line

between fiction and fact. It is already hard enough to keep

them separated. A 'docu-drama' is as offensive to

journalism and history as the word itself is to the English

language.

Fuller 48

Such comments were quite common in several major newspapers, Newsweek, Time, or

The New York Times for example (Fuller, 48).

Although white critics complained about the genre, the content did not receive any major criticism. This was not the case for the African American critics who liked neither the genre nor the content. They had the same opinion on the genre as the white critics, that is, the fiction looking like a reality made it difficult to watch (Fuller 41).

However, when it came to the content, they were worlds apart. A critic Don Cornelius went as far as to say:

Only Network Television (including CBS and ABC)

33 would have the [gall] to do the story of a man who gave

his life in pursuit of equal rights for blacks and to do that

story with no black involvement in the writing, producing,

and directing chores or even, would you believe, the

musical score... That's not mere discrimination but

something far worse. That's Network Television. The last

bastion of white supremacy in America

Fuller 57 or "It was a show about Blacks, written, directed, produced, guided and misinterpreted by a massive technical staff of non-Blacks. Like a person with a foot ailment being treated by a dentist," (Fuller 57). Cornelius was not the only who was appalled that yet again an African American history was being told through the eyes, mouths, and pens of white people. Yet some African American critics liked the miniseries, saying King was finally represented as

not an untouchable, mythic hero, but a very real man, a

man of passion as well as peace, a man torn by his doubts

and fears despite all his brave conviction, a man who got

the hiccoughs out of fear, just before going on to perform

acts of great courage. A real man, a hero of our time.

Fuller 49

This humanised representation was particularly visible in the scenes where King dances with his wife, he is laying in the bed only in his underwear, and when he is seen feeling down and unsure of what to do next.

To the producers' wide surprise, the miniseries was a huge disaster with the viewers. The night the miniseries aired its first episode it earned only an 18 per cent

34 share on the market. Other programs, such as Gator or West beat the miniseries by a margin of 23 and 18 per cent, respectively. The mainstream press had claimed that this was due to the fact that King was a highbrow production and not many (black) people would want to watch it (Fuller 58). Consequently, suggesting the majority of the blacks were lowbrows who actually wanted to watch films, TV shows or other accounts, such as Good Times (CBS, 1974-1979), The Jeffersons (CBS, 1975-1985), or What's

Happening (ABC, 1976-1979) which featured stereotypical representations of African

American characters (mostly subservient Uncles, sassy-mouthed Mammies, and reckless Coons). Some years later, several newspapers ran an Associated Press report, in which they analysed the same ratings that categorised the miniseries as unfavourable among the viewers. A more thorough analysis of the actual structure of the viewers was done. It showed that while less than 10 per cent of white homes watched the miniseries, some 66 per cent of non-white homes tuned into it (Fuller 61). The numbers clearly show that the miniseries was a success among non-whites. Hence, there is no evidence to support the highbrow, lowbrow argument. On the contrary, the analysis seems to backfire on the white portion of the audience.

Apart from the highbrow/lowbrow dichotomy, there are also other opinions on why the miniseries failed to appeal to the audience in general. Some claim that the main reason for its failure is the fact that it was released too early, too soon after the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement (Fuller 58). Almost everyone from the late sixties events were still alive. These people either took direct part in the events, saw what was happening on the television or simply heard about the events. Therefore, there were lots of people who actually witnessed the events when they were broadcasted on the television sets at peoples' homes. A letter writer expressed his views on the matter this way:

35 Equal rights, affirmative action, black politicians wanting

more and more. They had the sympathy of the average

person for a while, now everybody is getting tired of it.

When I turn my TV on and the picture is full of black

faces, I immediately change channels, and I think most

others do, too.

Fuller 59

Even if the quote comes from someone who is not affectionate of the Movement, their words could none the less provide an insight on how people may feel about the accounts which are inspired by the Movement's events. Hence, one might even go as far as to say the wound was still open. On the one hand, white audience members might have had enough of the Civil Rights Movement, on the other hand, King made them even feel a bit guilty of themselves for either not doing enough to challenge the system and change racial oppression, or for what they had done themselves in those days. In other words, King might have served as a mirror to the society that not everyone was ready or willing to look into.

In contrast to the white critics, the black critics do not employ the "too early, too soon" rhetoric. They actually thought the miniseries came at the right time, because, as the critics claim, many people became complacent with the state of the affairs at that time (Fuller 61). As a Baltimore Afro-American columnist said:

The film came at a good time. A time when black people

seem to be experiencing a backlash from this and a

backlash from that. A time when black people seem to be

complacent. A time when black people obviously think

that the struggle for justice and for equality is all behind

36 us and a time when blacks think they have no further need

for civil rights organizations.

Fuller 61

As the critics point out that was a false assumption. For instance, the fact that only the cast of the movie was black and there was not a single African American in the production team provides evidence of persistent inequality in the film industry (Fuller

57). Having said that, King's wife, Coretta, was consulted during the shooting of the miniseries and she gave consent to its form and content. Hence, there was some involvement of African American in the production (except for the actors) of the miniseries, albeit limited.

Needless to say, the King miniseries is not the only TV production that is inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and at the same time has King as the main character. In 2001, HBO came with a fictionalised account called Boycott. The King's character is portrayed by Jeffrey Wright and for the second time in the cinematic history King is represented as a human being. The story follows the events of the 1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott, an event that set in motion one of the largest movements in the American history. Unlike the King miniseries, however, this account did not receive the same kind of criticism. In fact, it did not receive any serious attention, either from the public or among the film critics. It seems it was rather unsuccessful among the white viewers. The few online reviews that are available are all praising the production.

They say one thing: King, the man who has been put on pedestal for decades, was brought down to the ground again. A different approach to King's depiction could be seen in the scenes, in which King is dancing with his wife Coretta to a romantic tune, or in the scenes where we see King praying to God in their kitchen because he is devastated. These are all images of King that the current public is not used to seeing.

37 Similarly, there are scenes where King starts to lose his faith and feels depressed. For instance, the account gets to a point where the bus boycott is well under way, and King had just gotten out of the jail for the first time, and the life-threats started to become a daily business. King is shown sitting on a chair in the kitchen with his head in his hands apparently losing even the last bits of his strength—both spiritual and physical. The phone keeps ringing off the hook and even though we cannot hear what the person on the other side is saying, judging by King's facial expressions, it seems to be something unpleasant. It was most probably another death threat. Eventually when the phone call ends, he claps his hands together in a prayer saying, almost inaudibly, "People are looking to me to lead, but now I've come to the end of my power. Help me." This scene in itself is a powerful representation of King's character. Seeing the leader of the

Movement at his lowest sends a strong message to the viewers. A message that is not at all disrespectful; on the contrary, it makes King more approachable.

All in all, the failure of the accounts among the white audience might raise a question of whether people are ready for a fictionalisation of King and the Civil Rights

Movement. I think that the same thing that "re-assassinated" (a term coined by Samuel

F. Yvette, an Afro-American columnist from Baltimore) the King miniseries makes

DuVernay's Selma all the more appropriate for the current period. As mentioned before, it might have been too soon for the public to watch the King miniseries depicting the 1960s events. There might be two reasons why it is more likely to succeed nowadays than in the past. The first reason could be, that the events of the sixties indeed happened mere ten years before the miniseries aired. This makes them all too personal, and almost no one can say "It wasn't us," because, in fact, it was. The second reason might be, the SCLC and Mrs. King's quests to continue King's legacy. The

SCLC and Mrs. King chose different approaches to uphold King's legacy and did not

38 get along very well (Romano 73, Fuller 51). While SCLC representatives claimed they were the true carries of King's legacy by carrying on with the non-violence protests— in fact, the Kingian Non-violent training sessions are offered to public even nowadays

(Haga). Mrs. King, on the other hand, tried and has succeeded in memorialising her husband as the leader of the Movement. She managed to establish the Martin Luther

King Jr. Centre for Nonviolent Social Change—The King Center. Furthermore, she lobbied for and again has succeeded in establishing a federal holiday in the name of her husband celebrated on third Monday of January. In order to achieve her plans, she needed to establish a widely acceptable image of her husband, an image that would suit both the blacks who looked at King as a fighter for their rights and the whites who saw

King as the promoter of the unity and nonviolence (Fuller 51). The SCLC was going for a more radical King from 1966-1968, who "...was the civil rights leader who ventured outside the boundaries of conventional ideological consensus to attack national institutions and policies such as white racism in the North, the war in Vietnam, and capitalism's link to class and poverty," (Romano 151). Coretta was more inclined to the 1963-1964 version of King, in which he was the receiver of the Nobel Peace

Prize or the March to Washington speaker—a much calmer event than the Selma to

Montgomery march (Fuller 51). Nowadays it is clear who won the "battle of King's legacy:" Coretta Scott King. She successfully helped with the creation of an image of a mythical hero King—a man who went to the Mountaintop, an image people often associate with King in these days.

The chapter tried to illustrate the way King is perceived by the society nowadays. In an overwhelming majority of the fictionalised accounts his image is distorted and mythified. His image often connected with his "I have a dream" speech from the 1963 March to Washington. However, as I have tried to point out, there are

39 accounts (1978 King and 2001 Boycott), which not only feature King as the main character but also portray him as a human being. Thirteen years after Boycott's release, another fictionalised accounts joins their rank, it's Ava DuVernay's Selma. The following chapter analyses Selma, and tries to prove it not only follows the same demythification approach to King's depiction as the miniseries King and Boycott, but it takes the portrayal of his character one step further.

40 Chapter 5 - The Demythification of King

In 2014, Ava DuVernay brought audiences another fictional depiction of King, in addition to the NBC miniseries King and HBO's Boycott, called Selma. Just like the aforementioned accounts, she portrays King from a different angle, thus giving the viewers a chance to see the true human that was behind the mask of a skilled orator and a leader of one of the most significant movements in the American history. This chapter presents the readers with scenes and moments where the viewers of Selma have a chance to see King questioning his beliefs, his decisions, or his role in the whole

Movement. All these instances could give them a chance to realise that he was not always confident about what was and what was not right. The scenes also show that sometimes even King needed to take a deep breath and ask himself "What am I doing?" or "Am I doing the right thing?" The purpose of this chapter is to analyse moments and scenes which contribute to King's demythification process.

To begin with, the feature is not just about King's flaws, insecurities, and failures, it also gives viewers the leader they are familiar with from other fictionalised accounts (e.g. Lee Daniels' The Butler, Timequest). A number of scenes portray King having a strong and formidable character, which he utilises to rally people for open protests in from of the Dallas County courthouse, or when he talks to President Johnson and refuses to oblige to his request not to march from Selma to Montgomery. Another example could be the confrontation between the SCLC and the SNCC. Leaders of

SNCC were represented by John Lewis (portrayed in the film by Stephan James) and

James Forman (portrayed in the film by Trais Buyers). It is apparent from the scene's setting that the SNCC leaders are not happy about King's arrival in Selma, Alabama.

As it was mentioned earlier in the chapter on the Civil Rights Movement, SNCC had been operating in Selma for several years before King's arrival. This seems to be

41 reflected in the scene because they feared all their work would become forgotten and

King would get all the credit for achieving the increase in the number of registered voters in Dallas County, Alabama. The fictionalised scene from Selma shows the

SNCC leaders in a heated argument with the newly arrived SCLC leaders. The quarrel is becoming more intense every minute, but King steps in to calm the waters. He starts by appreciating SNCC's efforts in Selma, which focused on raising black consciousness, but at the same time he points out there is a need to raise white consciousness in order for the movement to achieve their goal of getting the African

Americans registered. Upon King's involvement in the discussion, both Lewis and

Forman are depicted as sulkily agreeing to cooperate. Apart from a demonstration of

King's ability to push forward his ideas, it is this very scene which shows the viewers the truth behind King's non-violent tactics. As King points out, the SCLC's tactics have three stages, "we negotiate, we demonstrate, we resist." At the same time, he clearly states the success of the SCLC's efforts is directly correlated with the amount of the white "cooperation." The "cooperation" in this case means that the whites respond violently to any non-violent protests organised by African Americans. These responses form the foundation of the SCLC's tactics, thanks to them the media take particular interest in the cause and cover the atrocious behaviour in detail, which in return serves as a shock therapy for the nation itself.

In addition to the above mentioned scene, there are several key scenes which I think deserve particular attention because they are crucial to the King's demythification process. The first scene I will focus on is the scene where King picks up John Lewis and they drive together around the town. The second is a collection of scenes with the same or similar settings, i.e. the jail. These scenes provide a significant amount of material which helps build the demythified image of King. The last part of the chapter

42 will analyse the scene in which Coretta confronts King with the tapes suggesting

King's affair. Furthermore, apart from these main scenes, the chapter will also deal with scenes which might not seem significant at first but they contain some valuable evidence upon a closer examination. All in all, the chapter sets to present the scenes from Selma, which portray King in a demythified manner. The feature helps to form a far more complex image of King than the audience had been presented with until recently.

As it was suggested, the car scene in Selma in which King picks up Lewis and they drive around the town together might help with the formation of a more human view on King. Cars and car ownership have been used in various literary accounts as a symbol of wealth, freedom, and independence. For instance, cars play an important role in Gatsby's demonstration of achieving the American dream. Furthermore, Hayakawa points out in his column for Chicago defender, that car driving represents a form of self-assertion. He goes on to claim the car manufactures use all the plush and chromium, enamel and streamline, and awesome 'grilles' that stun the beholder into dazzled acquiescence to encourage men to express their dreams in the cars (Hayakawa,

58). Thus, suggesting men are inclined to express their dreams and views while sitting in or driving the car.

When it comes to King's depiction in the American cinema, audiences do not have that many opportunities to see him driving. Most of these depictions are in the previously mentioned fictional accounts, King and Boycott. For instance, in the NBC miniseries, the viewers can see King driving with his wife having a conversation about their possible marriage. King in a way proposes to Coretta when he says, "You know, I probably going to marry. It's probably so as it's going to happen." In addition, King compliments Coretta, saying she is beautiful and intelligent. This particular

43 conversation complies with Hayakawa's idea of men expressing dreams in their cars.

The viewers see a completely different King than they are used to from the rest of the popular productions. However, the phenomenon is not exclusive to the NBC's King but it is present in the HBO's Boycott as well. King's character in Boycott is shown to take part in the carpooling during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Carpools were used during the Boycott to get African American workers from their homes in the outskirt areas to the city. The system of carpooling was well-organised and the Movement organisers paid particular attention to the scheduling. Consequently, the scene in the fictionalised account Boycott shows King as a man who did not distance himself from the 'dirty' and unpleasant jobs. The carpooling could be unpleasant because the drivers were often harassed not only by the police but by the local citizens as well.

In addition to these scenes, Selma also offers an opportunity to see King driving.

This time, the viewers see King picking up SNCC leader John Lewis in order to talk to him about his intentions in Selma and the plans and strategies. In a way, the scene represents both the King's realisation of the necessity to achieve the long awaited dream when Lewis tells King about the beatings and lynching he had witnessed before

King's arrival and the significance of performing an ordinary task such as driving a car.

The scenes from fictionalised accounts King, Boycott, and Selma present the audiences with a unique form of King's depiction. The viewers do not have many chances in the mainstream American cinema to see King performing such an ordinary task as driving.

One might even get the idea he did not drive at all. However, as King's personal driver of almost two years, an eighteen-year-old white boy Houck recalls he liked driving, albeit he was a terrible driver (Jenings). Thus, Houck's words prove that having a driver did not necessarily mean he did not drive at all.

Apart from the scenes in which King was driving himself the viewers have a

44 chance of seeing him being driven to various places. For instance, in the NBC miniseries he is driven away in a getaway car because a peaceful march King was leading was starting to become violent. Another example of King being at the back seat of a car is in Selma. In one of the scenes, the viewers see King at the backseat together with his aides Ralph Abernathy and Andrew Young, while Diane Nash sits at the passenger's seat and SCLS's field organiser James Orange is driving them to Selma to

'test the waters'. What is interesting to point out when looking at these two different depictions are the facial expressions King has in these scenes. In both cases, he gives the impression of a broken man, a man without hope of a better future. King from the

NBC miniseries might be devastated because he feels the march he had started turned violent. King is probably beginning to doubt his own beliefs of non-violence. The following scene shows him lying in bed only in his underwear. His aides appear to be worried, one of them even claims he had never seen King in such a dreadful state.

Similarly, the scene from Selma shows King in a gloomy mood. This time, however, it is not because of a march turning violent but maybe because of the uncertain future that awaits them. Abernathy is also not helping when he says: "It is a decent-looking place to die." Both representations give the audience an opportunity to look at King as he is deep in his thoughts evaluating his decisions or thinking about events that are about to happen. On the one hand, it is hard to say in which of these is King more doubtful or uncertain, on the other hand, both scenes offer opportunities to see King in a less mythified way than it was the case in other depictions.

When the two types of imagery of King sitting at the back versus King driving are compared, one may say that when King is just sitting at the back he gives the impression of a desperate and maybe even useless man. In any case, the scene with

John Lewis in Selma and Coretta in King, and the carpool scene from Boycott give the

45 viewers a whole different picture of King's character. King seems to be more in control of the situation itself when he is driving. Moreover, all of a sudden there is this figure, which up until now has almost exclusively been put on the pedestal, worshipped and mythified, and which is now seen sitting on the front seat holding the stirring wheel and driving around the town. Scenes like these offer the viewers a chance to look at King from an angle, which allows them to see the real human in him and not just the skilled orator, the unwavering leader, the flawless hero or the mythical entity as was the case with other fictionalised depictions.

Another significant scene from Selma which stands out from the rest of King's depictions in other productions is the jail scene. King and many other African

American protesters were imprisoned after the first protest King is shown to lead when he arrived to Selma. The protesters are shown to peacefully stand in front of the Dallas

County courthouse demanding their right to register to vote. Shortly after their arrival

Sheriff Jim Clark loses his temper and arrests all of them. The subsequent scene gives a clear image of filled county jail cells where all the protesters were taken. The atmosphere itself is depicted to be tense and one has a feeling of despair. However, in reality, as Fager points out, "The spirit was indeed moving...," and the protesters use the time in jail for prayers and sermon-like story telling of their struggles, thus King learnt what bothers the ordinary people of Selma (Fager 52). When the camera in fictionalised account focuses on King and Abernathy who share the same cell, the viewers see King is feeling rather down. In this particular scene the audience is presented with King who is shown doubting his own beliefs and the fundamental purpose of the campaign. At first, the intimate discussion about the terrible state of the

African Americans is accompanied by silence but later, when King claims "they are going to ruin me, so they can ruin this movement. They are," a soft piano music starts

46 to play while Abernathy says a prayer: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life," (Matthew 6:26-27). The combination of calming music and the prayer signify the gloominess and seriousness of the whole situation. It is more than apparent

King is losing his faith. However, Abernathy's prayer visibly uplifts King's spirit. In moments like these the viewers have the chance of realising how different the previous portrayals of King were. The viewers rarely had a chance of seeing King feeling as down as in this scene. Needless to say, he was seen being sad or crying, but these emotions were not connected with the questioning of his beliefs. They were a reaction to saddening events, which King witnessed or heard of and not the emotions of self- evaluation.

In connection with the previously mentioned jail scene, there is one more scene where King is seen imprisoned. This time, however, King seems to be the only one there. We see Coretta coming to talk to King after her meeting with Malcolm X. The feature does not say so, but Malcolm X was invited by SNCC members to give speech in Brown Chapel in Selma. He was known for "disparaging" the Civil Rights organisation (Branch Pillar of Fire 578). However, this time as he assures Coretta both in reality and in the fictionalised account, he went to Selma to "aid not to hinder his

[King's] cause," (Branch Pillar of Fire 579). What the accounts shows the viewers is

Coretta asking Malcolm X about what he intends to say at the meeting because she is afraid the work that has been done will be undone by Malcolm X's involvement. He answers, almost in a pleading voice, that he wants to be "the alternative that scares them [white people] so much, they turn to Dr. King." Thus, he suggests that the alternative to what King is offering could be far worse. In reality, however, Malcolm X

47 does not share his ideas before actually speaking to the mass meeting (Branch Pillar of

Fire 578). It is true he does not suggest violent retaliations in Selma when he says: "I'm not intending to try and stir you up and make you do something that you wouldn't have done anyway," (Branch Pillar of Fire 579). While in reality King was isolated in jail and Coretta was not allowed to visit him, feature film Selma offers viewers a fictionalised account of how it might have looked like. The scene shows King not being happy about the meeting, it might even be safe to say he was furious about it. His responses become even more intense when Coretta tells him that he should at least talk to Malcolm X. It is interesting to look at the angry and impulsive responses he gives

Coretta as well as at the setting of the whole scene. Coretta comments on King's unusual behaviour by saying "You don't sound like yourself, you sound tired." Her remark suggests King is being unreasonably harsh and and the situation becomes even more intense when he accuses her of being enamoured with Malcolm X. Although he takes the words back as soon as he utters them claiming he is tired, the damage has been done. The scene portrays him as a jealous and desperate man, who does not appear to be confident of himself. He seems to be feeling insecure in the relationship with Coretta and even vicious towards Malcolm X.

Besides the interaction itself, the way DuVernay staged the scene might be also worth mentioning. For the whole duration of the scene the viewer sees mostly the profiles of the protagonists. At first, King is reprimanding Coretta for meeting with

Malcolm X. Then we see King on the far left side of the screen with his back to Coretta when she continues talking about her meeting with Malcolm X. As soon as she finishes,

King abruptly turns around and quickly crosses to the other side of the screen (where the bars are), while spitting out a harsh response. King continues to lecture his wife, for as he claims, Malcolm had said he, King, was paid by a white man to keep the African

48 Americans defenceless. He continues with "Our movement has been the one that has moved the needle...." When the camera focuses on Coretta, we see her distancing herself from the left-hand side of the screen, trying to get away from the bars. The viewers could interpret her attempt to put some space between her and King as a reaction to the accusations, but it could also further signify King's impulsive response to her words. The viewers are confronted with a man who proposes non-violence but seems to be rather violent in his reactions. Later, when he accuses her of being enamoured with Malcolm she gets even further from the bars. However, she seems to feel sorry King, so she gradually moves back to the bars, thus the whole scene concludes with Coretta being on the far left, while King being on the far right side of their respective screens. Thus, if presented on the same screen they would literally stand nose to nose, only the bars separating them. However, the separate screens for each protagonist give the impression that there are not just the bars separating them but there is also a different barrier, a barrier built of the negative emotions. All the tension together with the harsh atmosphere in the scene presents the viewers with a completely different King than they might have been used to in the mainstream cinema depictions.

One could say King gives an impression of being seriously depressed. These are all images which are rarely seen either on television or cinema screens.

The tension between Coretta and King is further elevated in probably the most significant scene of the whole feature, the scene where King is confronted by his wife on the topic of adultery. Both Coretta and King are sitting in the living room facing each other. They are listening to an audio tape, which Coretta received from an anonymous sender. Although the feature does not clearly state where the tapes originated from, it suggests the tape was recorded by FBI agents because J. Edgar

Hoover is shown telling President Johnson at one that "We can shut men with power

49 down, permanently and unequivocally," as well as "If you [President Johnson] prefer a different approach, we can go with the wife." The lines suggest the FBI will target

King's wife, one of the possible instruments being the tapes. This would also comply with the real life, in which FBI agents on J. Edgar Hoover's orders were constantly following King (Branch At Carmen's Edge 197). The recording featured King and an unknown woman with whom King appears to have an affair. King and Coretta stare into each other's eyes while listening to the recording and the whole scene is charged with overwhelming emotions.

When one looks at the depictions of King in the previous productions, there is rarely an opportunity to see him with his family or in their house. From the nature of his work duties it was difficult to actually see him in his own house. This is especially the case when one looks at the mainstream fictional depictions. To a certain extent

Selma manages to cover this aspect of King's life by offering the audience several images of King's children and his wife inside their own house in Atlanta, Georgia.

Moreover, one of the most significant scenes of the feature takes place in their own living room. The images the feature presents the viewers are intimate and offer the audiences a noteworthy opportunity to look at King not as a hero but as an ordinary man who cleans the dishes, takes out the trash and checks on his kids in their rooms.

However, at the same time he is not a perfect man, but has his flaws and insecurities.

Therefore, the feature gives the viewers also an opportunity to reflect on King's complex personality.

King's adultery is touched upon several times in Taylor Branch's trilogy on the

Civil Rights Movement. Branch does not confirm nor does he disregard the matter. He merely says things like: "Even in the vortex of twenty-hour days around the marches, he managed travel with a new black mistress of stylish discretion, who moved easily

50 across the color line among prominent, mostly wealthy men" or "Martin has been thinking about you [Georgia Davis] since you last met, after the meeting tonight, ride with me to the Rodeway Inn and meet him there." (Branch At Carman's Edge 197-98,

589-90). Some claim it was just FBI's attempt to discredit King, others are not clearly saying it did not happen (Federal Bureau of Investigation). One man who stirred the waters of adultery the most was surprisingly Ralph Abernathy. Abernathy was King's closest friend, aid, and a named successor as the leader of the movement. Therefore, it came as a big surprise when Abernathy decided to publish his memoirs in 1988 (the memoirs were later republished in 2010) where Abernathy confirms King's adulterous behaviour. Up until then, these claims had been nothing but rumours. Abernathy's confirmation surprised the public. Some claimed he did it out of jealousy—argument being the fact that he was always the second one and he never managed to fill King's shoes after King's death. Needless to say, it is understandable that a figure like King who became a synonym for a movement against oppression or a person whose picture people hang right next to the picture of Jesus—this further signifies the importance of

King to ordinary people—is idealised (Ava DuVernay: The Road to Selma, Directors

Close-Up 2015). Thus, many of his mistakes and imperfections are omitted, silenced or covered up when talking about him. However, in order to show the whole picture and in order to tell the truth, even the unpleasant aspects of one's life need to be told. In the end, it serves one ultimate goal: to demythify the way people see King nowadays.

Moreover, seeing King is not the prototype of a perfect person, people might be more inclined or likely to see that however exceptional he was, he was first and foremost a man with all the virtues and vices.

The way DuVernay approached the matter is also worth mentioning. In the film, the viewer is drawn right into the middle of the demythifycation process: Coretta has

51 already listened to a part of the recording, and has most probably realised what it is about. Likewise, King has realised what is going on. His eyes are red from the tears that are running down his cheeks. The fact, that they are both sitting in their living room, facing each other, looking into each other's eyes while the recording goes on and on in the background makes the emotions all the more palpable. Furthermore, all the time these two face each other, their kids are shown to be in the dining room, sitting by the table, eating dinner. The constant reminder that King is also a father intensifies the emotions.

The scene reaches its climax when Coretta asks her husband a simple question

"Do you love me?" It is a question that suggest troubles or issues ahead, some might even start thinking "Something is wrong." The question serves as a proof of the seriousness of the whole scene as the viewers have a chance to see it in the feature.

King responses—after a pause—with an affirmative answer, which would under normal circumstances release the tension, but Coretta almost immediately asks another question "Do you love any of the others?" The pause that follows the question feels like an eternity. The camera keeps a focus on King's face almost the entire time—it changes to Coretta for a little while before returning to King again. We see him crying, probably due to the whole situation and because he is being scrutinised by his wife's look. The tension might make the viewer sit on the edge of the seat, awaiting the answer. The answer eventually comes and it is a simple "No." By giving the simplest of all the negative answers he does not, however, deny their existence. On the contrary, he affirms that there, in fact, are others. He simply says he does not love them.

After a little while, Mrs. King leaves the room, making it clear it is her who is controlling the situation. We are left to look at devastated King for a while before moving to the next scene where he is making a phone call to Young telling him they

52 need to postpone the Selma march by a day. To justify his request he tells Young he needs to stay at home for a little while. While we listen to their conversation—Young, telling King how good the organisation looks and the fact that people are actually expecting the march to happen—we see King walking around the house late at night.

First he enters their master bedroom. We see his wife fast asleep with the lights on. He gently removes a book from her hands and turns the lights off. Then he goes to see their children, all of them fast asleep as well. While we follow King around the house, he might seem to be deserted in his own house. His state of mind may not be surprising if we consider him to be human. However, if we compare the shattered man with the man we have been presented with so far, it is a shocking transformation. The transformation from a man who has been to the mountaintop to a man strolling around his own house lost in his thoughts, maybe questioning and regretting his decisions.

Another scene showing the process of demythification is loosely connected with the previously mentioned one. It is a collection of scenes with King's voiceover in which King reads out a letter he sends to Coretta shortly before judge Johnson's hearing on the legality of the march from Selma to Montgomery. King writes the letter as a response to the 'fight' he had with Coretta over his adultery. He seems to be feeling depressed and his words confirm the suspicion. King starts the letter with these lines: "at the time I need you, I cannot call you. And I have done this to myself, to us."

The opening lines of the letter show he is feeling lonely and admits his imperfection.

He also confesses the state they are currently at is because of his doing, thus entirely his fault. He goes on to acknowledge the sacrifices people around him had to make during the fight. He also speaks about "pray for discernment and guidance as we journey on."

Based on the words he uses, the viewers can judge he is not confident about the situation he has found himself in. It probably does regard mainly the tension between

53 Coretta and himself, but the prayers for guidance could also be about the whole movement. After all, the next scene takes the audience to the court house where King and other African American and white people testify in front of Judge Johnson who is to decide whether the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama violates the U.S.

Constitution or not. Besides the message itself, it might be interesting to look at the images that DuVernay shows the audience while the above mentioned acknowledgement takes place. At first, there is an image of King sitting on a sofa with a pen and a notebook, deep in thoughts. He lights a cigarette—King was a heavy smoker in reality, but efforts were made to conceal this from the wider public

(Jenings)—and starts to write the letter. He reads it to the viewers while he is writing it.

The scene then changes, all of a sudden the viewers see King's children sitting behind the dining table eating dinner. The camera slowly moves and shows Coretta crying while reading the letter. The scenes are accompanied by King's voiceover, in which he reads it to the audience. The images of King's family further intensify the demythified depiction of King's character. The viewers watch King pouring his heart out to Coretta, asking and praying for help, smoking, while they see King's kids eating dinner and his wife emotionally overwhelmed by the letter.

Apart from the already mentioned similarities in King's depiction when comparing Selma with the miniseries King, upon closer inspection Selma reveals some more valuable features of portrayal which might add to the demythification process.

One such depiction can be seen in the kitchen scene from King, which was described earlier. The central focus of the scene in King is on King. He is the one picking up the phone and having a hard time afterwards. However, in Selma we see Coretta picking up the phone and listening to yet another death threat. Selma does not present many of those, in fact this is the only direct one in the whole feature. Coretta makes it clear that

54 there is quite a lot them—she says this while confronting King with the adultery tapes.

Unlike in King it is Coretta who is having a strong emotional response to the phone call. Subsequently, King arrives to the room and immediately realises what is going on.

Coretta tries to dismiss the (death threat) topic by changing it but she is clearly shaken.

The change of topic does not really work because King soon tells her that he is leaving again early in the morning. Coretta is not happy given the circumstances of the phone call and the fact that King spends very little time at home.

Although, one could argue the central focus of the scene is on Coretta and not

King, it is important to look at the seemingly trivial movements and actions King is doing during the conversation. We see King taking out a plastic bag of trash. It is something one could consider to be a typical chore around the house but up until now we have hardly ever seen King doing such an ordinary task. However, in connection with the emptying of the dustbin, King clearly does not know where they keep the plastic bags. He cannot find one until Coretta gives it to him. This part of the scene further stresses the fact that King does not spend a lot of time in his own house. There is yet again tension generated between them. These scenes offer the audience a chance to witness King's possible marital problems. King clearly is not happy about the state of the affairs and is looking quite uneasy himself. The fact that almost immediately after the discussion King picks up the phone and calls a gospel singer Mahalia

Jackson—an African American entertainer—might serve as a proof of his discontent.

He calls her because he needs to hear the God's voice. King's behaviour is similar to the one the viewers can see in the miniseries King. However, this time King openly asks for help from the God through Jackson's voice. Moreover, he actively seeks help from someone else. He goes as far as to call Ms. Jackson right away, which signifies the severity of the situation and the fact that he is feeling down.

55 This chapter drew attention to several pivotal scenes from the fictionalised account Selma, which depict King in a demythified way. Whether it was the car scene with John Lewis, the jail scenes with Abernathy or Coretta, or the confrontation between Coretta and her husband, they all depicted King having humane feelings, such as sadness, frustration, regret, devastation, and fury. I would argue that by having presented King with these traits, DuVernay managed to construct a fictionalised King who is closer to the real-life King than the glorified, mystified, and haloed King viewers had a chance to see in the mainstream accounts (e.g. Lee Daniels' The Butler,

Timequest). After all, King himself was aware of his limitations and mortality (Carson

453). Although he has "...seen the Promised Land," he adds that he "...may not get there."

56 Chapter 6 - Conclusion

In conclusion, the thesis's main focus was to draw attention to the fictionalised accounts which depict Martin Luther King Jr. in a demythified way. Prior to the analysis I summarised the Civil Rights Movement, in order to demonstrate its importance in the U.S. history. Subsequently, the second chapter, "Civil Rights

Movement in American Cinema," outlined accounts which are inspired by the events of the 1950s and 1960s. As I showed in this chapter, there are only about forty productions inspired by the people or the events of the Civil Rights Movement. As the chapter later states, King is present in only six of these accounts.

As the thesis showed in the third chapter it is saddening that there are so few fictionalised accounts, which would be inspired by the events and people of the Civil

Rights Movements. The handful of those that indeed depict the era are nowhere near as accurate or fair as they ought to be. In many of those accounts, the African Americans are misinterpreted. Therefore, it is worth noting, commenting on, and analysing any account that tries to depict the era, especially if the account is unique in some respect.

The thesis showed the society nowadays often associates King with a man who has been to the Mountaintop. His image has been continually glorified over the decades after his death.

In "Humanisation of King" the thesis selected accounts which depict King in a demythified manner, which in turn makes them stand out from the rest of the portrayals. At first, I analysed two accounts: an NBC miniseries from 1978 called King and an HBO production from 2001 called Boycott. The former was the first account with King as the main character. Both accounts manage to portray King as a human being, rather than a glorified, mystified figure. King and Boycott offer audiences scenes where King is shown feeling desperate and doubtful. However, as the chapter states, for

57 various reasons neither King nor Boycott have become popular among the viewers.

The last chapter of the thesis, "The Demythification of King," deals with the most recent feature film inspired by the Civil Rights era, Selma. The account offers yet another portrayal of demythified King. The director, Ava DuVernay, decided to depict

Martin Luther King, Jr. as a more complex man than just a skilled orator and an exceptional leader. She managed to show him to the viewers as a human with all his virtues and vices. That is, as a man driving a car, taking out the trash, feeling desperate and doubtful, but also as a man who might have an extramarital relationship. The thesis points out the scenes which portray King crying, hesitating to make difficult decisions, questioning his beliefs, or feeling depressed and insecure. Furthermore, there are scenes where King is shown asking for help not only from his aides but also people around him.

Although the number of fictionalised accounts, whose central focus is on the events and protagonists of the Civil Rights Movement, is quite low, some change seems to be taking place. Selma, which tries to give the viewers a more realistic image of the events of the 1950s and 1960s, might betoken a new era in the mainstream American cinema is coming. An era in which African Americans will have more opportunities to narrate the chronicle of their people in the context of U.S. history.

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61 English Resume

The thesis's main focus is to draw attention to the fictionalised accounts which depict Martin Luther King Jr. in a demythified way. First, I summarise the Civil Rights

Movement, in order to demonstrate its importance in the U.S. history. Subsequently, the second chapter, "Civil Rights Movement in American Cinema," outlines accounts which are inspired by the events of the 1950s and 1960s. As the chapter later states,

King is present in only six of these accounts. The thesis shows the society nowadays often associates King with a man who has been to the Mountaintop. His image has been continually glorified over the decades after his death.

In "Humanisation of King" the thesis selects accounts which depict King in a demythified manner, which in turn makes them stand out from the rest of the portrayals. At first, I analysed two accounts: an NBC miniseries from 1978 called King and an HBO production from 2001 called Boycott. The former was the first account with King as the main character. Both accounts manage to portray King as a human being, rather than a glorified, mystified figure. King and Boycott offer audiences scenes where King is shown feeling desperate and doubtful.

The last chapter of the thesis, "The Demythification of King," deals with the most recent feature film inspired by the Civil Rights era, Selma. The director, Ava

DuVernay, decided to depict Martin Luther King, Jr. as a more complex man than just a skilled orator and an exceptional leader. She managed to show him to the viewers as a human with all his virtues and vices. The thesis points out the scenes which portray

King crying, hesitating to make difficult decisions, questioning his beliefs, or feeling depressed and insecure. Furthermore, there are scenes where King is shown asking for help not only from his aides but also people around him. That has not been seen very often before.

62 Czech Resumé

Hlavním cílem této diplomové práce je poukázat na dramatizovaná díla, která zobrazují Martina Luthera Kinga Juniora v neidealizované podobě. Nejprve práce shrne

„Civil Rights Movemenť a ukáže tak jeho roli v amerických dějinách. Následně jsou prezentována díla inspirovaná událostmi padesátých a šedesátých let minulého století, přičemž je zdůrazněn fakt, že King figuruje jen v šesti dílech. Tato díla nejsou v zobrazování Kinga tak přesná, jak by měla být. Práce poukazuje na skutečnost, žev současnosti je King společností vnímán jako člověka na vrcholu. Dekádu po dekádě se jeho obraz postupně glorifikoval až do současné podoby.

Poté práce vybírá díla, která Kinga zobrazují v neidealizované podobě, a práve proto se vymykají z řady těch ostatních. Nejprve jsou analyzována dvě díla, miniseriál

King od NBC vyrobený v roce 1978 a produkce HBO z roku 2001 Boycott. King je první dílo vůbec, ve kterém je King ústřední postavou. Obě díla zobrazují Kinga jako obyčejného člověka a nejako glorifikovanou postavu obestřenou mýty. King i Boycott nabízí divákům scény, ve kterých je King zoufalý a plný pochyb.

Poslední kapitola se potom věnuje nej novějšímu celovečernímu filmu Šelma.

Režisérka Ava DuVernay se rozhodla zobrazit Martina Luthera Kinga Jr. jako komplexního muže, ne pouze jako zkušeného řečníka či výjimečného vůdce. Podařilo sejí ukázat ho divákům jako člověka se vším, co k tomu patří. Práce poukazuje na scény, ve kterých King pláče, je si nejistý svými rozhodnutími, zpochybňuje svoji víru a cítí se deprimovaný. Navíc jsou ve filmu i scény, ve kterých žádá o pomoc ostatní kolem sebe, což je zobrazení, které v případě jeho osobnosti není časté.

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