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Prom Night in Mississippi - Doc-R

bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
edited May 2009 in Strut Central
Saw the documentary tonight and despite some really beautiful and hopeful moments, I got a heavy feeling of despair in my stomach. There was this bizarre feeling of watching a reality show on proms mixed with kids in 2008 acting out scenes of the racist south from 40, 50, 60 yrs ago, but it was only last year and their own real stories. The feeling of them all being trapped under the thumb of ingrained southern US racism was sometimes overwhelming. See it if it comes to your town or TV.____________________________In 1997, Academy Award???winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi under one condition: the prom had to be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman offered again. This time the school board accepted, and history was made. Charleston High School had its first-ever integrated prom???in 2008! Until then, blacks and whites had had separate proms even though their classrooms have been integrated for decades. Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows students, teachers, and parents in the lead-up to the big day. Freeman addresses the student body. Girls shop for dresses and get their hair done. Boys rent tuxedoes and buy corsages. These seemingly inconsequential rites of passage suddenly become profound as the weight of history falls on teenage shoulders. We quickly learn that change does not come easily in this sleepy Delta town. Freeman???s generosity fans the flames of racism???and racism in Charleston has a distinctly generational tinge. Some white parents forbid their children to attend the integrated prom and hold a separate white-only dance. ""Billy Joe,"" an enlightened white senior, appears on camera in shadow, fearing his racist parents will disown him if they know his true feelings. Prom Night In Mississippi captures a big moment in a small town, where hope finally blossoms in black, white, and a whole lot of taffeta.

  Comments

  • GrafwritahGrafwritah 4,184 Posts
    That's almost comical, really.




    Oh no!



    I wonder if they have any of those horseless carriages yet.
  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    i read about this and its good to know a movie has been made about it

    god bless the USA
  • shawnald_reaganshawnald_reagan 318 Posts
    wowsers. I'd really like to see more of this.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    That's almost comical, really.




    Oh no!



    I wonder if they have any of those horseless carriages yet.

    You jest but old (racist) habits die really hard even as these same communities step into the present in other ways.

    b/w

    See the never-ending inanity of people defending racist mascots.
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