English 1B
Prof. Lennon
A Story to Be Told
Watching the film “Rosewood” was a great experience for me. The reason being because it has truly opened my eyes to the injustice of the world at that time and even today. The film has given me a new perspective on the subject of history also. We need stories to be told so that we can know what happened in the world.
One of the main motifs presented in the movie is number 20, Interlocking systems of oppression. Of course, the most significant part of that motif is racism. The whole basis of the film centered around a lie from a white woman. Therefore, blacks were considered the enemy. An example is when Aunt Sarah confronted the mob, told them the truth about what she had seen and was ultimately shot. Another aspect of the motif is sexism, when the whites started killing random black men because they fit the description of the suspect. As a viewer, I felt absolutely outraged. I wanted to yell at the screen, “what are you doing?!” Even when people part of the mob knew that the victims were innocent, they said nothing and conformed to the group.
Another motif shown is number 4, Acts of Violence. Lynching became the most widely used form of killing in the south and was very accurately portrayed in the film. That was one of the more horrifying parts of the movie for me. I could not believe they would make the killings public for the whole town, and even the victims family, could see. I did not know until later that the people committing the murders thought of it as a form of entertainment. To me it seemed like a sick validation of the fact that they were the majority and a major abuse of their authority.
Finally, I think it’s great that the story of “Rosewood” was made into a film. If it hadn’t, I probably would never have known about it. This movie has really impacted the way that I view racism. Looking at the lynchings, I can not say that was part of the past, because it still happens today in the south. Prejudice is alive and well in the world and the films, books or even songs made about it should help us know what an ugly thing it really is. I hope in the future more stories are told.
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