Director: Denzel Washington Release Date: December 25, 2007 Screenplay: Robert Eisele Duration: 2 Hours, 6 Minutes Cast: Denzel Washington, Nate Parker, Denzel Whitaker, Jermaine Williams, Jurnee Smollett-bel Rating:PG-13 Genre: American Biographical Drama
If you are looking for an inspiring movie about overcoming racial and gender inequality and adversity in education, I highly recommend the 2007 film The Great Debaters. This movie is directed by, as well as stars Denzel Washington. It is based on a true story that took place in Marshall, Texas in 1935. Washington plays Mr. Tolson, a professor at Wiley college, who handpicks a debate team that consists of four African American students; Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), James Farmer ( Denzel Whitaker), Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams), and Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett-bell). This team of students starts by debating other small, African American schools, but they eventually get the opportunity to face off against one of the most prestigious, white schools in the country, and this changes everything. This American biographical drama is two hours and six minutes worth of the gut-wrenching reality of life for women and African Americans who lived in a time when they were not valued.
The Great Debaters highlights the importance of education for all people. The movie portrays the debate team as a group of hard-working, studious young adults that care tremendously about their education, and because of their determination, they succeed. It is a powerful story about overcoming the challenges that students face when pursuing higher education, especially as a minority. This film also does a great job in displaying the importance of the African American men and women that paved the way for equal rights in education. It gives insight to the fight many had to endure in order for minorities to have the opportunities they have today.
Denzel Washington somewhat subtly portrays gender inequality, as Samantha Booke is the first girl to be on Professor Tolson’s debate team at Wiley. One particular scene shows a mother in the kitchen doing dishes as her son tells his dad that there is a girl on the debate team. The mother smiles at this news because this was a time when women lived in the shadow of men. This movie does a wonderful job in underlining the huge step that it was for an African American woman to be on a college debate team in 1935. Not only was she on the team, she was good. Samantha Booke is an important character because of her determination to be seen as an equal to the guys on her team. She does this by doing her research and giving each debate all she has. I think this film would be great to show to young women because of this reason. Today, women do not experience the same level of education inequality that they did during this particular setting of the movie, but that inequality still exists. This movie would be especially empowering to college women.
The performances by the cast members were phenomenal. As is expected, Denzel Washington’s role as Professor Tolson was both inspiring and intriguing. He does not disappoint in this film. The other main characters also did a great job. As I watched this movie, it was almost easy for me to imagine being in the time period that was displayed in the scenes. Not only is it a movie that emphasizes overcoming social injustices, it portrays eradicating these injustices in an empowering way. Washington did a great job in making each scene of the movie genuine by not holding back in the portrayal of the lives of African Americans during this time. There are several scenes that almost bring you to tears because of the reality of the cruelty that took place back then. Nothing seemed to be overblown just to make the movie work. The Great Debaters screams authenticity.
Overall, I highly recommend this movie. The execution of this film will leave you feeling an overwhelming sense of victory for the Wiley College debate team because of the reality that they were a significant group in history that played a role in equal education for all races.