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--- 329:question:329--week_12_questions_comments [2016/11/17 06:15] – [4 Movie as a Primary Source about the time in which it was made] lrainford
+++ 329:question:329--week_12_questions_comments [2016/11/17 07:46] (current) – [6 The So, what? question] khaynes3
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 A sad reality of the times was that the education standards at the Black Only schools were lacking, evidenced by the Cotter boys having some difficulty reading. Now, I will freely admit that this might just because of my southern upbringing completely clouding reality, but the manner that the Thompson children and even Mrs. Thompson treated Odessa seemed relatively accurate from what I know of some middle class families. Oftentimes in families such as that, the mother would be busy with social events and community work during the day, so the bulk of child rearing may fall to their maids meaning that the mothers might be somewhat out of touch with their children (as evidenced by how Mrs. Thompson had no idea what her eldest daughter's favorite meal was). Meanwhile, the maids often saw the children they cared for as an extension of their own family, hence Odessa's small gift for Mary Katherine on Christmas. And while some called out Miriam's driving across Montgomery to pick up Odessa as unrealistic, I know that some employers did in fact do this simply because it was more practical than forcing your maid to walk miles and miles for hours and hours when you could pick them up in maybe 15-20 minutes.--- //[[ccooney@umw.edu|Cooney, Corey R.]] 2016/11/16 23:34//
+Whites are accurately presented as being politically connected. Early in the film, Miriam contacts the police department and pulls strings to get the officer to apologize to Odessa. This connectedness gets uglier as the film progresses, as we see the Council meeting later on. I remember seeing footage of similar meetings in school and on the History Channel, where people like Father Charles Coughlin would give speeches to large crowds of white men. The men in the Council are white small business owners of Montogomery, commissioners, police officers, and even the mayor is present. Tunker jokes with Norman that there would be "no white sheets, no secret oaths," implying that the meeting would still include all of the other elements of a KKK meeting minus the ceremony.
+ --- //[[dhawkins@umw.edu|Hawkins Daniel C.]] 2016/11/17 01:03//
 ====== 3 Questions about interpretation ======
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 One issues that the movie addressed really well was the uneasiness of wanting to support of the boycott. It was clear in the movie that some knew that it was going to be difficult and something that really didn’t want to do.Another point that was portrayed well was closeted supporters. Miriam, during Christmas, knew that she had to keep her thoughts to herself. She tells Mary Catherine that she cannot tell her dad and she looks at Odessa pleading for her not to tell that she has been giving rides. Supporters who decided to stand with the cause only when it was convenient for them were as much the problem was those who were outright against desegregation.  --- //[[abrooks6@umw.edu|Brooks Anna R.]] 2016/11/16 22:09//
+I thought it was interesting that the film touched on, but didn't really explicitly say, that the Civil Rights movement at this time was very religiously oriented and began with church groups in the South. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a reverend, and many of the early Civil Rights leaders were religious leaders. In one scene we see the Council meeting juxtaposed to the church meeting with a cross hanging above the pulpit in the middle of the screen. But at no point do we see the groups really doing much outside of the church besides waiting for rides at the carpool lot. In the end, we hear the women at the carpool lot sing a hymn. I wasn't sure if the filmmakers felt they adequately addressed this part of history through imagery and the church meetings, or if they wanted to avoid making that aspect of the history too explicit so as not to divide their audiences in 1990.
+ --- //[[dhawkins@umw.edu|Hawkins Daniel C.]] 2016/11/17 01:09//
+What significance did Mary Catherine’s older sister play? Was it stated what college she went to? She made a few negative comments about her hometown not being progressive or it was stuck in the past, or something to that effect. --- //[[khaynes3@umw.edu|Haynes, Kelly E.]] 2016/11/17 01:46//
 ====== 4 Movie as a Primary Source about the time in which it was made ======
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 I think the film got right Southern white womens’ place, subordinate to her husband. While I can definitely see the ‘90s intermingling with the plot, mainly the hint of feminism without being directly overt about it. However, I think Miriam’s fear of her husband was very real. Her husband served as the provider of her house and therefore she had to conform to him. She was supposed to be seen as pristine because she’s white and when they raid the carpool place, they equate her as black.
  --- //[[ejames@umw.edu|James, Emily B.]] 2016/11/16 23:32//
+I thought it was interesting that they never showed MLK Jr. I suppose that was to focus on the story at hand and not be another piece of media focusing on MLK. I really liked Miriam finding her place in the struggle for race equality. Seeing the two women, dealing with the same social problem in two different aspects was good from a historical perspective because the story is less one-sided.  --- //[[khaynes3@umw.edu|Haynes, Kelly E.]] 2016/11/17 01:46//