Matt D.

Daguman

Bsmar e 2

Ge Elect 1

3:30-5:00pm TTH

Reaction

The film entitled “Great Debaters” is a true-to-life American drama released in 2007 under the direction
of Denzel Washington and the production of Harpo. It won several awards, most notably the Image
Award for Outstanding Motion Picture and Stanley Kramer Award. The film also gained mixed critical
reviews.

The Great Debaters revolves around the efforts of the debate team coach, Melvin B. Tolson at Wiley
College to place his team, composed of Henry Lowe, Samantha Booke, and James Farmer Jr., on equal
footing with the whites in America during the 1930s. This is in spite of lynch mobs being a fear for blacks
and the day-to-day insults they faced during the time of the Great Depression.

The film also tackled different themes based on the notable events that happened. The Great Debaters
touched the themes of the struggle for human dignity, social issues, and coming of age.

The most prevalent theme in the film is social issues. The film tackles the 1930 Depression era and the
evident racial discrimination against the blacks, who were called Negroes. It was highlighted in a way
that the film portrays the perspective of the blacks of racism rather than a holistic perspective of racial
discrimination. Things got worse for the Negroes, with the increase of lynching incidents, where blacks
were being pointed as criminals and were executed without proper trials. Another evidence of racial
discrimination is the scarcity of black versus white debates because of the belief in the supremacy of
whites. Civil disobedience was evident in the film during the scenes of lynch mobs and various rallies.

Next, the movie tackles the characters’ struggle for human dignity, especially since the movie revolves
around the debate team’s pursuit to prove the potential of black students in various debates. The
debaters of Wiley College were in a continuous uphill climb to national recognition. At the same time,
they also served as a symbol of hope and the voice of all blacks in America in the field of debate. A
pivotal scene in the movie was when the protagonist, Farmer Jr., was able to redeem himself in a state
championship debate after failing to defend the team’s points in a previous debate.

Another theme evident is the coming of age of the three students in the team. James Farmer Jr.’s
transition from being a simple student to a state champion in debate was highlighted throughout the
film. Henry Lowe’s growth was evident as he started from being a student being by Mr. Tolson but
ended the movie as the leader of the all-black debate team. Samantha Booke’s transformation from a
simple college girl to a woman who stood by her beliefs was also visible to the audience.

Overall, the movie was excellent in every aspect imaginable. The cinematography, sounds, cast, plot,
and message were all very enticing to the viewers. It was informative and inspiring at the same time-
something rare in the art of cinema. The film encourages insights and calls for a change of perspective to
its audience. It made us realize that our deepest fear is not that we are inferior to others, but that we
possess limit-breaking talents that may shine light unto the darkness in this world and we may never
reach those possibilities because we choose to remain small.

Characterizations

Melvin B. Tolson

Samantha Booke

Henry Lowe

James Farmer, Jr

Actresses

Jurnee Smollet

Kimberly Elise

Gina Ravera

Devyn A. Tyler

Charissa Allen

Fahnlohnee Harris

Sharon Jones

Gary mathis

Rhiannon Giddens

Bonnie Johnson

Gina Ravarra
Moral lesson

The Great Debaters is a great film to watch. Not only for the great quality content it gives but for the life
lessons you could actually get there. Having the opportunity to see the love and the loss, fear and
shame, recklessness and determination, brought the characters into life, and in turn gave the film a
spirit that transcended time and allowed me to feel like a part of the movie after all. I especially like the
quote Henry Lowe said “A brilliant young woman I know was asked once to support her argument in
favor of social welfare. She named the most powerful source imaginable: the look in a mother’s face
when she cannot feed her children. Can you look that hungry child in the eyes? See the blood on his feet
from working barefoot in the cotton fields. Or do you ask his baby sister with her belly swollen from
hunger if she cares about her daddy’s work ethics?”

This movie tells me that education really is the key to success and every person deserves to be heard.
We all have privileges and we should fight for our own rights whether it was through debate. People
fight for the things they know they want and they need. The people in this film are fighting to be heard,
even being Negros debating with the White People they were heard and they even won. That was such a
great honor and the looks on the faces of the people when they won was so genuine. Just by being
heard, they were already happy.