History Part 3... well, sort of.

Tonight Dusty and I were planning on going to see the movie "Contagion" at AMC. We are a bit tight on money these days so I thought I had him persuaded when I told him it would be my treat (Secret: I was planning to use 20 dollars in cash that my grandma gave me on the day I was baptized). Well, in a not so uncommon change of plans, we bailed and instead took my brother out for soup at Eddingtons (my favorite local Har Mar restaurant). It would have been the makings of a great night out... until we made a poor choice sitting next to a teenaged boy who was clearly unaware of not only the great projection his voice had with NO effort, but also of how obnoxious his voice sounded period. Think Fran Drescher a la "The Nanny." Literally ruined my entire meal.

That's him in the blue... Curses!!

The night was not a complete waste, however, because Dusty had brought over a different movie from Netflix called "The Hurricane"- a 1999 drama starring Denzel Washington as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a popular African American boxer from the 1960's who (note, during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement) was wrongly convicted of a triple homicide at a New Jersey bar. For being two and a half hours long, I really enjoyed this one.

It's no surprise for those who know me that I love the Civil Rights Movement. It's been my favorite time period of study in U.S. History... It was my favorite subject to teach. I am absolutely fascinated by every aspect of this era. Civil Rights movies have lately become an obsession of mine. Over the summer I've watched a lot... The Hurricane being the latest. Some of the best I've seen this summer include The Help, Ghosts of Mississippi, Remember the Titans (obviously not new, but also starring Denzel)... I seriously love this type of film. I think for me, it's very hard to imagine or grasp the feel of the time period without having visuals... Movies help to bring the injustice to life for me. I struggle to understand both sides of the issues that faced our country at the heart of the 1960's... but when I see it on film, although often "glamorized" by Hollywood, I get emotionally charged, and it makes me want to know more. The Hurricane did all this and more for me. It flashed back and forth between pivotal moment's in the life of the famed boxer and also tied in some surprising details that ultimately led to his release from prison. The back story behind how he gets there is pretty cool. Very fascinating.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in the 1960's

 

 

 

Denzel Washington as "THE HURRICANE"

That being said, I seriously can't rave enough about how amazing of an actor Denzel Washington is. He nails the portrayals of his character's perfectly in nearly every role! He pours a lot of passion and soul into the people he is portraying on screen and for me, he really brings to life the different personalities that were so prevalent through out the Civil Rights Movement. Denzel (we are gonna pretend that I'm on a first name basis here) nailed Hurricane... he nails Malcolm X in the biopic about the famous Black nationalist, and he is amazing as football coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans. Throw out Civil Rights movies and he's STILL amazing in films like Glory, Training Day, Fallen, John Q, Philadelphia.... If you watch his movies, no matter what the back story, there is almost always an underlying issue facing the plot and I love that he pursues roles that tie in to these themes. I can't pretend that I am a movie expert (you might need to ask Dusty when it comes to that!) But when it comes to my history movies, I highly recommend any flick that stars Denzel, including "The Hurricane."

Check out the trailer if you are interested in seeing the movie for yourself.

Now on a sidenote, one thing that stuck out to me from this movie was the theme song used to portray the events that surrounded Hurricane through out his first court trial. After a couple seconds, I immediately recognized the artist singing the tune as Minnesota's own Bob Dylan. I actually am kind of a fan of Bob (again, first name basis here) because his songs were also quite popular through out the Civil Rights movement. Turns out- he wrote a song about Rubin Carter in the 60's and the music video I found on YouTube isn't too bad a depiction of the Movement itself. This tune is pretty catchy. I never heard it before watching the movie but you can't NOT enjoy that fiddle! Am I right? Gotta include that in the blog post as well... obviously.

Also, how about that bongo jam?! Do you like how I pretend to be an expert movie critic, music critic, and master historian all in one blog post? Oh and also a grouch after including that bit about the kid at Eddington's at the beginning. All jokes aside, I would recommend this movie and I also am very proud to write yet another historically based blog post, this time including my FAVORITE era in American history! Believe me, I'm having fun with this and there will be plenty more history related posts to come... if you don't mind :-)

Happy Wednesday!
*Just so you know, Dusty and I still plan on seeing "Contagion." I will possibly write up my thoughts on it afterward if I feel like it is worthy. Also, as I was reading through this blog post, it dawned on me that at my old college house, the neighbor boy was named Denzel. He was the cutest little kid but he couldn't have been more than 7 or 8. My guess is that his parents just might be fans of the actor. I don't really think Denzel is the most popular of names until THIS Denzel came along (the actor, not my neighbor). It's like naming your daughter Beyonce. Just my opinion.