There are certain people and events throughout history that are so obviously in need of a cinematic treatment, that their absence from the big screen leaves audiences wondering what on earth took so long. Such is the case with the one of the most recognizable and referenced figures in Western society, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. This larger than life individual whose life and accomplishments are far too grand for a simple studio feature film, has luckily never been subjected to an impoverished movie. Instead, Dr. King is assimilated as a key figure in Ava DeVernay’s re-telling of the events in Selma, Alabama. DeVernay illustrates the movement organized by Dr. King which brought to light the fact that although African American’s (predominantly in the South) had the constitutional right to vote, they had not seen a registered vote cast for over sixty years. Just like the events that unfolded throughout the worldwide broadcasting of Bloody Sunday, the march in Selma was a fair catalyst to the establishment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a bill that gave all Americans equal opportunity to exercise their democratic rights.   Continue reading