BRIEF SUMMARY
The Great Debaters is a true representation of the hatred and discrimination white people had for black people in the 1900’s. The film depicted how the black people suffered from segregation and brutal treatments from the white people. The film focused on a black American college, Wiley College and in that school was a teacher and a great motivator, Melvin Tolson, who never gave up on the racial discrimination and also fought justice, and fair treatment of the black people by the white folks through his students, ‘the great debaters.’
The film was all about 4 young students who were coached by Melvin Tolson to debate in order to serve as a voice for the black generation, to be a voice to the world at large and a means to reach the white people to stop the discrimination. The 4 young students were all different in character and in skills but they worked as a team and believed in themselves and their teacher. Although along the line, one out of the 4 students quit the team but it did not stop the rest three from moving on and claiming their rights.
THEME
Discrimination: this is like the general theme of the movie. The film was all about the white man discriminating the black man. The incident of Pastor James Farmer Sr. with the white men with the pig is a good example of the hatred and discrimination they had then. The scenario of the debate Wiley College had with Oklahoma City University also depicted the hatred when one of the opponents said the situation where a black and white persons will be in the same school on walking on the same block was not yet to come.
Hope: the theme of hope was seen in the teacher, Melvin Tolson, he had hope in his students, his debaters at the last debate they were going to have with Harvard University and he has always had this hope that the discrimination will one day stop and that is why he goes for this Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union. The debaters themselves also had hope; the black community at large had hope that one day the discrimination was going to end.
Persistence: this was depicted in Tolson and his debaters. Because Tolson had hope of victory, he never gave up on them and he never allowed them to think for once they were incapable, he made them belief they could do everything because God is on their side. In the scenario where one of his debaters left, he did not give and did not allow the others to be afraid. He also did not tell them that he was not going to follow them to Harvard University because he knew they were all going to chicken out, so he never gave up on the fight and on his debaters. He also showed this in bringing Henry Lowe into the debaters club because he probably saw his qualities.
Incitement: this theme was depicted by Tolson and Pastor James Farmer Sr. Tolson was a great motivator, he had the qualities of making people follow what he says and making people do what he says. He brought everybody together and he incites people to do things and become better. Pastor James Farmer Sr. was also someone through his preaching motivated people to do some things and because he was a man of God, he served as an urge to things.
Hatred: this is another great theme that depicts what the whole film is about. The white people hating the black people because of their colour and treating them harshly just because they are not like them. This theme was really represented in the scenario where Tolson and his three debaters were on a night journey and on their way; they met this white mob and a roasted black body hung by the tree. This was just simply hatred for a fellow man.
Strength: this was shown in Tolson, Henry Lowe and James Farmer Sr. Tolson and Lowe were almost alike, very strong and they looked unbeatable. From the beginning of the film, I think it was the strength Tolson saw in Lowe and the confidence look he has that made him invite Lowe to the debaters’ club. Tolson was so strong that after the white
victory: the long wished victory was later gotten as the debaters from Wiley College won Harvard University and they all became what they wanted to be and the discrimination although did not totally stop but there was a reasonable change.
NARRATIVE
The narrative used here was just one single narrative from the beginning of the struggle for thye racial discrimination to come to an end and the victory that was gained at last. The only thing that was different was at the beginning of the narration where there were different scenes showing different happenings but at the same time. The technique was used to introduce to us the teacher, Tolson and his three debaters that made it to the end of the struggle. The beginning was just to show us the different lives of the main characters and in a way tries to bring a connection and tries to show us what goes on in their everyday lives. After this multiple scenes, the narration flowed in a smooth sequence.
REALIZED EXPECTATIONS
The fact that Wiley College won Harvard University
I expected that Henry Lowe and Samantha Booke were going to end up being lovers
I expected that Tolson and his three debaters will drive off from the white mob that night they were travelling
CHEATED EXPECTATIONS
I expected the big guy, at the very beginning of the film to beat Henry Lowe but it was otherwise
I did not expect Wiley College to lose the debate when it was James Farmer Jnr’s first time
I expected that Henry Lowe was going to speak at the last debate with Harvard University.
I did not expect Tolson to come to Harvard to see the debate I thought he was going to be at the school hall listening to the radio too.
Then after he was in Harvard, I expected him to go down to celebrate with his students and make them know he was there.
I thought James Farmer Jnr was going to tell his father the truth about where he went at that moment or even later on
I thought it was a child James Farmer Sr. hit but found out it was just a pig.
I did not think that Hamilton was going to quit the team
EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS
1. Sympathy: when one of the sheer croppers that denied going for the meeting to sheriff was beaten with a swollen face
2. Pain: also the sheer cropper man must have been feeling a lot of pain with his swollen and bleeding face. Also the black people had pains in their hearts, Tolson for example over the brutal treatment they receive from the white people. Samantha also depicted pain of heartbreak when unhesitatingly slapped Lowe.
3. Fear: there was fear in those students’ eyes, they were afraid of the white people, Samantha showed the fear when they went to their first white school to debate, Oklahoma City University. Then there was fear in the students, James Jr. and Samantha especially, the night they saw the mob with the burnt black man hung by the tree.
4. Sadness: Samantha was sad when she saw Henry kissing a girl
5. Anger: James Farmer Sr. was really angry at his son for coming late and not telling him the truth about where he went. Samantha was also angry at Lowe for cheating. James Jnr. was also angry when he found out he could not be with Samantha and she had already slept with Henry. The mob outside the police station was also angry and wanted them to release Tolson.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
The incident that the Tolson’s team witnessed the night they were travelling and they saw the white mob and the hung black man was used by James to win the debate with Harvard University. The incident at the beginning of the film where Tolson stopped Lowe from stabbing the big guy was an attraction of Lowe to Tolson and that is why he told him to join the debaters and he also saw the boldness, strength and confidence in him through that scenario. The fact that Lowe, Samantha and James fought when they were trying to get ideas for their new topic and Lowe got angry and went out to the lake and then to the club that was what brought him back to his senses and made him choose James to debate in place of him. Lastly, the fact that the teacher Tolson use to write the argument for them for all their debates made Harvard University cancel their first topic and gave them a new topic on civil disobedience and could not even get through to Tolson.
SIMILARITIES AND REPETITION
The statement Tolson taught them; Who is the Judge?
The judge is God?
And why is it God?
Because he decides who wins or loses not my opponent
And who is your opponent?
He doesn’t exist
And why doesn’t he exist?
Because he is the mute dissenting voice to the truth that I speak
‘Speak the truth’
This statement was made again by Henry Lowe when they were at Harvard University preparing for their debate.
The statement ‘an unjust is no law at all’ was made by James Farmer Sr. when he was telling the Sheriff to release Tolson and it was made again by James Jnr. when he was debating at Harvard University.
The statement ‘we do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do’ was also repeated. Samantha Booke with an ‘e’ and Henry Lowe with an ‘e’ was repeated several times and there is also a similarity in the names. The word ‘resolve’ was always used at the beginning of every argument during a debate and also used by Tolson when Samantha slapped Henry.
Henry Lowe had this harsh cap he wore repeatedly in the film. He wore the cap when they taught at the lake side by Tolson, he wore the cap again in the car when the scenes of their victory was shown consecutively in black and white, he wore the cap again when he walked out of the car after they got away from the white mob, he also wore the cap when he was angry with his team mates in the hotel when they went for debate with Harvard University.
There was a similarity between the character of Tolson and the character of Lowe. They were bold, courageous, fearless and stubborn.
DIFFERENCES AND VARIATION
The character of Lowe and James were totally different. Lowe was this very stubborn, fearless and confident boy meanwhile James was the quite type, God fearing and not the really bold type.
DEPTH OF THE STORY TREATMENT
This is seen in the homecoming dance where James was thinking of him dancing with Samantha while the crowd was hailing them and how he finally planted a kiss on her lips.
FUNCTIONS OF ELEMENT
· James Farmer Jnr. never told his father where he went to after the homecoming dance.
· The scene where James Sr. knocked down the pig was just to show the level of the discrimination going on then
· Why did Henry Lowe walk out that night after they got away from the mob and got himself drunk
· What really changed Henry Lowe’s mind when he went to bar the night he fought with his team mate and saw the lady on red
· Henry Lowe never apologized to Samantha
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Close up: close up shots was a lot in this film, it was used when they were debating, and it was also used when James Sr. was preaching at the beginning of the film.it was also used on Henry and Samantha when they were in the boat by the lake.
Crane shot: it was used when Tolson was in the boat and the students were at the other side of the lake. It was used in the hall in Harvard University where they had the debate.
High Angle Shot: this was used when Tolson was shown coming in to the hall in Harvard that they debated.
Long Shot: this was used in the classroom when Tolson walked in the first time and it was used when Samantha just got to Texas.
SUSPENSE
There was suspense at the beginning of the film when we were shown someone running in the woods but the person was not shown and we did not know where he was coming from and where he was going to until he stopped Henry and it was Tolson. There was also suspense when the students tried to reach Tolson and they said he was nowhere to be found and Wiley College students were shown listening to the radio for the debate but Tolson was no there and after everybody was shown, Tolson was still not shown.
EVALUATION
Generally, the film was a very good one but I think there were some parts that were unnecessary like the part Henry Lowe went to the bar and saw the girl on red. The film would have been very nice too if Tolson had followed them to Harvard University.
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