My daughter Katie suggested that we watch a movie each week so we could talk about it when we Facebook PORTAL each Sunday. Since Katie came up with the idea, we decided she should make the first choice. Katie selected a Netflix documentary, 13TH (2016).
Director Ava Duvernay’s documentary explores the affects of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on American society. Diane and I were shocked by the political strategy that used the 13th Amendment to cause mass incarceration of African-Americans to produce, in effect, slave labor.
Duvernay tells this story through a mixture of video news footage and commentary. Here’s the list of participants:
| Cast | Credit |
|---|---|
| Angela Davis | Herself – Interviewee |
| Baz Dreisinger | Herself – Interviewee |
| Bryan Stevenson | Himself |
| Cory Booker | Himself – Interviewee |
| Cory Greene | Himself – Interviewee |
| Craig DeRoche | Himself – Interviewee |
| Dan Rather | Himself |
| David Dinkins | Himself – Interviewee |
| David Keene | Himself |
| Dolores Canales | Herself – Interviewee |
| Gina Clayton | Herself – Interviewee |
| Glenn E. Martin | Himself – Interviewee |
| Harry Reasoner | Himself |
| Henry Louis Gates | Himself – Interviewee |
| James Kilgore | Himself |
| Jelani Cobb | Himself – Interviewee |
| John Hagan | Himself |
| Kevin Gannon | Himself – Interviewee |
| Lisa Graves | Herself – Interviewee |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | Himself |
| Malkia Cyril | Herself – Interviewee |
| Marie Gottschalk | Herself – Interviewee |
| Melina Abdullah | Herself – Interviewee |
| Michael Hough | Himself |
| Michelle Alexander | Herself – Interviewee |
| Newt Gingrich | Himself – Interviewee |
| Nicholas Turner | Himself |
| Peter Jennings | Himself |
| Van Jones | Himself – Interviewee |
| Walter Cronkite | Himself |
Netflix reports that viewership of 13TH has gone up 4000% in recent weeks. It’s a powerful documentary that explains why we’re in the social mess we’re in. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
Looks interesting but I tend to avoid anything that uses Angela Davis as a talking head. She may have been found not guilty but I believe her to be as complicit in murder as OJ.
Steve, Angela Davis is on the screen for less than a minute. Now, she’s an Emeritus Professor.
It doesn’t help, of course, that one of the two major political parties in this country has been “aggressively pandering to the cracker element,” as my husband so succinctly puts it, for the past four decades. Guess which party I’m talking about? I’ll give you a clue—it’s the one that elected a guy who recently referred to statues of confederate leaders as “our beautiful history and culture.”
Deb, with the coronavirus pandemic spreading fast, the Republicans are going to have to scramble to justify Trump’s handling of the crisis. All signs point to a growing disaster.
Reading Trevor Noah’s memoir now and how the South African white population controlled the black (and majority) people makes the US’s subjugation look benevolent. Certainly we all knew about apartheid but I have never had it spelled out so fully as BORN A CRIME does. What movie are you watching next?
Patti, there’s a movie version of BORN A CRIME in the works, but it may be on hold now. Patrick’s movie choice is SHIRLEY–the Netflix bio-pic of Shirley Jackson–played by Elizabeth Moss. Diane and I are both eager to watch it.
“Shirley” is absolutely terrific–great choice. I saw it on Hulu a few weeks ago and have been tempted to watch it again.
Michael, I’ve been a fan of Shirley Jackson since I read THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE in the 1960s. And, of course, “The Lottery.” Patrick chose SHIRLEY. My children have good taste in films.
Besides Angela Davis, I am no fan of DuVernay. SELMA? I don’t think so. A WRINKLE IN TIME was OK.
Jeff, 13TH is better than A WRINKLE IN TIME.
Speaking of (less fraught) docunentaries:
https://youtu.be/N1lSTjClKfs
The accompanying Cap’n Marvel doc prompts this comment from me:
CAPTAIN BILLY’S WHIZ BANG being an early success for Fawcett and providing key names for the Capt. Marvel characters and source magazine seems to be not a known story to the documentarians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWsJ9dXuNjU
Todd, you’re right about the documentaries inexplicable ignorance of some basic facts about Capt. Marvel.
“Not invented at DC…”