Review of Loving (2016) by Blake L — 22 Nov 2016

Indulge, if you will, in this slightly longer review and me stepping on my soap box for a moment.

There's nothing earth-shattering about this film in terms of filmmaking or storytelling. Those who are more inclined to films with high amounts of dramatic tension, swelling emotion, or rousing pieces of dialogue may find it boring.

But oh this is such an important film. Art is not meant to merely entertain. Art is meant to open our eyes, to show us life through the eyes of someone else, to take us outside our comfortable spheres and challenge the way we think we understand things - this film accomplishes this in so many ways.

These are events that occurred not so long ago - my own father who is only 61 went through his childhood in the years this story took place. And the painful truths presented about our culture's history of racial relations, the lengths many will go to in the name of what they believe to be the will of God, and yes, why a completely impotent federal government would have perpetuated and could still perpetuate much of what is awful about humanity are as relevant today as they were back then.

We cannot and must not forget where it is we've been and what we've accomplished since. We cannot allow our appetites for escapism, excitement, and entertainment to deter us from taking a really hard look at who we really are and who we've really been in the past. If you watched Saving Private Ryan because "you need to understand what people went through", then by that same logic you should also sit through a viewing of films like Loving.