Movie and book review - Essay Example

In this case, the researcher would like to make a comparative essay critically analyzing the main arguments that were forwarded both by the film “Freedom Riders” and the book “The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1992.” The researcher would try to identify not only the main thesis of these narratives, but as well as how the authors and the producers of both of these narratives perceived the civil rights movement, which is considered as one of the most important chapters of black history in the United States.

What was the point of view of the producer of the film and the author of the book? Are both of these narratives objectives? What are the different biases that these narratives carried? How these narratives do build their arguments, and was it enough to actually persuade both their viewers and their readers? These are just some fop the question that the researcher of this paper would like to find out. The film “Freedom Riders” This film, produced by CBS, actually tried to depict the civil rights movement through the eyes of a group of racially diverse American citizens that rode a bus in order to violate the segregation policies that was being implemented by the inherently racist Southern States (Crook n. p.).

Describing the different experiences that was undergone by the participants in that bus ride, the documentary argued that a peaceful campaign for racial equality, when done persuasively and with sheer determination, could overcome even the most violent resistance put up (Crook n. p.). The producers of this film supported this argument by showing the experience of the said bus ride, wherein those “Freedom Fighters” “willfully but peacefully violate(d) the segregationist policies routinely enforced in restaurants, bus depots and restroom facilities” (Crook n. p.).

In this case, even though the first bus ride project failed because of the violence that was inflicted by the inherently racist Klan members in the racist Deep South, these “Freedom Fighters” still pursued on and made a second bus ride, reasoning that by not doing so a “message would have been sent that you could stop a (peaceful) campaign by inflicting massive violence, and it would have been really hard to overcome that message” (Crook n. p.). Of course, the producers of this movie viewed the civil rights movement from the point of view of those “Freedom Fighters,” putting emphasis on their important contribution to end racism in the racist region of the United States.

However, despite having this point of view, the documentary was relatively objective, putting emphasis on the first hand experience of the actual participants in the said event. Given that the documentary presented first-hand, eyewitness accounts, the researcher thinks that the producers have put up a solid backing to their arguments, despite having some biases against the racial segregationist, which was viewed as malice and a rotten part of American society. In this case, the researcher believes that this narrative is very persuasive in forwarding its argument. The