The Long Walk Home - Movie Review Example

Odessa makes a very courageous decision to go public with her desire and hope for a more just society and equality for her people. On the other hand, in the beginning of the movie, Miriam is not really even aware of racism. Miriam has lived her private white life not really understanding or even caring about what is happening around her in the public area. She is so blind to the fact that racism could invade her private life that she sends her daughter with the black maid to the "white" park, resulting in Odessa's expulsion from that park.

Before the bus boycott starts, Miriam is worry about whether Odessa will come to her house to clean the house. When Odessa is unable to be on time for work or not to come to her house, Miriam starts to feel some personal consequences of racism because her house cleaning expectations were not being met. After she starts driving into Odessa's world, and sees how different life is beyond her community, she starts to change from a very private person who just wants her house cleaned to a person with moral spirit.

As a result, Miriam makes the brave decision to break out of her very private "white" community and become a public figure in order to stand up against racism. She against her husband and drives into Odessa's neighborhood to pick her up and eventually begins a carpool to drive Odessa's neighbors as well. By her actions, she displays her hope in a racially equal world with more justice for the black people. This story stands as an example how small gestures can have a great impact on society.

Much can be accomplished when the people, white and black both, work together to effect change. This was the basis of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As a matter of fact, it is possible for us to replicate their success stories in our present world in order to make it more just and humane. At first, we need to overcome the hold of prevailing negative ideologies, prejudices and stereotyping. People often tend to think that there exist a strict dichotomy between personal and public life.

However, in reality, both are not only intertwined but also interrelated. Psychologically speaking, what happens in our personal life could have certain effects in our public life as well and vice versa. When we look at history, there are ample of examples that prove that when somebody crosses the boundaries of his/her personal world in order to make changes in the very world in which s/he lives, nothing could prevent the triumph that desire. Remember, when Copernicus told that the sun rounds the earth and not the other way, nobody else was there to stand for the truth.

But, the truth is that truth could stand for itself. The lives of great leaders such as Luther King, Mandela, and Gandhi are the concrete exemplification of this fact. When they faced challenges in their personal life, they did not quietly withdraw from the scene, but, approached the world in order to make it a better place. When we see injustice of any sort around us, it is our duty to say 'Enough is Enough'. A big 'NO' can change the world a lot. "The Long Walk Home' which too presents the picture of the