“Selma” Director Discusses “Unfortunate” Lyndon Johnson Controversy

"Selma" Director Ava DuVernay opened up about the LBJ controversy and what it says (or doesn't say) about the film.

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Image via Complex Original
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While it’s based on a true story and depicts historical events with great accuracy in many cases, Selma does not purport to be the 100 percent truth about the Selma march in 1965. Director Ava DuVernay feels that she has the facts on her side, however, when it comes to the small-but-noticeable uproar over the film’s depiction of President Lyndon Johnson.

Speaking in New York yesterday at a luncheon in honor of the movie, DuVernay said that “everyone sees history through their own lens,” and that the film is a reflection of that. “I’m not gonna argue history. I could, but I won’t,” she said.

“I’m just gonna say that my voice, David [Oyelowo]'s voice, the voice of all the artists that gathered to do this, [and] Paramount Pictures—which allows us to amplify this story to the world—[are] really focused on issues of justice and dignity. And for this to be I think reduced—reduced is really what all this is—to one talking point of a small contingent of people who don’t like one thing, I think is unfortunate.”

She went on to note that the movie isn’t meant to be about LBJ and political roadblocks, but is rather “celebration of people who gathered to lift their voices, black, white, otherwise, all classes, nationalities, faiths, to do something amazing.”

So remember, people: this is a movie, not a documentary. Save the LBJ indignation for another time.

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[via Indiewire]

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