Worth: $13.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Lucas Till, Cedric the Entertainer, Sharonne Lanier, Brian Dennehy, Julia Ormond, Lucy Hale
Intro:
...adeptly captures the prevailing mood and styles of the 1960s… shallow…heavy-handed…
Son of the South precariously re-appropriates the Civil Rights Movement through the lens of Bob Zellner, a white university student and grandson of a prominent Klansman.
Set in deep-south Alabama, where racism is rooted into the way of life, Zellner is “free, white and 21”, set to marry his long-time girlfriend, and with his whole life mapped out. His curiosity into race relations leads him to meeting with Civil Rights icons Rosa Parks and Reverend Abernathy, as well as attending their Black Church. After witnessing bigotry up close, it awakens an activist streak within him, which, in turn, causes unrest at the university, and brings his family into disrepute.
Based on Zellner’s real-life memoir ‘The Wrong Side of Murder Creek’, the true story is a gripping tale of a man shedding his racist hereditary to fight for a worthwhile cause. However, the film offers a shallow interpretation, as Black perspectives are frequently sidelined in favour of the domestic challenges Zellner faces.
In particular, Zellner protests against racial inequality with almost complete immunity. He marches for Civil Rights with African Americans, while white drivers on the other side of the road throw projectiles at African Americans, not Zellner. Not only this, Zellner is somehow always protected from white supremacists because of his racist lineage, even when his life is fatally threatened.
Having said that, it does not shirk away from the violent virulence that the African American community were subjected to. The blood-soaked streets share a stark resemblance to modern times, with one striking example of a white man leaning out of a car going at speed to swing his bat at black people on the street, while black people are attacked by police for peacefully protesting.
The film adeptly captures the prevailing mood and styles of the 1960s, however, its heavy-handed message seems to neglect what the purpose of fighting against racism is.
