Annia Harrison

Annia's paper

Biopics and the Civil Rights Movement:

Interpreting and Analysing History

History is not isolated to books and scholarly articles. Understanding of the past has been expressed in a multitude of ways by academics and creatives alike. Indeed, a historical topic like the civil rights movement in the United States has inspired a multitude of creative projects and interpretations designed for consumption beyond scholarly circles. This paper analyses and evaluates biographical films regarding the civil rights movement where these films are a source for historical understanding of the era. Additionally, these films are a reflection and insight into the sociopolitical climate of when they were made. Biopics are often the first (and, for many, only) historical interpretations of real-life people and significant events. Decades of community activism and wider history are summarised by screenwriters, edited by producers and condensed into feature length films. Additionally, biopics interpret history not with the detachment of an academic but with a narrative purpose and cultural message of an artist. While the paper cannot encapsulate every cinematic production of the civil rights movement or the decisions made to create these films, it will identify shared themes, narrative devices and messages conveyed in these biopics. A key theme of this research will be how biopics heavily influence our memory and understanding of the civil rights movement. From Malcolm X to Mamie Till-Mobley, this paper will assess how commemoration of individual figures has also impacted how we view and remember a movement built upon mass action and grassroots community activism. The paper will discuss and evaluate these biopics as a historical interpretation and where they are situated within related academic literature.

Keywords: historiography, memory, US History