THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Massie Affair, a review by Antares
THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Massie Affair (2005)
86/100 - The year 1931 will never go down in the annuls of American history as a hallmark of harmony amongst the races of this country. Instead, it will be remembered as a benchmark for bigotry and injustice. Earlier in the year, the infamous Scottsboro Boys incident took place in Alabama, as nine innocent black men were accused of raping two white women. In a state known for being the one of the most intolerant of equal rights for blacks in the deep south, this was and could be expected. Jim Crow laws had been on the books for decades and most of the population was still fighting the Civil War. The Massie Affair would take place thousands of miles away, in an island paradise, where racial tensions were every bit as high as in the
"Old South". In September of that year, Thalia Massie, a transplanted member of an east coast socialite family, was in Hawaii with her husband, who happened to be an officer in the U.S. Navy. They were on the brink of divorce, but were trying to work things out. Thalia, being the socialite spawn that she was, always looked down upon the Navy and felt herself above its members. She and her husband attended a party on the 12th, a party in which Thalia was not happy to be attending. Some time during the night, she left her husband at the party and decided to take a walk. According to her statement to police, she was accosted by a group of men who took her to a deserted section of road and beaten and raped. She could not identify her attackers or tell the police if they had been white or Hawaiian. What transpired after this preliminary investigation would set forth in motion, a series of events that would make Scottsboro look like a minor traffic violation. In the months that followed, there would an acquittal, revenge murder and finally, a once admired lawyer would sully his reputation by defending those who perpetrated the murder of one of the original defendants. This is a story that should never be allowed to be forgotten.
Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is(From Antares' Short Summations on December 4th, 2014)
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May 20, 2024, 01:42:51 PM
