Seasly

Ben Seasly
Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin
WR 13300-11
2 March 2015
The Rhetorical Humanization of Selmas Iconic Characters
In the 2014 film Selma, Director Ava DuVernay crafts an inspiring and often gruesome
portrayal of the Civil Rights Movements march to Selma, Alabama. This march was a key
moment in the Movement, as it led to blacks overcoming the suppression of their right to vote.
This issue was key to the whole Civil Rights Movement, because, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
explains to President Lyndon B. Johnson in the film, There have been thousands of racially
motivated murders in the South And not one of these criminals who murder us when and why
they want has ever been convicted. Not one conviction because they are protected by white
officials chosen by an all-white electorate or by an all white jury, since you cannot serve on a
jury unless you are registered to vote (Selma). This line underscores just how integral the right
to vote was to blacks in the South, showing how it permeates every level of racial segregation,
allowing terrible actions to go unpunished.
At the forefront of the Movement is Martin Luther King, a man who has become a truly
important American historical figure. As the only non-president to have a national holiday, he has
been recognized as a cultural and ethical leader who helped shape America into the nation it is
today. A man of his stature is easy to distantly revere as an incredible revolutionary, whose life
was simply a heroic outlier among the general course of the ordinary human beings lives. This
idolization, however, is not DuVernays intended view for the audience. Instead, the films
humanizing portrayal of its iconic central characters allows the audience to relate to them, rather

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than distantly revere them. Initially, the portrayal of the legendary King in scenes of everyday
human activity allows the audience to relate to him emotionally in addition to supporting his
stance. In addition, the portrayal of the King family as strained and threatened causes the
audience to root for them to overcome their personal struggles. Finally, the films disreputable
portrayal of its villains dehumanizes them and creates the opposite effect of its protagonists
portrayal.
In order to say that DuVernay and her work Selma attempt to persuade the audience of
anything, however, we must first establish Selma as a text capable of persuasion. If the film is
capable of persuasion, than it is using rhetoric, which as Herrick defines, is the systematic study
and intentional practice of effective symbolic expression (Herrick 7). Since films are
intentionally directed and edited by individuals, every choice of scenery, music, actor, and
dialogue is deliberate. These designed choices are absolutely intentional practice of effective
symbolic expression, showing that films are rhetorical texts.
Now, according to Blitzer, rhetorical texts do not exist in vacuums, but rather are
responses to specific rhetorical situations (Blitzer 1). Selmas rhetorical situation, as a film
highlighting past racial oppression to a contemporary audience, is shown most clearly in John
Legend and Commons song Glory, which was written specifically for Selma and plays over
its credits. John Legend sings that the war is not over and Common raps that Selma is now for
every man, woman, and child, suggesting that Martin Luther Kings battle for equality is
ongoing and very much in the present. This is also shown in their reference to the events in
Ferguson, Missouri, the location of a tragic death of an unarmed 18 year old black man by a
white police officer, similar to the movies portrayal of police brutality in 1965. Selma responds
to this ongoing fight for equality.

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Martin Luther King, a character pre-embedded with a great deal of ethos, earns pathos by
appearing in scenes of everyday human activity, just like a member of the audience. Movies
often attempt to initially establish their protagonists ethos, defined by Notre Dames University
Writing Program as proofs (or evidence) of character, or credibility (What We Teach). Films do
this to align the audiences values with the protagonist, and therefore align their sympathies to
that same character. Selma does this to an extent by making the first scene of the movie his
acceptance of a Nobel Peace Prize. In the case of a historical figure of Martin Luther Kings
status, however, the audience already has some prior knowledge of what he stood for and how
effective he was. Since he acts as a somewhat legendary character, the audience does not need to
be convinced that he has an abundance of ethos, so the makers of Selma instead try to appeal
to the audiences sympathies by portraying the pathos, or proofs of emotion of his character
(What We Teach). The films intentions for this persuasion can again be shown in the opening
scene. Selma shows King struggling to tie an ascot before the ceremony, and having trouble
rectifying its luxury with the poverty of the men and women his movement stands for. Showing
his intelligence and empathy in this scene allows the audience to not only agree with his views,
but feel real affinity for his character and values. As an opening scene, this sets the stage for a
portrayal of King, not as a decisive and all-knowing leader, but rather a regular guy, who has
doubts and insecurities just like the audience. Showing the humanity of Kings personality in this
way, Selma is able to create an emotional connection between the audience and its central
character.
DuVernay also humanizes Martin Luther King by placing him in settings familiar to the
audience of Selma. While Selma does show King in scenes which the audience will likely never
experience, such as receiving a Nobel Prize, talking to the President, and leading the masses,

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DuVernay does her best to show King in normal life. Scenes such as King quibbling with his
wife Coretta as he takes out the garbage in his pajamas can come across as quite a shock to an
audience member used to idealized representations of the legendary figure Martin Luther King.
The audience has only ever seen King in photographs where he is giving speeches or leading
marches, and always dressed very dapper in a suit and tie. The film continues presenting him in
this casual demeanor when it shows him shaving in an undershirt, or joking around with his
fellow Civil Rights leaders at the dinner table. Who imagines Martin Luther King doing
something as commonplace as shaving or as fundamentally relatable as having a good time with
friends? These instances continue to create an emotional connection to its relatable and iconic
protagonist.
Just as Selma uses Kings personality to humanize him, it also uses his exterior situation
to make him and his family more relatable. Selma creates many instances where the audience can
easily sympathize with King and his family. Every case of the FBI listening in on the Kings and
surveilling their movements comes across as a morally wrong violation of their sacred privacy.
When the government attempts to turn the Kings against each other, as they did with the fake
phone call of King having an affair, the audience instinctually roots for David going up against
Goliath. And when the bigoted Southerners threaten the lives of their children, the audiences
hearts goes out to support the committed, non-violent King family. All of these instances act as
appeals to the audience, which Herrick calls symbolic strategies that aim either to elicit an
emotion or to engage the audiences loyalties or commitments (13). Each of these scenes elicit
emotions from the audience, allowing them to more easily sympathize with the King family, and
creating a deeper emotional connection between the audience and the protagonist family.

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DuVernay continues to use humanization as a tool to persuade in Selma by refusing to use

it on the films central villains. Instead, she uses the opposite effect, which we can call
dehumanization, to elicit negative views of these characters in the audiences minds. The first
character standing in the path of King, President Lyndon B. Johnson, is shown talking to his aide
before his meeting with King. He is demonstrably annoyed at having to deal with Kings neverending complaints about the racial injustices of the South. The two scenes shown by DuVernay
prior to this illustrate just how misguided Johnsons point of view is. Johnsons scene is preceded
by the church bombing, a heartless and cruel display of white on black violence, and Annie Lee
Cooper, attempting to register to vote, answering every obnoxious question posed to her by the
local Registrar until he asks her to name each of the sixty-seven county judges in Alabama.
These scenes, along with the sympathetic portrayal of King before receiving the Nobel Prize,
already paint Johnson as an ignorant, misguided man in power in opposition to ending
oppression and furthering equality. Seeing him try to appear sympathetic in the initial talks of his
meeting with King further appeal to the audience that he is a typical two-faced politician and just
not a likable guy. In contrast with the humanizing scenes of King, Johnson and George Wallace
the governor of Alabama and supporter of racial inequality, are never shown outside their
respective professional occupations. The absence of these scenes leaves the audience no
redeeming aspects of these characters. Their portrayal dehumanizes the characters, and creates
disdain for them in the audience.
Some might argue that while Selma attempts to humanize Martin Luther King to relate
him to the audience, the portrayal of him acting heroically and extraordinarily outweigh the
human side of him shown in the scenes mentioned above. I would argue that scenes of him
talking to the President and receiving a Nobel Prize only serve to contrast and emphasize those

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humanizing scenes even more. But scenes where he speaks to the masses are harder to justify in
that same way. The vigor and moving power of his oration, the very features he is most often
remembered for, remain wholly unique and, most likely, unattainable for the average audience
member. DuVernay can embellish this amazing oratory ability even more by placing the camera
below him. This framing creates a view where the audience physically and personally looks up to
King. In scenes, like this, of Kings great leadership, the audience can be reminded of their
previous view of the legendary King, but overall I believe that the film makes enough of a case
for the human view of King to remain the key takeaway for audience members.

Selma portrays its central characters in a humanizing way so the audience can relate to
them, rather than revere them from a distance. DuVernay shows Martin Luther King as a regular
guy doing chores and everyday activities, while also appealing to the audiences sympathies with
regards to his family. DuVernay takes the opposite approach in her negative portrayals of the
films villains, choosing to dehumanize them and make them more distant and unrelatable
characters. Humanizing King can have a profound effect on the audience. Not only does it make
the audience more invested in the characters and, through them, the movie itself. But more than
just the number of tickets sold for the movie is concerned, humanizing King can inspire people
to think that they too can change the world for the better. And in Selmas rhetorical situation of
continued racial prejudice and violence in Ferguson, the world needs these inspired people to
take action and revolutionize the world so that equality and freedom, Martin Luther Kings
legacy, live on.

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Works Cited
Blitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Penn State UP, 1968. Web.
Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric. 1997. Ed. Brian Wheel. Third ed. Boston:
Pearson Education, 2005.
"What We Teach." // University Writing Program // University of Notre Dame. N.p., n.d. Web.
28 Feb. 2015.
Selma. Dir. Ava DuVernay. Perf. David Oyelowo. Cloud Eight Films, 2014. Film.