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Viviana Labarca

Red Group

Cinematic Analysis: The Long Walk Home

Part A: Set during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, The Long Walk Home focuses

on the relationship between one white family and the family of their African American maid. The

film ultimately encapsulates race relations in Alabama in the early stages of the Civil Rights

Movement. The theme that one must act upon ones principles is shown through the films plot.

The movie begins with Odessa Cotter (Whoopi Goldberg) walking into the back door of

the Thompson household and beginning to cook and clean. Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek)

explains what needs to be done for the day as her daughter, Mary Katherine, and two other little

girls rush around the house. Norman, Miriams husband and a well-off businessman, leaves for

work after saying goodbye to his wife. Miriam drops Odessa and the children at a nearby park,

where the girls play until a policeman arrives. He immediately raises his voice and insults

Odessa, exclaiming that she must get out of the park as it is for whites-only. Odessa quickly

takes the children and walks home. Upon hearing about the incident, Miriam demands that the

police officer comes to her house and apologize. This is the first incident in which Miriams

actions show that she does not share the same racist values as the whites in Montgomery do,

including her husband.

Soon after word is spread that Rosa Parks has been arrested for refusing to give up her

seat on the bus. The boycott starts, and no African Americans are taking the bus to school or

work. The long walks to and from Miriams house cause Odessa to be late, as well as physical

pain and hardship. Miriam starts to drive Odessa a few times a week, Norman finds out and is

infuriated. He expresses that the boycott is nonsense and that African Americans must be taught

to stay in their place - things Miriam has already heard before. When she stands her ground he

moves his clothes to another room and says that all Miriam is to him is a wife, in other words her

opinions mean nothing.. This is a turning point in Miriams position. She continues driving
Odessa and secretly joins the organized carpooling movement. A group of white community

leaders plans to shut down the organization by starting a riot. They invite Norman out to dinner

and he unwittingly discovers Miriam, Mary Katherine, and Odessa at the scene. While dozens of

white men shout and force the African American women against a wall, Miriam must make a

choice.

Odessa walks forward and the other women begin to sing and join hands. Miriam

watches and holds Mary Katherine from the crowd of yelling white rioters. The movie ends as

Miriam joins the string of African American women, and Norman watches her lamentably from

the crowd.

Even though everyone who surrounded her felt that African Americans were subservient,

Miriam realized that she lived in a bubble. She sacrificed her reputation and possibly her

marriage to stand by Odessa and carpool African Americans to work. Even though boycotting the

public bus system made getting to work and home a daily struggle, Odessa maintained her

fortitude. The African American community in Montgomery banded together against the hatred

and violence that encircled them and made change. The theme that one must act upon ones

principles is enforced by the actions of Miriam and the African American community in The

Long Walk Home.

Part B: The film The Long Walk Home tells the story of two fictional families during the

Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. This event was not the first boycotting of the public bus

system in the United States, nor an event that singularly kickstarted the Civil Rights Movement,

It was a monumental effort that made its way to the Supreme Court - as displayed at the very

end of the film. The movie begins right as the boycott takes place, but fails to recognize that the

protest was in the works for years before it began in December 1955 (Swarthmore.edu). The

film portrays the boycott as more of a spur of the moment plan than what it was in actuality - a

protest that was organized extendedly.


The Long Walk Home was produced in 1990, 40 years after the event upon which it was

based. Rather than focusing on the historical significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the

film chooses a domestic approach of this point in history (Maslin, New York Times). The

struggles of Odessa Cotter as a mother of 3 are emphasized through the empathy of her son and

husband. She juggles more than Miriam Thompson and still refuses to take the bus. Miriam

Thompson is expected to conform to the standards of a white house-wife in the 1950s. While

both fight their own battles, Miriam is ultimately glorified.

Part C: The cinematographic techniques in The Long Walk Home are used to increase the

viewers understanding of Montgomery,Alabama in 1955. The voice of Mary Katherines older

self briefly narrates a few times throughout the movie. Mary Katherines interjections show the

development of her life. As a young girl she could not fully comprehend the deeply-routed

effects of Jim Crow segregation in the south. She didnt know of her mothers inner views of the

bus boycott or role in the bus boycotting. Her commentation in The Long Walk Home reveals that

as she grew up she developed her own understanding of her childhood in a privileged white

home. This technique creates a sense of historical importance and reflection throughout the film.

The scene in which a police officer yells at Odessa Cotter to leave the park, while she is

caring for Mary Katherine, shows a deeper level of their relationship. The police officer and

Odessa stand in focus in the foreground of the shot. Mary Katherine stands in the background,

out of focus, while the other girls continue swinging. The use of shallow depth of field

establishes that Mary Katherine is confused and absorbing the situation. The relationship

between Mary Katherine and Odessa is overlooked when one sees Odessa solely as a paid

caretaker. Odessa cares for Mary Katherine because it is her job. She raises her from birth, loves

her, and nurtures her because she is a mother. Mary Katherine would not be portrayed as

concerned at all if she thought of Odessa as someone who is cooking and cleaning when
mommy isnt . The cinematographic techniques used in The Long Walk Home provide insight

to the growth of Mary Katherines views on a personal level.

Works Cited

"African Americans Boycott Buses for Integration in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., 1955-1956."

Global Nonviolent Action Database, Swarthmore.edu,

nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/african-americans-boycott-buses-integration-montgomery-

alabama-us-1955-1956. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.


Maslin, Janet. "Review/Film; A Personalized View of the Civil Rights Struggle." The New York

Times, 21 Dec. 1990. The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/movie/review?

res=9c0ceed8173cf932a15751c1a966958260. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.

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