Autobiography Of Malcolm X And The Movie example essay topic
Arrested and convicted, he was sentenced to prison; the movie quotes him that he got one year for the burglaries and seven years for associating with white women while committing them, as so does the book. Prison was the best thing that happened to Red, who fell into the orbit of the Black Muslim movement of Elijah Muhammad and learned self-respect. The movie then follows Malcolm as he sheds his last name - the legacy, the Muslims preached, of slave owners - and becomes a street-corner preacher who quickly rises until he is the a figure head in the Black Muslims, teaching that whites are the devil and that blacks must become independent and self-sufficient. During a pilgrimage to Mecca, he was embraced by Muslims of many colors and returned to America convinced that there were good people of peace in all races.
Not long after, in 1965, he was assassinated - probably by members of the Muslim sect he had broken with. Denzel Washington stands at the center of the film. He never seems to be trying for an effect, and yet he is always convincing. Denzel captures the life of a civil rights leader Malcolm X, from his criminal activity to his rise in power under the Nation of Islam. Not only does Denzel present his speech, his policies and his charisma.
The movie and book tells the life story of an interesting and important man. As a sociological study, it provides fascinating insights into ghetto life and the ways which one man learned to survive in the ghetto. As a religious work - which is perhaps the way Malcolm intended the book to be read - it tells of his struggle to find his God. Yet it is as a political work that the book rather than the movie has had its strongest impact. Through his story, Malcolm has continued to exert great influence over the various black radical political movements since his death. Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" is one of the great screen biographies, Watching the film, I understood more clearly how we do have the power to change our own lives, how fate doesn't deal all of the cards.
The film is inspirational and educational - and it is also entertaining, as movies must be before they can be anything else.