tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post7992222904720484425..comments2023-11-30T10:43:33.130-06:00Comments on Reading Freely: Selma 1965Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15097908023032528200noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-78084448880453851032015-03-19T17:08:40.818-05:002015-03-19T17:08:40.818-05:00Stephen said: I must say it's a real treat for...Stephen said: I must say it's a real treat for someone in England to ask ME how it feels to live in an historic place! :-D<br /><br />[lol]<br /><br />Not everywhere over here is historical by any stretch! Where I am is only about 20-25 years old and was originally built on farm land so I doubt that anything occurred over the centuries that amounted to very much. Likewise where my Mum lives was built in the 1970's though it did get a one-line mention in the book on Brutalism I read a while back [grin]<br /><br />Of course I grew up in Liverpool, went to University in Lancaster and worked in London for 6 years and in such places you're never far from major historical events or structures.<br /><br />Funnily we bumped into an American couple some years ago in Italy and the wife explained that her husband was rather depressed how old everything was - I mean, this was ROME. What did he expect? Anyway he was particularly 'impressed' by an obelisk that the Romans had stolen from Egypt 2 thousand years earlier - when it was already 3 thousand years old. Now that's historic! CyberKittenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06394155516712665665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-58892663425733689092015-03-18T20:21:50.020-05:002015-03-18T20:21:50.020-05:00Oh, yes. Selma has actually featured in several fi...Oh, yes. Selma has actually featured in several films, and not just Civil Rights material. It was used in "Blue Skies" with Tommy Jones and Jessica Lang, for instance, and in "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". They used people from the city to be extras during the filming. The assault happened outside the city, across the river, and that area was decked up to appear as though it did back in 1965. For a while a parking lot in downtown was filled with period cars -- quite the sight!<br /><br />Photos of the same: <br />https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10330287_10152100340396786_7307493598761819851_n.jpg?oh=905b35a59d3b4d9c9c24ee72e4c4b513&oe=5572B2A7<br /><br />https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10298916_10152100338986786_6307390557701657021_n.jpg?oh=af2cbb8ff94c6f9a99ea73ed4d18390d&oe=55B18289<br /><br /><br />As for what it feels like to live in a famous town..well, until I actually moved away, it was nothing at all. Downtown Selma was just a place I visited the library, courthouse, or post office at.Bloody Sunday was just one of those things that had happened in the past, like the city being burned in the Civil War. In college I encountered Howard Zinn's work, which included memories of working in Selma, and suddenly saw the city with fresh eyes. This was back when my idea of democracy consisted of people gathering in masses and then forcing the government to respond to their needs. I'm much more suspicious of mobs nowadays, though Selma was definitely a case where mass actions was warranted.<br /><br />The enthusiasm for The Movement wore off after I returned immediately after college, mostly because the bridge is used as the background piece for every photo op any politician wants to be. The meaning has been much devalued, I'm afraid, but the 50th anniversary helped remind people of its real story. It's racially charged, but not exclusively so -- my grandmother, who was a poor bakers' assistant back then, said she wasn't able to vote until after the post-65 reforms. Living around the town can be both inspiring and spiritually exhausting -- being constantly reminded of the bad history gets tiring. <br /><br />I must say it's a real treat for someone in England to ask ME how it feels to live in an historic place! :-DStephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15097908023032528200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-62006866281511863832015-03-18T16:02:43.260-05:002015-03-18T16:02:43.260-05:00What does it feel like to live in such an historic...What does it feel like to live in such an historic place? Did they film any of the movie there?CyberKittenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06394155516712665665noreply@blogger.com