Rosewood Film Analysis

HARSHEEN DYAL

ROSEWOOD FILM ANALYSIS The film “Rosewood” has a lot of impact on black and white people throughout the century. This movie is directed by John Singleton, and is based on the real incident that took place in 1923 in Florida. Rosewood is based on the massacre that took place in 1923 in Rosewood, Florida that claimed many African American’s lives. During that time, segregated African Americans felt unprotected from the hatred of the white people. It is a story about how middle class African-Americans were living and enjoying life, until an incident happens in town. When a white woman, Ms. Taylor, falsely blames a black man for beating and raping her and it leads to a mob out for blood. Many black people were not given any justice of the law and some white people considered them guilty just because for the color of their skin. The film is just not about human envy, greed and about the insane mob, but also about the courage of black folks who faced an unbelievable onslaught of evil. “Rosewood" addresses the injustice served to the black people and potential chaos when a society fails to protect and serve all its members equally. Fanny Taylor’s story is meant to protect herself from the consequences of her unfaithfulness, but it gave an excuse and opportunity for a racist white people to carry out horrific acts of murder on any nearby African Americans. The most notable black heroes are Sylvester; is a music teacher and an educated man in rosewood town and Mann, who is a stranger with strength who becomes the focus of white hatred and black resistance. A grocery store owner John Wright, is one of the few white residents also one of the heroes who plays a key role in saving lives, but before he does, he resolves painful racial issues and make a difficult personal choice. Singleton answers the challenge of his material by casting this true and horrific tale of American history in the form of the Hollywood revisionist western. Rosewood 's real power, however, resides in the way the film does with its graphic scenes of racism, genocidal violence, and horrific events that shocks us. Hatred plays a major role in the film towards African Americans. For example, the angry mob knew that the claim was likely untrue, but without too much resistance they were able to act out on their emotions without consequence. African Americans found themselves unprotected from this uncontrolled hatred towards them by the white people. The events of Rosewood shed light on the corruption of the local government in Florida. Deaths were not recorded and murder went unpunished. No Justice was given or carried out and there was no legal protection for black people, they were forced to protect themselves. Men, women, and children were murdered in their own homes for no reason. It brought attention to the need for equality and justice through the due process of law, and shined light on the overwhelmed white people’s hatred that had for African Americans during that time. In addition, Singleton 's camera work effectively captured fear and terror of racial violence, but it did nothing to draw attention on the impact of important scenes. Singleton 's film, Rosewood is full of motivations and messages of liberal, including those about some whites being rational, good, and perhaps heroic in evil times to his black arguments about self-defense and active struggle against racism in American history. During this historical period, hatred is the major concern that white have towards the black people, especially with their skin color. For example, Fanny Taylor’s blame towards the black man which is not true, shows that the hatred towards the black people which caused a massacre towards the African Americans. White people were murdering the African Americans pointlessly. Black people who tried to explain their innocents were killed. Even historically just about their whole town was burnt to the ground. The film 's imagery leaves the viewer with a sense of how dark the situation was and how thick the racial tension was between the two communities. It showed how even as free citizens they were still far from equality or any kind of justice. As houses burnt and people were hung which showed how difficult it was to find any protection. There was no one to defend them but themselves. The local government was so corrupt that they led the attacks on the families. Unity and courage were the only means to their survival. African Americans found it true that without demanding equality and unity, they would be destroyed. Racism and hatred played a major role and it will always exist. The victims of the Rosewood massacre set a precedent for other courageous African Americans to live fearlessly and fight the rampant racism of the time. The acting in the film was inspiring, compelling and the visuals filled with a lot of pain and emotions. From the beginning there was a lot of tension between both the communities. Fanny Taylor 's character, who falsely accused a black man for raping her created a chaos within the area. As she cried in the street the two black girls who witnessed the truth sat in disbelief. This scene was very powerful, as it shows that there is lack of power in between these two women as they held the truth. It created the basis for a very intense rising action. The angry response from the town left me in shock as they didn 't seek for justice, but bloody and terrific action towards the black people. These action scenes and intense situations combined with the historical reality increased my curiosity and captivated throughout the film. “The official death toll of the Rosewood massacre, according to the state of Florida, is eight... two Whites and six Blacks. The survivors, a handful of whom are still alive today, place the number anywhere between 40 and 150, nearly all of them African American.” This shows that brutality portrayed in the film is an accurate account of the assault witnessed which provides a recollection of how brutal the white individuals were at the time towards the African Americans, as well as it illustrates a full blown representation of racism at that time.
References
Rosewood [Motion picture]. (1997). United States: Warner Bros.
Colburn, “Rosewood and America in the Early Twentieth Century” Florida Historical Quarterly
Ed Guerrero, “Review: Rosewood” Cineaste v23, n1 (Wntr, 1997)

References: Rosewood [Motion picture]. (1997). United States: Warner Bros. Colburn, “Rosewood and America in the Early Twentieth Century” Florida Historical Quarterly Ed Guerrero, “Review: Rosewood” Cineaste v23, n1 (Wntr, 1997)