The Great Debaters

Denzel Washington has joined the ranks of movie-stars turned directors (Eastwood, Gibson, etc.). The Great Debaters stars Denzel as Mr. Tolson, a teacher and debate team coach at a small Negro college in Texas (Wiley) in the 1930s. Tolson chooses four students to form his team, including Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), Samantha Brooke (Jurnee Smollett), and James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker - yeah, check that name out). Farmer is the son of the school's president, played by Forest Whitaker. Needless to say, the acting is superb, and not just from the two fantastic Oscar winners. So Tolson picks his team and trains them. The story progresses into a very familiar storyline: the team works hard, starts winning, starts competing against better competition, etc. Well, eventually they set up a debate against the Harvard team. Now this was a Negro team from Texas in the 30s, remember. Thus, race relations play a huge part in the film. Also, this was a very small school, going up against the reigning national champions. It seems rather fantastical, but it really happened.

One of the best things about this film is that it applauds intelligence. In The Great Debaters, the champions are crowned through hard work, discipline, and smarts. It is glaringly obvious that intelligence has little to no value to our society nowadays. This is especially true of the power of rhetoric. Hey, wait, you mean what we say and how we say it actually matters? Just listen to any sports interview for five seconds and see how completely idiotic people sound, see how many times you can count "ya know." I have taught a high-school speech class for four years now, so it is a subject I am familiar with (I do have to say though that I am much better at teaching speech than at doing it myself). I will be showing this film to my students every year from now on. As James reminds us in his epistle, our words have the power to heal and to destroy. The ship is controlled by the small rudder and the horse by a small bit, just as our being is controlled by our small organ known as our tongue. But instead of letting our tongue get out of hand, imagine if we use it for good, for change. This film reminds us of that potential, and shows us how important intelligence can be.

What is a good man? This film also puts forth a good picture of a man, a strong leader who loves his family, works hard, and is a gentleman. It is hard to find a film these days that actually says "this is what a good man is" instead of "look at all these worthless pigs."

During their training, Tolson drilled the students with this call and response:
"Who is the judge?"
"God is the judge"
"Why is He God?"
"He decides whether I win or lose, not my opponent."
"Who is your opponent?"
"He doesn't exist. He is merely a dissenting voice against the truth I speak."
Beautiful exchange, profound truth, one of the best movie quotes I have heard in a long time. We must remember that God is ultimately the judge of all that we do. Yet we so often get clouded by the opinions of others. When we are criticized, put down, argued against, attacked, we should always realize that if we speak the truth, there is nothing anyone can do to change it from being the truth. Truth is truth, period.

The Great Debaters' plot revolves around racism in the south as well. This is an important aspect of the story, but a sub-plot in my opinion. At its very soul, this film is about young men and women realizing their potential and working hard to achieve it. It is about the help that teachers and mentors give, the help we all need along the way. And it is about the power of the truth to change lives, and about the fact that we must seek after it long and hard if we desire to be part of it.