Film Review: The Great Debaters By Melvin Tolson
The Great Debaters is an intriguing film set in the 1930s about a professor that goes by the name of Melvin Tolson who teaches students from Wiley College, in Texas, the fundamentals of debating. During this day in age, if an African American didn’t “stay in their place” they would be ridiculed for such insane behavior. One can only imagine how difficult it must have been for them to get through a debate without caring if they had crossed the line on a touchy subject. But through it all this debate team became one of the most successful teams in America. They were undefeated after they won national championships over Harvard University. There were three main debaters in this film; two male and one female. The females name was Samantha Booke.
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He was the son of James L. Farmer Sr. He was American author, theologian, educator, and minister. Mr. Farmer Jr learned most of his teaching from his father before he joined the debate team. His trial and tribulations are stuck between him and his conscientious. Throughout the film he has doubt about if he can execute a speech well. To do this he has to get past his butterflies and nervousness. His age sometimes got in the way of other’s looked at him and would look down on him. At first, he was frightened of speaking in public in front of an audience, so he would be nervous here and there. Yet, when it was time for the big debate against Harvard, he put all his fear to the side and proved himself to be quite a man.
Then we have Mr. Henry Lowe.
In this movie, race is an issue especially for the African Americans. There was scene in the movie where the main characters were driving late at night heading to reach the next town of the debate tournament. As they were on their way, they saw two black males hung up from a tree and lynched to death.
Tolson: Who is the Judge? Debaters: God
Tolson: Why is God the Judge? Debaters: Because he decides who wins or
He was the son of James L. Farmer Sr. He was American author, theologian, educator, and minister. Mr. Farmer Jr learned most of his teaching from his father before he joined the debate team. His trial and tribulations are stuck between him and his conscientious. Throughout the film he has doubt about if he can execute a speech well. To do this he has to get past his butterflies and nervousness. His age sometimes got in the way of other’s looked at him and would look down on him. At first, he was frightened of speaking in public in front of an audience, so he would be nervous here and there. Yet, when it was time for the big debate against Harvard, he put all his fear to the side and proved himself to be quite a man.
Then we have Mr. Henry Lowe.
In this movie, race is an issue especially for the African Americans. There was scene in the movie where the main characters were driving late at night heading to reach the next town of the debate tournament. As they were on their way, they saw two black males hung up from a tree and lynched to death.
Tolson: Who is the Judge? Debaters: God
Tolson: Why is God the Judge? Debaters: Because he decides who wins or