I just watched one of the most complex movies I think I've ever seen. It is not complex due to plot - not in any way. It is complex because of the subject matter and human nature. It's a 2008 documentary called The Order of Myths. Mobile, Alabama has the oldest Mardis Gras celebration in the county. In addition to that distinction, the celebration is segregated. The black community and the white community each have their own king and queen, parade, balls, you name it.
The movie is perplexing. How can people live like this? For example, the white queen in 2007 (the year of filming) is the descendant of the man who brought the last slave ship into the US. Her family owns much of the property in town, including the property in "Africa Town". The black queen for the same year is the descendant of one of the slaves on that ship. OK, see what I mean about complex?
Yet these two women seem to like each other. They seem genuinely nice to each other, and genuinely interested in furthering the interaction of the two Mardis Gras celebrations. And most of the people filmed (not all) are the same. By the end of the movie I was sure that I was seeing those tiny steps that eventually make big change. I would have to assume those steps have been occurring for much longer than the film, but this film does an incredible job of capturing mood and attitude surrounding this one event.
I highly recommend it. I also never want to go to Mobile, Alabama.
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