Now Streaming, ‘Mudbound’ On Race, War and Redemption

Three years ago this month, my son was born via emergency cesarean; he had a true knot in his umbilical cord, and it was wrapped around his neck four times. For weeks after his birth, I held him tight against my breast, contemplating the theory that racial trauma is genetic and wondering if he’d been reenacting our American legacy, trying to lynch himself in my womb. I have avoided certain kinds of films for some time, and especially since I became a mother–namely, period films about Black people. Because, let’s face it: if it’s a period film about Black people, and especially a period film set in the United States, it’s probably a film about slavery or Jim Crow. I have not seen 12 Years a Slave or The Butler or even Hidden Figures. I also have not seen Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, but there are even more complicated reasons for that. I don’t mention the films I’ve skipped out of any sense of pride; I’m simply acknowledging that my viewing choices have been out of a sense of self-preservation. A few months back, I stumbled upon The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks late one night while staying at a hotel, and as well made and moving as it was, I ended up with the predictable emotional response: simmering anger and immense sorrow. So many of these films seem made for a white audience; nothing makes contemporary white racism seem mild more than slave traders and the KKK. These films end up feeling self-congratulatory experiences for white liberals instead of revelatory….