But what I admire most are those who have both identities at the same time.
That's why, even though Mel Gibson isn't the best actor or the best director, he's my favorite, and I'm still rooting for Kevin Costner despite his many bad movies.
Since there are so few names on this list, I have to cherish them a lot.
Fortunately, there is now one more person on this list, a black glory: Denzel Washington.
Criticizing a movie as good or bad is actually quite simple: whether you can feel its power.
Some movies, like a hammer, hit your heart with impartiality.
That's the power of movies, and that's why you love them.
There are two types of movies, which are the easiest to move people's hearts: one is a script adapted from a real event, and the other is a competitive inspirational theme. In this sense, "The Great Debater" is actually a very amusing work, because it belongs to both the first category and the second category.
However, clever works are not without skill. There are too many examples of good subjects being wasted. The oversimplification of the plot and the lack of excavation of the connotation make many films that could have been immortal become ordinary. It's not hard to get the audience excited while watching, but it's not easy to get them to hear the sound of their hearts being struck.
I have watched countless competitive inspirational movies, and I can remember only a handful of them today.
But I know I'll remember the name: The Great Debater.
Hollywood has a lot of movies about black issues in America, slavery, the Civil War, segregation, including the current divide between blacks and whites.
For these films, it may be easy to impress black people, and it may be easy to impress Americans.
I'm not American, and I'm not black, so I probably don't understand and feel a good portion of this movie.
But really good movies can cross cultures.
So the closing speech of James Jr. in the Harvard debate hall can also make a Chinese heart surging.
Maybe our international leaders who are always "catering to the Western market" can also think about this proposition.
I love Denzel Washington's sharp eyes on camera and the tough corners of his mouth.
Maybe only such a person can make such a movie? Because he understands what it takes to be a black man better than those white leaders.
And he himself, better than anyone else, understands the black leaders who changed history because he was one of them.
As the second black Oscar winner in film history, Denzel Washington's statue is no less bleak than Sidney Poitier's, because there is a gap of forty years between the two statues.
Marvin Tolson has regrets, because the debate team he led, although winning for ten years, still had one defeat after all.
And Denzel Washington, no regrets.
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