Thoughts on L.B.

I spent much of today outlining my end of term paper and presentation that will be due next week. I am excited about the presentation, as I think I have made an intriguing, if not entirely pertinent to my guiding question, revelation. When considering the protagonists, villains, and different characters of the films, a pattern emerged within several of them that I think will surprise people. Maybe. But I will leave the details for the actual presentation. I don't want to spoil it for my readers (Dr. Revels, Mom). 

I have felt a sense of satisfaction and yet found a challenge in contemplating the Liberation of L.B. Jones. I feel that I found a film that represents the confluence of many rivers-- that is, all the elements of race relations and the brutality of the era in which the film was made are depicted on screen. I was furthermore pleased when researching today; I found several articles, including a very insightful appraisal of the film's place in black cinema.

This film was made at a crossroads. Hollywood was transitioning out of a period of relatively mild civil rights films and into an era where Blaxploitation films such as Superfly and Shaft would define black cinema. L.B. Jones is classified as a Blaxploitation film, and as such, it is remarkable that Director William Wyler, considered during the mid-20th century to be, perhaps, one of the greatest American directors, would choose race as a topic for his last films. The response to this film was remarkable. More so than I realized yesterday, some critics hailed it as the most controversial and articulate film of its time; others wrote it off as an exploitative mess.  I found this very revelatory excerpt from British film magazine Sight and Sound. 

Sight and Sound Magazine:   "In some ways, the film’s most original aspect is its structure. Wyler sets up genre expectations of the liberal Hollywood movie that he then ruthlessly dismantles. Far from revealing a warm humanity under the gruff exterior, Lee J. Cobb’s lawyer becomes more deeply compromised and contemptible in his selective morality. Lee Majors’ young lawyer, seemingly a character likely to rectify wrongs, walks out of the situation with righteous but impotent anger. L.B. Jones refuses to run and his courage leads directly to his brutal murder. A black youth (Yaphet Kotto) who renounces violence midway through the film returns at the end to exact a vengeance more sadistic than the one originally planned.

In his last interview before his death, Wyler told his daughter Catherine that he had aimed the film at a white audience who he hoped would be embarrassed and enraged by what he depicted. Perhaps he succeeded too well. In the immortal phrase of Wyler’s former employer Sam Goldwyn, the public stayed away in droves. Its picture of a conflicted America might have struck too many raw nerves in a country still reeling over the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, a divisive war in Vietnam – and the departure from the White House of another LBJ.

The film seemed then to fall off the critical map, being displaced by black American filmmakers with their own visions of the black experience. To the best of my recollection, it has not been shown on terrestrial television here for over 20 years and has yet to be given a proper DVD release."

I think this gets at the heart of this film' significance as a movie lost in the shuffle. Edgy but non-commercial, it arrived at a time when it was too late for the Civil Rights Film to make an impact, and while it would have been one of the first Blaxploitation films, the film was not truly a Blaxploitation work: it sought to expose injustice and suggested uncompromising and even shocking responses without subtle undertones. Contrary to Sight and Sound's opinion, while I agree that Americans were occupied with Vietnam and transitioning out of such a volatile decade, I don't think the era hindered the film's success. I think it was the film's brutality and honesty. Many would still consider the content and violent retribution for equally violent prejudice as controversial. 

Lastly, I want to comment on the assessment of characters. This film is never wrapped in a bow. Courage is rewarded with brutal death. Those who make the right decision subsequently make bad decisions and, often, violent ones. The characters act as human beings: impulsively and with selfish motives. They don't act like players in a full circle drama; although, as the train pulls out of town in the final scene, I could not help but feel like resolution is achieved because of the jarring brutality and honesty. Courage is often not rewarded, though this film should be.