THE FILM
TITLE: Rustin
RELEASE DATE: 31 Aug 2023
WATCH DATE: 27 Feb 2024
TYPE: live-action feature film
ACCESS: streaming on Netflix
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THE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR: George C. Wolfe
PRODUCER: Bruce Cohen, George C. Wolfe, Tonia Davis
WRITER: Dustin Lance Black, Julian Breece
ACTORS: Colman Domingo, Aml Ameen, Glynn Turman, Chris Rock
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THE STORY
RUNTIME: 1h 46m
STORYLINE: Bayard Rustin casts a vision for a massive, peaceful protest event on the National Mall, and sees it through to its completion while struggling with discrimination from white and black men alike for his skin color and homosexuality
GENRE/THEMES: historical drama, Black history, civil rights, homosexuality, biopic
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THE CRITIQUE
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
An anatomical look at the March On Washington on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. was the face, but the details were never taught in school. Bayard Rustin had a dream, to see 100,000 people descend on the National Mall to demonstrate peaceful protest for jobs and freedom. This film is about the conception, care, and birth of that dream. His vision was brought to life, but for his homosexual lifestyle, he was nearly cast out of the entire movement.
Rustin portrays the historical events leading up to the March On Washington, giving us front-row seats to Bayard's life throughout. It can be hard to critique the film apart from his life - all I will say is that his chosen lifestyle may have very well kept him from playing an even larger role in the march, and the civil rights movement himself. The conflict scene with Bayard's boss early in the film lays it all out perfectly. Impeccable scriptwriting.
Jim Farmer: [watching footage of cops attacking Civil Rights marchers] Shame on Reverend King - sending those poor children to march the streets of Birmingham!
Bayard Rustin: A man in uniform unleashes attack dogs, turns a fire hose on the innocent, and the first words out of your goddamn mouth are 'Shame on Reverend King?'
Jim Farmer: Bayard, I see no reason for you to...
Bayard Rustin: You see this and think 'those poor Negroes down south,' incapable of understanding they are beyond powerful, because today they discovered a bravery they never knew they had, and a bravery you'll never know! You sit behind that desk, as you have sat for over thirty years, convincing yourself you are committed to saving the world, when the only thing you're committed to is your own safety and superiority.
A.J. Muste: Bayard, enough! Raging against Jim because of the color of his skin...
Bayard Rustin: I'm not raging against Jim for the color of his skin, I'm raging against him for being arrogant and ill-informed! The fact that he happens to be white while doing so, well that's between him and the Lord!
A.J. Muste: Everyday we agreed to surrender that which makes us different so that together we might Forge a more Humane world
Bayard Rustin: I can't surrender my differences - the world won’t let me! And even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. Not today.
A.J. Muste: What are you doing? Where are you going? Bayard, you must stay here where I can protect you, from the world and from yourself. You are a man of exceptional skills and of keen intellect, but until you admit your anger at being abandoned by your parents - which is why you became a homosexual, to hurt them and yourself - you will never be fully whole. Do you hear me? Not as a man and not as a person committed to saving the world.
An excerpt from the Rustin screenplay,
written by Dustin Lance Black & Julian Breece
It was sad to see him plagued by homosexuality, as an expression of the pain he felt from abandonment by his own parents. Coleman portrayed this struggle with passion, and had my heart breaking for the pain in his. To anyone facing the same struggle, there is a better way to fill the gap in your heart than to seek love from a man because you never had a father who loved you the way you should have been loved. Jesus Christ came to earth from heaven and died on a cross so that you might call his Father in heaven your own father... so that God himself can fill that gaping wound in your heart.
For those bothered by homosexual content in the film, nothing below the stomach is shown, there are a few kisses shared between Bayard and his lover(s), and it is skip-able or able to be ignored. For viewing purposes, those scenes/moments are not relevant to the overall film. Conversations in other scenes take plenty of care to explain his struggles. I would still recommend the watch if you are interested in civil rights and black history!
Rustin is well cast and so well written. A more vague actor portrays MLKJ, to keep the focus on Bayard's character. And the famous speech of the day skips the iconic line. Instead, we see Bayard Rustin standing off to the left just behind MLKJ, proud to have brought his vision to life.
Lifestyle preferences aside, his vision was that of a free and unified people. Coleman brought Bayard Rustin to life on the screen with skill and depth - I truly believed it was him. In whatever film I see him next, I'm sure he will always be Bayard in my mind. Coleman certainly deserves his Oscar nomination for Leading Actor.
To learn more about Bayard Rustin, explore the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture.
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THE RECEPTION
NOMINATIONS
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THE IMPRESSION
IN A SINGLE WORD: broadening (as in, the broadening of understanding)
MOST STRIKING ELEMENT: scriptwriting
REWATCH: actually, yes, but it wouldn’t be my first choice
RATING: 3.5 // 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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