Film Review on Within our Gates and Body and Soul

    This film entitled “Within Our Gates”, by Oscar Micheaux, illustrates many issues going on in America at the time. Racism is a big topic that is being displayed in this film as well as the injustice with white privilege.  The topic of racism is shown through the lynching that takes place in this film of a black family that is completely innocent. White privilege is seen through nobody holding these white people accountable for these selfless acts of violence against other citizens.  This film exposed just the regular everyday things that African American have to deal with such as lynching and everyday prejudice. This film was very graphic and because of this it allowed for a very serious theme. First seeing this film was very scary to me and I had to look away at times, but I couldn't look away at the same time. It has that hooked factor with many action scenes.

      the beginning, we first see a conflict where Sylvia is engaged to Conrad but her cousin, Alma, wants him for herself.  Later on, another character is Alma which is cousin, and we see how she was once in love with Conrad as well. Then there is a flashback that touches on Slyvia's past life. Dr. Vivian and Alma reveal Sylvia's tragic past that involves her family being lynched.  Micheaux introduces us to a new scene which highlights the Slyvia family. Her dada, Jasper Laundry, is a hard-working black man farmer. Jasper comes into conflict with a white man named Girdlestone who has been mishandling Jasper family money. Also, Girdlestone’s assistant is a black man named Efrem who gossips a lot and drinks from Girdlestone's liquor as well. 

    One day tensions rise between Girdlestone and Jasper, but Jasper still remains respectful even though Girdlestone scores him as a black man.  Efrem is spying on them outside and then a man with past ties to Girdlestone shoots Girdlestone and he dies.   The laundry family immediately tries to flee in fear of getting framed for the murder, while a white mob starts to form to look for them. Within the days that the white mob is looking for the family, they accidentally kill the real killer without even knowing he was the real guilty one.  

    Meanwhile, Efrem, the snitch, becomes very comfortable during all of this chaos and ends up getting lynched in the meantime. Micheaux does a great job of using Efrem character to depict, in lack of a better word, a coon figure in the African American community.  Efrem loyalty to his race is very slim in this film and it illustrates a flaw in the African American community. He was so ready to tell all of the business of his own people to the white Americans, in a sad attempt to gain approval. He ends up being lynched in the end and his efforts are basically pointless. He thought that he was untouchable, but he ended up having the same fate as other people in his race. We can see that in society today where Black people are being used and not even realizing it, in attempts to simply gain approval from white Americans. 

    Another really impactful moment is later on in the film where Micheaux portrays just the dangers and regular way that African Americans were being treated. Micheaux displays a lynching scene involving the laundry family and Slyvia being chased around by Girdlestone. The lynching scene and just how traumatic it was. The mother is trying to protect her son and they all end up getting captured. The film then goes to from the lynching scene to a attempted rape scene with an attempted rape of Sylvia. She is trapped in a house with a man named Armand Girdlestone the screen states "Still not satisfied with the poor victims burned in the bonfire, Girdlestone goes looking for Sylvia." The thing that saved her was the mere fact that she had a scar on her body and that identified her as Girdlestone's daughter.  This part of the film helped display the white privilege where rape was seen frequently and just the desire for the black race by white people. To my surprise, at the very end the film has a more pleasant ending where Sylvia and Dr. Vivian reunite to spend the rest of their lives together. Overall, the film was very impactful and displays accurately a lot of what African Americans were dealing with during that time. 

Body and Soul

  Body and Soul start off by showing Rev. Jenkins, a con man and recently released prisoner who takes the role of a preacher. He presents many sermons and gives instructions to the church members. However, the members don’t know about his many corrupt ways and are easily fooled. The reverend is a drinker and gambles as well in his spare time. This reverb, in my opinion, represents the director's criticism of the black church and just religion in general. Many times, the congregation are oblivious to the signs of corruption in the church from important figures in the church, such as a pastor or reverend in charge. They fail to think that a man with that much status in the church can do anything wrong. Moreover, in another scene, Yellow-Curley Hinds, a former cellmate with Jenkins, spots him out and they come up with a plan to get some easy money.   

Some other characters introduced later in the movie are Martha Jane and Isabella. Martha Jane is the mother to Isabelle and their relationship is indeed an interesting one. Martha constantly ignores Isabelle with her needs and fears going on in her life.  Isabelle is the only one who sees Reverend Jenkins for who he really is versus how the congregation perceives him. Isabelle is dating the Revern twin brother, Sylvester, a very nice man compared to the Reverend. But the mom refuses to allow them to marry and instead feels more comfortable seeing Isabelle with Reverend Jenkins instead. The mother puts the Reverend on such a high pedestal that she becomes so blind to everything that he is doing. The relationship that the mother and daughter have in this film is very dysfunctional and unsupportive in my view. 

Throughout the film, Martha has been saving some money for some time now and the Reverend is plotting to take it all. The mother constantly leaves Isabelle alone with the reverend and he ends up finding out where the money is by being physical towards her. Isabelle noticeably becomes very ill because of all these actions in her life taking place and decides to leave from her mother's house. Later on, Isabelle finds herself with the reverend again and is rape while they are together.  This illustrates the corruption in the church and the preacher taking advantage of people in the congregation. The mother doesn’t find out till about the very end that the reverend is a bad guy until Isabelle is very ill and dies. Marha Jane later goes on to expose the minister for what he has done to her family and finally sees the truth about him. 

Like most films during this time, the story ends with an alternative ending where it was all just a part of Martha Jane’s. Reverend Jenkins, Martha Jane and Isabelle are all seen happy with one another and enjoying each other's company. This film provides a theme of deception and corruptness. The power of being a titled religious figure is the main thing that is being depicted as well and brought to the audience's attention.