UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday. February 24, 1997
5A
Rosewood tells history, questions modern values
Director creates moving pictures in fourth movie
By Jeff Ruby
Kansan staff writer
It's a thing of beauty to watch an artist grow.
John Singleton's fourth film, Rosewood, is a giant leap forward for the young director.
The acclaimed craftsman of 1991's Boyz 'n the Hood has made the transition from small-time fil-maker to big-budget Hollywood director.
While such a jump could be more of a liability than a strength for a director less skilled than Singleton, his storytelling obviously has not suffered with Rosewood.
His latest film retells the true story of the 1923 destruction of Rosewood, Fla., an all-black town 'dripping with southern charm.
Whites from nearby Sumner spent three days wreaking havoc in Rosewood, reportedly killing as many as 150 black residents and leaving the town a pile of ashes.
Singleton effectively contrasts the neighboring towns: Rosewood is inhabited by hard-working, God-
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fearing people who mind their own business.
Sumner on the other hand has racists who grumble about the power their black neighbors wield—folks whose white klan robes don't seem hidden too deeply in their closets.
A white woman in Sumner is beaten by her white lover and creates an uproar by pinning the attack on a black man who reportedly has escaped from a chain gang.
Her white neighbors are all too eager to believe the allegations and head to Rosewood in a drunken posse led by a weak sheriff (Michael Rooker).
A roaming World War I veteran,
simply known as Mister Mann,
(Ving Rhames) arrives in Rosewood
and unwillingly becomes a hero to a
town in need of strength.
Rosewood's only white citizen, a shopkeeper named Wright (Jon Voight) is forced to choose a side. Should he help his loyal neighbors, risking his reputation—and his life—or stick with his white brethren?
The alcohol-soaked mob's ugliness reaches its peak when it hangs practically any black man impeding its path.
Led by Mann through the boggy
swamps of northern Florida, Rosewood's survivors attempt to simply get out of town alive.
The violent film showcases the strengths Singleton exhibited in his 1995 film, Higher Learning. He develops characters whose racism and stick-to-your-own-kind mentality is learned at such an early age, there seems no way to rise above it. Singleton sketches such attitudes smoothly.
For example, a white man shows his dazed, adolescent son the proper way to tie a noose—a scene that says so much more than the rest of the movie's heart-stopping violence.
Rhames, an actor most famous for his role as Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, looks like an action hero straight out of Predator.
Singleton has purposely made him a mythical hero, but a little character development couldn't hurt. Singleton's movies are important because they make his audience think.
By bringing a perspective Hollywood rarely chooses to show, he hopes to force his audience to reexamine its thoughts and attitudes on racism.
On that level, Rosewood succeeds. Whether Singleton's intelligent storytelling can get people into the theater to watch a little-known historical tale is another issue completely.
STUDENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
SENATE
Come to the Student Senate Town Hall Meeting at
GSP on Feb. 25 7:00 pm
Undergraduate Advisory... FRIEND or FOE?
Immunization Hold on your Permit to Enroll?
KU students must provide medical documentation of 2 MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) immunizations. If you have not-your Spring 1997 enrollment for Fall 1997 classes is on hold.To enable enrollment the hold must be removed before Monday, March 3.
If you received an MMR letter from Watkins, please bring letter and documentation to Watkins Immunizations Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Students born before 1957 are exempt but must complete a Watkins health history form. There is no charge for a required immunization.
//www.ukans.edu/home/watkins
Questions? $ \textcircled{c} $ 864-9533
864-9500
Nurse Practitioner Gynecology
Convenient, Confidential, Economical
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Services Include: - contraceptives and contraceptive counseling (walk-in basis) - annual exams and Pap smears including evaluation and treatment after abnormal Pap smears
At Watkins, students receive comprehensive confidential gynecologic care. We have a board certified gynecologist and a certified gynecologic nurse practitioner. And our prices are lower than many off-campus facilities.
problem for females and males infertility counseling and treatment.
Appointments:
864-9507
- treatment for acute gynecologic problems - treatment of STDs
//www.ukans.edu/home/watkins
864-9500
To recognize a concern for justice For academic year 1997-1998
We invite you to apply for the scholarship or to nominate someone you know, based on the following criteria:
Lynn Leban Memorial Scholarship
- Outstanding personal honesty, truthfulness, independence of mind, selflessness, concern for justice.
- Evidence of volunteer efforts to help others.
- A commitment to the use of one's education in helping others.
- A commitment to the use of one's education in helping others.
- A record of academic achievement which supports continued academic progress.
Open to all majors.
Academic Standing:
Junior and senior undergraduate students (1997-1998 academic year)
For application, contact:
Ra Willits
School of Social Welfare, 215 Twente Hall
Application deadline:
March 1, 1997