The Great Debaters (2007)

Based on a true story, this follows the experiences of the Wiley College Debate Team during the 1930s. Denzel Washington portrays the professor who trains and inspires a team that includes Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Denzel Whitaker. I feel like there aren’t a lot of period pieces regarding educated Black Americans, so the setting here was refreshing though being in the South, there were expected racism experiences. Also interesting to see star and director Denzel Washington as a disheveled socialist and his interactions with college president Forest Whitaker. Somewhat annoyingly, it seems the male debaters were given much more backstory than Smollett. She was relegated to the center of a love triangle and despite having mention in the epilogue, her character didn’t share the name of a real person. I understand there are often changes in ‘true stories’ but they just as often annoy me for their portrayal of alternative facts.