November 30, 2016
Page 13
Following Where Love Led Them
C ontinued from p age 11
found the legal strategy, to be
sure. But a new film that bears
the couple’s name, “Loving,”
quietly demonstrates that Mil-
dred and Richard Loving derived
the necessary clarity simply from
loving one another, and from fol-
lowing where that love led them.
Focusing less on the legal drama
and more on how these two unas-
suming young people experienced
their decade-long-struggle for the
right to live as a couple in their
home state, director Jeff Nichols
tenderly shows us what their love
looked like. The attacks against
it seem so outrageous now -- yet
withstanding those attacks re-
quired commitment far more un-
swerving than rhetoric can muster.
Plainly, love was the ingredient
most essential to necessary trans-
formation and social change.
In 1958, 16 states still carried
anti-miscegenation laws, and
a Gallup poll indicated that 94
percent of white Americans still
disapproved of interracial mar-
riage. (Oregon finally repealed its
law against interracial marriage
in 1951, but was hardly progres-
sive; Oregon did not ratify the
Fifteenth and Fourteenth Amend-
ments until 1959 and 1973, re-
spectively.) Undertaking marriage
was, for the Lovings, a radical act,
though there is little sign that they
approached it with that sort of
awareness. She was 19, he 25, and
they both grew up in a poor, rural
community where some amount of
mixing apparently was happening
underground. They did not mean
to challenge anyone -- but their
quiet reach for legitimacy clearly
was an affront to what were ironi-
cally experienced as values in the
broader culture.
Nichols’ film took its inspira-
tion from an excellent 2011 HBO
documentary, “The Loving Story”
-- worth watching as a companion
to the feature film. Neither film
contains any speeches or theoriz-
ing; the Lovings are themselves
the best way in to the story.
Nichols nicely depicts how the
culture of white supremacy is re-
inforced -- with directives to and
from the white community, but
with punishments doled out dis-
proportionately to people of col-
or. When the couple is arrested in
their bedroom in the middle of the
night, Richard is asked what he is
doing with Mildred, who answers
that she is his wife. Both are taken
to jail, but Richard is not allowed
to bail out pregnant Mildred after
his sister quickly posts his bail.
Mildred instead spends several
additional days in jail, alone and
frightened.
Richard’s mother likes Mildred
well enough, but doesn’t defend
the marriage; in her mind, Richard
is to blame for the couple’s trou-
bles because he “knew better.”
One senses that, had Richard just
taken Mildred, as his privilege
would have allowed, and kept the
relationship out of sight, nothing
might have happened -- and in-
deed, a black character suggests
after their convictions that Rich-
ard can solve his problems by
simply divorcing Mildred, even if
he wishes to continue cohabiting
with her.
Taciturn Richard’s loyalty to
and love for Mildred is conveyed
not with verbal explanation, but
with his steady focus on providing
for her and with the ease of their
physical connection. The couple
finds acceptance mainly in the
black community, where Richard
moves about with facility. Richard
clearly fits the mold of the South-
ern white man, as unlikely a hero
as one could imagine; Australian
actor Joel Edgerton captures his
resolve and his clarity, even as he
hangs back in interactions with
lawyers and the press. He avoids
public appearances and the court-
room, but instructs his lawyer to
“Tell the judge I love my wife.”
While Richard focuses on keep-
ing the family safe and providing
for them, quiet Mildred is the
clear driver of the legal struggle.
She carries in her bones two of the
most oppressed cultures in Ameri-
can history, yet watches the events
of the Civil Rights Movement on
her television set as she raises her
three young children. What drives
her, finally, is homesickness; Ruth
Negga, a revelation as Mildred,
conveys the resignation and long-
ing that builds in her during the
years the couple spend in Wash-
ington, D.C., far from their rural
home. Mildred finally wrote to
Attorney General Robert Ken-
nedy seeking assistance in 1963.
He referred her to the ACLU, and
two young men new to legal prac-
tice handled the case. At several
points, it is obvious that Richard
would not have pursued this route,
and Mildred must gently persuade
him. It is she who dares to hope,
as well; after their loss in the state
appellate court, she tells the press
that she feels hope: “We may lose
the small battles, but win the big
war.”
Then it’s back to ironing, and
wrangling her children. We need
stories like these, and director
Nichols has found the right way
to tell this one. As depicted here,
just as in the documentary, Mil-
dred and Richard show us the way
forward; they know who they are,
and they keep moving onward,
living their truth, and loving.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie review
column Opinionated Judge ap-
pears regularly in The Portland
Observer. Find her movie blog at
opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.
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C alendar
November 2016
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
14
15
16
17
William Steig born,
1907
National Clean Out
Your Refrigerator
Day
21
Leo Politi born in
1908
Mayflower Compact
Signed in 1620
World Hello Day
28
Tomi Ungerer born,
1931
Magellan reached
the Pacific (1521)
America Recycles
Day
Pack Your Mom
Lunch Day
22
Stop the Violence
Day
John F. Kennedy As-
sassinated in 1963
(35th President)
29
Madeline L’Engle
born, 1918
King Tut’s Tomb
Opened (1922)
Jean Fritz born,
1915
Fall of the Inca
Empire (1533)
Button Day
23
National Cashew
Day
30
Mark Twain born,
1835
Stay At Home Well
Day
R
Homemade Bread
Day
Take A Hike Day
FRIDAY SATURDAY
18
19
Antarctica discov-
ered in 1820
William Tell Day
Gettysburg Address,
1863 by President
Lincoln
Prime Minister Indi-
ra Gandhi in 1917
Mexican Revolution
Day
Traffic Light Patent-
ed in 1923
27
24
25
26
Thanksgiving Day
Black Friday
Crescent Dragon-
wagon born in 1952
Charles Schulz born
in 1922
Charles Darwin pub-
lishes ‘The Origin
of Species’ in 1859
SUNDAY
20
Pins and Needles
Day
Astronomer Anders
Celsius born, 1701