4 Little Girls

Released 1997
Directed by Spike Lee
Reviewed April 9, 1998

Every American should see this film. It's about the bombing of a black church in Alabama on September 15, 1963 that killed four young girls. It's also about segregation and racism in what was possibly the most racist of all American cities: Birmingham, Alabama. Black leaders pinpoint this bombing as the event that galvanized African-Americans for the civil rights movement. It also awoke white America to the enormity of the racial problem in the south. If someone was willing to plant a bomb in a Sunday school to purposely kill children, it was obvious desegregation was going to be more than a battle. It would be a war.

The director, Spike Lee, was determined to not let these girls be faceless victims; he wanted us to learn as much as possible about each of the them. The girls and their ages were: Denise McNair, 11, Addie Mae Collins, 14, Cynthia Wesley, 14, and Carole Robertson, 14. Lee could have made a movie that described the events and put them in historical perspective of the civil rights movement. This is how documentaries were made in the past. It's not widely known that today's documentaries have changed. Many top directors are experimenting with this medium, and they're revolutionizing it. Here, Lee has made a very personal film, and we get to know each participant as the person they were at the time and the person they are now. We do so mostly through interviews. Lee talks to one person at a time, and frames them in such closeup, the tops of their heads are frequently cut from the shot. It's very intimate. As you get to know each person, you feel as if you can reach out and feel the sorrow they endured. This is not a sorrowful film, however. The tone is nostalgic, as each person wistfully remembers something different about their deceased daughter, sister, or friend. As they say, time heals all wounds, and these families have had 24 years to grieve. They cherish the memories they have, and they want to share them with us.

As we learn about the girls, we also learn about the events that led to the bombing. These events are critical in understanding why the church was bombed and in realizing the girls did not die in vain. They died tragically and senselessly, but their deaths were a wake-up call to America. They became martyrs.

We hear that Birmingham was the most segregated city in America, and, although many black leaders were reluctant, they agreed that something must be done there. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the leaders who was reluctant. I think he was worried that failure would hurt the emerging movement, and I don't think he felt they could be successful in Birmingham. It's important to understand there was no civil rights movement in 1961, which is when King agreed to first move on Birmingham. A grass roots movements was developing here and there across the nation, but there was no national network or national sense of purpose. A prominent failure could have killed the movement in its infancy. The irony was they were failing. Despite all of the bombings in Birmingham before this one (there were so many bombings in one black neighborhood that it was nicknamed "Dynamite Hill") and despite all of the peaceful protesting and subsequent arrests, the efforts in Birmingham were being ignored--until this bombing. The church bombing was reported world-wide, and the movement was sparked.

I was born in 1966, and I grew up after the civil rights movement. It's impossible for me to understand what segregation would have been like. There is one heart-wrenching moment that gives me a small idea. It's when Chris McNair relates his story about having to explain to his young daughter, Denise, why she couldn't have a sandwich in the downtown diner. He told her she'd have to wait until they got home, because it was for whites and she was black. Of course, young children don't understand this, and I'm sure it took a while to explain it. This moment was something that all black parents dreaded, but they all knew they had to address. I'm dreading the moment I have to discuss the "birds and bees" with my children, but that pales to explaining to your child why he couldn't use the drinking fountain even though he's thirsty. Why he would have to walk two blocks away to use a "Colored" bathroom instead of the "White" bathroom he may be standing in front of. It would be so difficult to explain this to your child. I don't think a parent could have a more demeaning task. I think it's a credit to how far this country has come that this was the law shortly before I was born, yet my generation has no concept of it.

"4 Little Girls" is a movie experience. I will never forget this event, and Denise, Addie, Cynthia, and Carole have a special place in my heart.

Reviewed by Bill Alward  Home
 
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