President Obama is hosting a screening of the movie “Selma” for the cast and crew at the White House on Friday.
“Selma,” which was nominated for only two Oscars on Thursday, Best Picture and Best Song, is the latest Oscar contender to be screened at the White House.
The 40-seat White House Family Theater is part of the private family quarters, so not all movie screenings are publicly announced. But previous films shown in the theater include last year’s “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” and 2012’s “Lincoln” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” according to Variety.
Guests are expected to include director Ava DuVernay, leading actor David Oyelowo, producer Oprah Winfrey, rapper Common, who is an Oscar nominee for the film’s theme song, “Glory,” and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who marched in Selma 50 years ago and was beaten by police, according to USA TODAY.
Though the film centers on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Alabama civil rights marches of 1965 that eventually led to the Voting Rights Act of that same year, and it will be screened in the home of the nation’s first black president, viewers of the film will not hear any of King’s original speeches or words, due to copyright law.
In 1963, only months after King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech, King secured copyright protection for his words in order to provide for his family. Other copyright protections soon followed.
Today, King’s three children, who are reportedly not on speaking terms, own the rights to King’s speeches and likeness. Because of this, King’s words, despite being national treasures, will not be in the public domain until 2038.
The King siblings even charged the foundation that built the monument to their father in Washington D.C. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation paid $761,160 in 2007 to use King’s words and likeness on the monument. They also paid a $71,700 “management” fee to the family estate in 2003.
So, “Selma” skirts around King’s actual words, rewriting iconic phrases and speeches.
For instance, during the scene at the funeral of civil rights demonstrator Jimmie Lee Jackson, King in the film gives a rousing speech, asking the crowd, “Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson?” In real life, King asked, “Who killed him?” In another scene, King rallies protestors with the words, “Give us the vote.” In reality he said, “Give us the ballot,” according to Yahoo.
Tasteless family bickering and greed brings the legacy of this White House film screening down a peg.
