Movie review - The Free State Of Jones with Mathew McConaughey

The Free State Of Jones came out in June, 2016 and I watched it today on Netflix.

From the IMDB web site:

Set during the Civil War, "Free State of Jones" tells the story of defiant Southern farmer Newt Knight and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.—STX Entertainment

The movie opens saying that it is based mostly on a true story. I looked it up on Wikipedia. It is not a happy story about American history other than the fact that it describes courageous people who stood up to oppression, abuse, maiming, and killing for social justice.

Is it helpful to witness America’s shameful history of racism, enslavement, subjugation, and injustice?

Yes, because without knowing our history and from where we have come as a nation, and the atrocities we are capable of, we cannot recognize, acknowledge, and rectify our evil shadow side. As we have seen glaringly in the Trump era, white supremacy is still a very strong dynamic in our national politics with negative consequences at the Federal, the state, the county, and the local level.

Newton Knight, played by Mathew McConaughey, is the hero in the film with some help from Malcom Washington, a black leader, and Rachel, a mixed race woman, who is an indigenous healer and helper. Rachel has a son with Newton who is still discriminated against in the late 1940s for being ⅛ black and married to a white woman in violation of Mississippi’s race codes which, as a side note, were copied by the Nazis in the late 30s and 40s in their treatment of people with Jewish ancestry.

The Free State of Jones is an upsetting movie to watch, but necessary if a person wants a better understanding of American history. We would be a better society if there more people like Newton Knight, Malcolm Washington, and Rachel in it.

I give the film a 4 out of 5 on my “worth the watch” scale.