The Best of Enemies stars Sam Rockwell as C. P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the KKK, and Taraji P. Henson as Ann Atwater, an effective civil rights activist, who are forced to work together and decide Durham, North Carolina’s stance on school integration in 1971. The drama is an adaptation of a book called The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson.
I do not remember which movie I was watching when I saw the preview for The Best of Enemies, but I immediately became concerned that I made a mistake if their metrics thought that I was the right person to market this movie to. I had absolutely zero desire to watch this movie, which seems to be a part of a tone deaf marketing scheme to convince the masses to be less mean to Presidon’t supporters by humanizing racists bravely led by the New York Times. No money for you!
On a more superficial note, I am annoyed that The Best of Enemies is simply another vote to firmly lodge Sam Rockwell as a loveable racist for the rest of his career: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Woman Walks Ahead, Vice and Jojo Rabbit. Remember when he was the disproportionately magnetic and charismatic guy. I am not saying that he is not good at it. He is from California and was raised in New York yet he easily adopts the mannerism and accents of our stereotypical imagination of a racist guy without feeling like a trope. I went from, “Oh! Sam Rockwell is in it” to “ohhhhhh. Sam Rockwell is in it.” I am objectively happy that he has found career success, but subjectively he is ruined for me. When I saw him in Richard Jewell, I immediately thought, “Oh so is this character racist,” which he is not according to how he is depicted in the movie, but simply because Rockwell was playing a real life person, I initially assumed. Seeing Rockwell is like seeing the personification of disappointment-good food falling to the ground before you can taste it. Ugh.
The Best of Enemies ended up in my queue because of Henson. I could tell that she really went all out and embraced method acting for this role otherwise my expectation bar was low. It was lying on the ground then the movie waltzed by with a shovel, dug a fairly deep hole and threw the bar into the hole. Mom joined me as part of a rare day long viewing party of watching movies based on real life stories: Author: The JT Leroy Story, JT Leroy then this movie to close. Because my expectations for this movie were so low, and JT Leroy was a snoozefest, I did not end the night mad. I am really glad that I did not see it in the theaters because the DVD came with a bonus feature (yes, I still get DVDs from Netflix or the library), which was better than the whole movie.
The main reason to borrow The Best of Enemies DVD is that it comes with the following special feature: An Unlikely Friendship, a 2002 thirty-four minute documentary that features Ellis and Atwater. A little over three decades later, Ellis’ racist buddies were still mad at him. Also apparently his wife was willing to marry a racist, but unwilling to assume the traditional wifely duties of a KKK member. I will never understand how someone can marry a racist, but find it offensive and stand against it. Being single really isn’t that bad, ladies.
How did I actually feel about the main feature? The Best of Enemies was what I expected. There is a faint whiff of false equivalency as if Atwater and Ellis are two sides of the same coin who both need to compromise, let go of their anger and come together. Ellis is the real protagonist of the film. It is less about integration and saving the soul of one KKK member. Maybe Jesus would give a humble lost sheep award to this film, but in November 2016, I officially resigned from the black and multicultural committees to save one single soul. It is too much effort and just when you think that you have gained some ground, you turn over the wrong rock and discover less progress and more repugnant beliefs than you originally were there. It is a psychological money pit, and even Jesus did not save everyone.
The Best of Enemies deftly depicts KKK as a horrific organization that is primarily dangerous to white people: white male veterans, white women, poor white people. If a viewer did not know about the KKK outside of this film, it is quite plausible that a viewer could leave the film confused about why black people hate the organization so much. I did appreciate how the movie distinguished all the racist organizations by class and power. Basically Ellis suffered from (repeat after me, children) economic anxiety and was being exploited by wealthy, powerful racists to openly carry out the state and local government’s hidden agenda. The film’s lesson is that if black people financially and psychologically meet a poor white person’s needs, racism will be over. I have been watching Mad Men lately, and one reason that I have been really enjoying the show is how Peter Campbell, a horrible person, is just baffled why his clients are not interested in black people’s money because of the invaluable lack of association. Ellis’ story is true, but rare although even he initially turns down the opportunity to make more money by working in a black neighborhood.
The Best of Enemies’ black characters exist to suffer, scream or help the white characters. The movie shows us Ellis’ life slightly more fully-his family and business dynamic, but Atwater just exists as an energy bunny of justice. Does she have hobbies? What does she eat? The film’s question for the pair is when there is no one to fight, what will you do then, yet it never answers that question for Atwater, which I guess by implication makes the film accurate because she probably never could stop fighting and just relax. Still, damn! The most real black moment in the film is when Atwater introduces her daughter to Ellis. The daughter is initially polite, but when she realizes who he is, the little actor makes the best face of disgust. Kudos to Nadej K. Bailey for giving me my favorite moment in the movie.
I am not recommending The Best of Enemies unless you just see the documentary, or your guilty pleasure is lovable racist movies. Once again Henson’s efforts are wasted. I am only slightly tempted to read the book for fact checking purposes because some plot lines felt fake such as the gospel music battle, but truth is stranger than fiction. This film makes Green Book seem as if it deserved the Oscar (it did not). Once again, viewers can reassure themselves of their innate goodness because they are not card-carrying members of racist, domestic terrorist organizations and pat themselves on the back as if everything is fine. Quick question: is North Carolina considered a democracy again?