Willmott noted that products are marketed today with images that have their origins in slavery — such as those of a friendly Black aunt or uncle used to sell a product.
“I think the film [allows] you to see things that you see everyday, but you don’t really think about the origins of them,” says Willmott, adding that he hopes the movie prompts viewers to ask more questions.
As a child growing up in Junction City, Kan., Willmott remembered his father’s shock when his son proudly brandished a Confederate flag. Later, as a college student at Marymount College in Salina during the 1970s, Willmott wondered how it was that Kansas, a free state, had practiced segregation into the 1950s. As a professor in Lawrence, a town established by abolitionists, he questioned how it was that racial segregation was practiced in the community and the university.
When he began selling film scripts to Hollywood producers, Willmott learned slavery was not box-office material. Producers reminded him that “‘Beloved’ didn’t do well. ‘Amistad’ didn’t do well,” he says.
IFC Films bought “CSA” when it was shown at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and Spike Lee offered to lend his name as executive producer.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
