Movie

DuVernay says on Twitter that '[the] notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping' and urges people to 'interrogate history' and 'let it come alive for yourself.'

• Dec 30, 2014

AceShowbiz - "Selma" director Ava DuVernay has made a comment following criticism over President Lyndon B. Johnson's portrayal in the historical movie depicting the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., for voting rights led by Martin Luther King Jr. On Sunday, December 28, the director took to Twitter to address the criticism by Joseph A. Califano Jr., Johnson's assistant for domestic affairs, in which he slammed the movie's portrayal of the president and King's dynamic.

In an op-ed published on the Washington Post, Califano previously wrote the portrayal of Johnson was inaccurate. "The film falsely portrays President Lyndon B. Johnson as being at odds with Martin Luther King Jr. and even using the FBI to discredit him, as only reluctantly behind the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and as opposed to the Selma march itself," he wrote. "Contrary to the portrait painted by 'Selma', Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. were partners in this effort."

"In fact, Selma was LBJ's idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted - and he didn't use the FBI to disparage him," he added.

DuVernay then reacted on Twitter on Sunday, writing, "Notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so." She also shared a link to an article and urged people to read the topic themselves. "Bottom line is folks should interrogate history. Don't take my word for it or LBJ rep's word for it. Let it come alive for yourself," she said.

I can argue, @HitFixGregory. Notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so.

— Ava DuVernay (@AVAETC) December 28, 2014