As seen at the 2008 Los Angeles Film
Festival:
Margaret
Brown’s The Order of Myths, a simply-structured
documentary covering contemporary race-relations in the American
South, offers a socially-stirring portrait of an
underrepresented setting. The title refers to a prestigious
ceremony at the Unites States’ oldest Mardi-Gras celebrations in
Mobile, Alabama. I say celebrations—plural—because there
are two of them: one for whites and one for blacks. Yes, there
is at least one public institution in America that is still
officially segregated by race.
Thankfully,
The Order of Myths doesn’t ever preach about the
necessity of racial tolerance in American society or portray the
issue in any other conventional manner. Director Brown is more
self-assured than to rely on the typical “We shall
overcome!”-style mantra taken on by countless afterschool
specials that tackle the same topic. In fact, she allows
subjects of all views solid amounts of talking-time: both whites
and blacks who believe that there’s no reason for the ceremonies
not to be segregated and those who believe they should be
merged.
Brown
specifically follows the 2007 ceremonies on both sides, which
mark the first instances of the kings and queens of either event
attending functions of the other. We meet Helen Meather and Max
Bruckmann—white king and queen—and Joseph Roberson and Stefannie
Lucas—black king and queen—as they prepare for the day of the
Mardi Gras Parade. (And, no, it isn’t the alcohol-filled event
that we typically think of when it comes to New Orleans’ version
of the “historical ritual.”) Each of the four are followed and
interviewed in detail, as are other town-members including, the
viewer learns in the film’s final moments, Brown’s own
very-traditional grandfather.
The Order
of Myths isn’t the terrific film that it is because of its
depiction of the Mardi Gras celebrations themselves. Rather, it
functions as an eye-opening cultural-artifact. Those who live in
the South and have encountered the movie’s material in their
everyday lives may not be quite as captivated by it, but as a
Californian who has never observed real racial-discrimination
firsthand, the experience proved rather riveting for me. That
there is still a place in the United States with a citywide
parade that involves separately scheduled appearance-times for
its white and black participants is fascinating to me. And to
see this captured on film is borderline-otherworldly.
Some will
undoubtedly label me as ignorant for making the aforementioned
admission, but I think a lot of Americans are in the same camp
as me. Will The Order of Myths lead me to become an
activist for racial-justice? Of course not. Actually, I tend to
side with the opinions of white-parade king Bruckmann who,
despite enjoying his time at a “blacks-only” party before the
black parade, sees no need for the two events to be forcibly
merged. (No individual is barred from any race’s function, but a
rebel would likely be humiliated for going against custom.)
Whatever one’s view of the issues presented, The Order of
Myths is an effective picture in the way that it captures
the stunning complexities of what many would assume to be a
simple issue (after all, the topic could be boiled down to “the
existence of two Mardi Gras parades in single city”). Talented
crew and candid subjects at her disposal, Brown has fashioned a
documentary that is well worth supporting when it reaches your
local arthouse cinema.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 6.29.2008
Screened on: 9.21.2008 at the Mann
Festival in Westwood, CA.
