4 Little Girls ~ Spike Lee

As we view Lee’s 4 Little Girls it is important to keep in mind that documentaries have always contained some amount of directorial choice and influence:even when a filmmaker simply records events, he still selects what to frame, what to edit,when to start and stop rolling the camera, and what music or other effects to add todevelop the film’s overall meaning or presentation of a topic. Certainly, a documentary can be considered as an argument relayed in images andsound.

In addition to keeping track of the facts and the story, you should be looking at how the film tells its story. How has it constructed reality? What message is Lee trying to deliver? What is his point of view? What is he doing to persuade us of his point of view? How does Lee use ethos, logos, and pathos to his advantage? Were there any ethical considerations he had to deal with?

Further, you must understand the three main elements in documentaries:

1. Visual track ______

______

2. Sound track ______

______

3. Text track ______

______

Viewing Day 1:

Begins with opening titles – Ends with discussion of “Bull” Connor

Things to notice:

Lee immediately establishes a mournful tone with the use of Baez’s song. The song also effectively sets up the film for people who have no prior knowledge of the bombing. Opening with shots of the girls’ graves and their pictures seems particularly appropriate, too. Lee sets up the pattern he’ll follow for the first third of the film. Notice that even though Lee is filming more than 30 years AFTER the event the emotions of the interviewees are still vivid and real. Lee introduces background information about Birmingham in this portion – notice the images he includes in this portion.

Complete this chart while you are watching today’s portion:

As presented / How effective? Why? / Could be added
LOGOS
PATHOS
ETHOS

Questions to answer after the viewing: (we’ll begin class tomorrow with discussion of these)

  1. What do we know about each of the four girls? How does Lee present this information? Who is interviewed? Why these interview subjects?
  2. What do we know about Birmingham at the time before the bombing? How does Lee present this information? What are your feelings about Birmingham at the time?
  3. Describe Lee’s organization so far in the film. He has presented very little information about the bombing at this point; why?
  4. At the very end of this day’s viewing, we see a sequence on Eugene “Bull” Connor. Why do you think Lee introduces Connor at this point in his film?

Viewing Day 2:

Begins with George Wallace’s inaugural speech – Ends with a woman identifying her sister’s body

Things to notice:

Yesterday’s viewing ended with the claim that Bull Connor could have existed only “with the blessing of others,” from this Lee immediately cuts to Governor George Wallace’s famous (infamous?) line: “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.” What statement is Lee making here? Lee’s editing and sound track choices during the scene in Kelly Ingram Park are fresh, keeping archive footage and still photographs most have seen before full of impact and emotion.

Complete this chart while you are watching today’s portion:

As presented / How effective? Why? / Could be added
LOGOS
PATHOS
ETHOS

Questions to answer after the viewing:

  1. How might the film have been different if someone other than Lee directed it?
  2. Are the pictures of the dead girls necessary for Lee’s intended effect? What would be the arguments for their inclusion and their exclusion?
  3. Lee’s framing of his interview subjects is often as an extreme close-up. What is the effect of this on you as a viewer and what does it reveal about the filmmaker?
  4. About half an hour of the film remains. We’ve learned about the girls, Birmingham at the time, and the bombing. What’s left for the film to explore? What else do you as a viewer want to know about?

Viewing Day 3:

Begins with the newspaper headline of the church bombing – Ends with closing credits

Things to notice:

The family of one of the girls, Carol, does not take part in the mass funeral, despite a plea from and a prayer session with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s interesting that Lee doesn’t probe further into the mother’s reasons for not participating, letting her say only that plans were already made before she knew about the group funeral, which doesn’t really answer the question. Possibly, at the time, Carol’s mother did not want to get involved in the politics of the day or let the death of her daughter be a statement of some kind, but Lee has clearly established a relationship with each of the families and is unwilling to present them in a harsh or negative light. Is this a personal choice or a rhetorical one? The scene in which Coretta Scott King reads the letter her husband wrote to Denise’s family is particularly well constructed and emotionally affecting. How does this scene tie King, as a person, to the families of the four little girls? Does Lee intend this to be a type of foreshadowing of the fate that awaits King only five years later?

Complete this chart while you are watching today’s portion:

As presented / How effective? Why? / Could be added
LOGOS
PATHOS
ETHOS

Questions to answer after the viewing:

  1. Why do you think Lee spent so little time (less than ten minutes) on Bob Chambliss and his trial? Is that more or less than you expected or think is necessary? Why?
  2. What other information would you have wanted included in this film? Why? Imagining that Lee had a time limit he had to meet, why do you think he included what he did?
  3. Even as he explores the larger elements of the civil rights movement, Lee never loses focus on the girls themselves. How and why did he do this?
  4. What do you think Lee wants his audience to come away with from this film? Why do you say this?

Sources:

Golden, John. Reading in the Reel World. 1st. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2006.

Pust, Jennifer. "Using Documentary Film as an Introduction to Rhetoric." AP Central. 2008. The College

Board. 7 Jan 2009 <

English.pdf>.