The Great Debaters is an inspiring movie that should be seen by all Forensics competitors and fans of History.  The movie portrays a college parliamentary debate team comprised of southern blacks who often are debating about social justice.  The acting is incredible and the debate scenes are inspiring.

    If you are expecting to see a documentary about college or high school debate you will be disappointed.  The movie is more about social justice than it is about college debate.  The film focuses on the struggle for equality between blacks and whites in the 1930’s. 

    From a debate standpoint, the movie fails to demonstrate proper technique and instead strives to show how emotive speaking can captivate an audience.  There is a great scene in the film where Denzel Washington teaches the debaters about the importance of a judge and how an opponent is merely an obstacle that is trying to get in your way.  For Forensics competitors, this scene is where a lesson can be learned.

    The movie appears to take liberty with the debate topics.  The final topic is almost identical to the January 2008, NFL Public Forum topic.  This makes me believe that the NFL played a part in the making of this film.  The arguments used in the final debate are elementary, but effective.  This is often a good lesson for any debater to learn.  You do not need to hide the ball to win debates.

    On balance, this is an amazing film about equality and justice.  Debate is merely the canvas used to tell the story.  The film is well worth the cost of admission.