Dr. Dottie Morris, the associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, offered a book discussion for Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.” This discussion provided attendees with an opportunity to engage with both the book and Ava DuVernay’s film adaptation, “Origin.”
Morris explained, “What [Wilkerson] was trying to look at is why we have these different levels of the ways that we use resources. She started to look at what was happening in the U.S., a lot of people view it through the lens of racism and she said that she felt like there was something more that was happening.”
Morris explained further, “[Wilkerson] did a lot of research. Then she started seeing examples of how certain groups of people, particularly people of color, were disproportionately disadvantaged. Then she looked at the caste system in India. She doesn’t just focus on current times but she gives us… an idea of how we got to where we are now.”
The film adaptation, “Origin,” was directed by DuVernay. Morris stated, “I really didn’t think it could translate. There are things that you can read about as a research… piece, where it’s distant. Whereas some of her examples… became very personal.”
Morris said the relationship between the viewer and the characters within the film became very personal to her. She described a scene in which a boy goes to a public pool with his baseball team but is not allowed to swim. While the book described this analytically on the topic of segregation, the film depicts it through a story told from the perspective of the child which Morris described as, “painful… it made it very personal instead of an intellectual understanding.”
The Colonial Theater’s Director of Education & Community Engagement Vicky Pittman, explained The Colonial being a nonprofit has encouraged them to do as much for the Keene community as they can.
“What happened with bringing ‘Origin’ in is, we have the film agents that we book things through,” Pittman said. “We contacted them to see if the film would be available for one screening in our smaller theater because that’s what Dottie thought would most suit the people that she wanted to bring in, which are students from different schools… to come in and to come and view it.”
Pittman explained Dottie has pre-bought tickets for students and will be introducing the film herself.
Pittman described the complexity of the film, saying some viewers are watching it before they see it at The Colonial.
“It’s one of those films that is not a documentary but it’s based on a book that a lot of people in this community who care about civil rights have read… so I think it’s just people that want to come together to support this kind of work, to hear a different history.”
Pittman conveyed the films’ significance, stating, “I think it encourages people to do more critical thinking about what their beliefs are… We’re a predominantly white community… I think that there’s a lot of things we don’t even we don’t ever experience… so it’s giving us the opportunity to see through their eyes and to see a scholar trying to make sense of it all and to argue her point.”
DuVernay’s “Origin” will be screened at The Colonial Theater on Wednesday, April 17, at 7:00 pm as the companion piece to Dr. Morris’ book discussion.
Benjamin Martins can be contacted at
bmartins@kscequinox.com
