Dating back to the 1700s, Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration is the oldest in the country -- and it's still going strong today. With the annual event as its focus, this documentary explores the city, its mystical societies and race relations. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic revelers descend upon downtown Mobile each year to take part in a variety of colorful parades, balls and festivities. Margaret Brown's work was nominated for Best Documentary for the Independent Spirit Awards.
I've really never been to the south, other than some very short work trips. But I am interested in learning more about the details of life in these old Southern cities. The film's opening tells us that Mobile had the country's first Mardi Gras, 15 years before New Orleans was founded as a city.
It's a city with roots, and plenty of issues. Not more than a few minutes in, it's clear that drawing a picture of White Mobile and Black Mobile is one of the themes here. And the deep, deep family histories associated with the history of Mobile. "My people were on her people's ship," one of the Mardi Gras queens tells us, referring to the white Mardi Gras committee's queen, whose family brought the last slave ship into the U.S., in Mobile. It's more than a little uncomfortable watching the lead-up to the festivities, with no prior understanding of this culture. Two parallel systems in place, but not equal by any stretch. Men in hoods and masks, girls dressed up like dolls. Uneasy detente.
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