Loving: A True Story of Love Verses Prejudice

My husband and I were indecisive when it came to seeing this movie.  We knew it would be moving and we really wanted to see it, but were afraid that with the recent events of social injustice our nation currently faces, we would be discouraged at how regressed we have become.  I know it sounds quite depressing, but I promise to always be honest with my readers.  With that said, I am happy to report that we did see this movie and are so happy we did.

Richard and Mildred grew up in a rural area of Virginia where black and white people were intertwined which wasn't common during this time.  They didn't pay attention to the color of their skin but instead followed their hearts and fell in love.  Richard wanted to marry Mildred and knew it would not be easy in Virginia as Virginia did not allow black and white men and women to get married or live together.  So Richard took Mildred to D.C. where it would be legal.  He still wanted them to live in the area they grew up in so took their marriage license with them back home.  Soon after, the police got involved and arrested the newly married couple.  Their only way out of a prison sentence was to leave their home for 25 years. They wanted to be together, so traveled north and began their new lives.  Over time, as their family grew, Mildred became depressed as this was not what she wanted for her family.  She wanted to raise them in open fields surrounded by green grass as she had grown up.  Richard wanted anything to make his wife happy so arranged for them to return home and hide in the country.  Mildred's interest in the civil rights movement grew as their situation continued to worsen, so she wrote to Bobby Kennedy and was pleasantly surprised when they were assigned a lawyer pro bono to not only allow them their rights to marry and raise their children in Virginia, but to amend the Constitution of the United States for all. Would the justices of the Supreme Court side with them or the close minded side of the south?

Jeff Nichols wrote and directed an excellent film.  IMDB gave it a 7.2/10 and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 90%.  I would have to agree with Rotten Tomatoes on this one with a 9/10.  The story itself was beyond moving as all this couple wanted to do was love one another without retrain.  It captured the true issues that those who don't believe in integration believe which is frightening.  The state of Virginia thought it illegal that Mildred and Richard raise children because to them the children were "bastards" as they did not have married parents.  I know.  I wanted to throw up.  What I loved was that the movie portrayed what was most important in all of this, standing up for what is important to you and for Richard and Mildred, it was their love for one another.  For more information, I encourage you to look up Loving vs. The State of Virginia.  I have also included a link below that provides more facts to their story.  I really encourage you to see it as I think it will shed some light on something that seems all to recent when it comes to prejudice.

http://people.com/movies/richard-mildred-loving-real-story/