Director Chris Weitz wasn’t satisfied humanizing the plight of illegal immigrants via his Oscar-nominated 2011 film “A Better Life.”
Now, the man who gave us “About a Boy” and “The Golden Compass” has directed a series of videos attacking Alabama’s anti-illegal immigration laws and comparing those who don’t believe in open borders to the state’s most racist political figures of yore.
Backed by the liberal group Center for American Progress, the four-video series “Is This Alabama?” offers a series of emotional pleas combined with deplorable comparisons that make having a fair and healthy dialogue on the issue impossible.
“The Two Faces of Alabama” contrasts a foul-mouthed local telling illegals “to get their papers and get out” to an attractive, well spoken teacher who will miss her illegal students if the law catches up to them.
It’s pandering at best, baseless propaganda at worst. But it’s the least offensive of the segments.
“What Alabama Knows About Civil Rights” zooms in on a preacher who calls Latinos “the new Negroes.” The clip also shows an old photograph showing a building adorned with a sign proclaiming “no Negro or ape allowed in building” as if Alabama’s modern policies come from the same mold.
In “Not the Kind of Alabama I Want,” Weitz makes a direct and despicable connection from the racist policies of Alabama Gov. George Wallace and “Bull” Connor to the modern laws against illegals.
“An Alabama Mother Speaks” marks another emotional plea for open borders.
When you don’t have facts or reason on your side, you call your opponents bigots and cast the issue as a faux civil rights violation. Weitz’s series does nothing to open the lines of communication on one of the most divisive issues facing our country. It simply calls the other side racists.
[Cross-posted from Big Hollywood]
