Customer Reviews

The Order of Myths

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Mobile, Ala. is home to the nation's oldest Mardi Gras festival. During the two weeks of pageants and parades, the locals abide by a tradition of racially segregated celebrations, simultaneously exposing behavior that is both taboo and honored.

Director Margaret Brown's expert use of irony and social commentary in "The Order of Myths" is as captivating as the elaborate and pricey galas of the 2007 occurrence. The uncomfortably real moments are most evident through a running theme of whites making reference to future hopes for equality, then handing off a discarded piece of china to a black server working an all-white event. The tension peaks when members of the black Mardi Gras queen's family comment that their ancestors were brought to Mobile on the slave ship Clotilda by ancestors of the white queen's family. The just-so manner in which the black family references its past is consistent throughout the film, keeping tensions to a minimum but acknowledging them nonetheless.

The sense of ambivalence is also prevalent on the white side. Comments are made concerning hopes for integrated celebrations, but the same people later express a desire for maintaining the rich traditions that are enjoyed by each group. Folks acknowledge the touchiness of the situation and how the Mobile celebrations are different by exhibiting such throwback values, but few are in a hurry to make a change.

An additional layer of intrigue is found in the film's first interviewee, a friendly-looking and eerily familiar older Southern gentleman. His second appearance identified him as Dwain Luce and it clicked for me that he was featured in Ken Burns' "The War." Curious if Luce's celebrity status had influenced Brown's editing decision to place him at the film's opening, those wonderings were shattered in Luce's final clip when an additional identifier appeared below his name: "My Grandfather." It was a stunning epiphany that made me feel, through my dual-film appreciation of Luce and rapport with Brown (who I interviewed for a newspaper article), like Dwain Luce's unknown friend.

Take time to see this film. It was criminally left off of the short list of 15 films from which 5 will be nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. "The Order of Myths" is better than the best on that list, including the excellent "Man on Wire" and "Trouble the Water."

This little film by Margaret Brown can easily be overlooked--but it shouldn't. This could also be easily categorized as a film about tolerated racism--but it is so much more. Anybody not from the US who does not understand why the racism is so strong in this country needs to see this film for a sliver of the history that shows the roots of it. For those who think racism is a permanent part of the fabric of this country, they need to see this to show that there is hope that this is changing. For those who want change now, this is not the film for you, as the greatest strength of this film is the display of generations of change that are and have taken place.

Brown has taken the oldest tradition of Mardi Gras in the country (no, not New Orleans, but Mobile--another statement made in this movie) and, according to the extra section of the DVD, inadvertently used it to show the history of the Mardi Gras, the history of race relations in the city, and, from a microcosmic point of view, the emotions of the participants (past and present) of the two simultaneous groups who celebrate this event. A King and Queen of Mardi Gras are selected from each racial community (Caucasian and African-American) with a following of these four people around. What I found particularly interesting about these four people was the preconceived notions I had as a former resident of the South and how 3 of the 4 evolved in front of the camera. Felix was basically exactly as I suspected, but he still evolved as well. The last 20 minutes of the film were especially encouraging and heart-warming.

I can not recommend this film highly enough. While it starts a bit slowly, it is well worth the wait. The interview of some of the participants along with Ms. Brown at a screening in the extras section is also enlightening. I am almost 60 years old, and I have seen some changes in race relations in this country. This film has shown me that in the next 60 years there will most likely be more changes and evolution in this area, but it will be very slow. I am heartened by the future for my kids and grandkids in being part of this process. Thank you, Margaret.

People in Mobile eagerly anticipated Margaret Brown's "Order of Myths," a documentary about Mobile's 2007 Mardi Gras celebration. It is fair to say that the film has made a strong impression locally. After noticing that there were no Amazon reviewers from Mobile, I thought that I would offer my two cents.

OOM is a consistently-interesting film. I have attended Mobile's Mardi Gras many times, but I learned a lot about how Mobile's elite controls the yearly celebration. Also, while I do not want to spoil the film, Brown has a deeply-personal connection to Mobile's Mardi Gras that will add to viewers' interest in the film. Finally, OOM contains beautiful footage that shows off Mobile's historic districts.

I don't think that OOM is a great film, however. Brown focuses almost exclusively on the white and black elites of Mobile, while leaving out the vast majority of the people from both communities. Viewers will leave OOM with little idea of what it feels like to experience Mardi Gras in Mobile. Moreover, there is often an uncomfortable, voyeuristic quality to OOM; Brown admits that she did not tell the participants that she was going to focus almost exclusively on race. One cringes upon seeing many of Brown's subjects commit gaffe after gaffe.

The most-objectionable aspect of the film is that Brown includes a long section on the 1981 lynching of Michael Donald in Mobile; this is a gratuitous cheap shot in that Donald's murder had nothing whatsoever to do with Mardi Gras. In the director's commentary, Brown, apparently stung by criticism on this point, is at some pains to explain why Donald's murder is relevant. Brown does not mention that one of the men who murdered Donald was executed and the other is serving a life sentence.

In the end, I suppose your opinion of Order of Myths may reveal more about you than it does about the film. I recommend that you see the film and judge for yourself.

Documentarian Margaret Brown turns the camera on the ritual celebration of Mardi Gras in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama in "The Order of Myths", which takes its name from the oldest mystic (masked) society to march in the Tuesday parade. Mobile has the oldest and one of the grandest Mardi Gras traditions in the United States, having celebrated its first Carnival in 1703. Actually, Mobile has two Mardi Gras traditions: that of the Mobile Carnival Association (MCA), now in its 103rd year, and that of the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (MAMGA), and all-black organization founded in 1939 as an alternative to the all-WASP MCA. Their traditions are strikingly similar but separate, and, combined, the festivities impact Mobile's economy to the tune of $200 million per year. "The Order of Myths" follows the preparations by both organizations for the big event with an eye to what the largely segregated celebration may -or may not- say about race relations in Mobile.

For viewers who are not Southerners, this is a look at another culture. As a Northerner, I recognize the WASP country clubs and debutantes' balls, but the South has its own, perhaps more theatrical, brand of class and cultural boundaries. "The Order of Myths" offers some sense of how Mobile's past is reflected in its vaunted Mardi Gras traditions and what people may think about it. They don't all think the same thing. MCA's 2007 King and Queen, Max Bruckman and Helen Meaher, and MAMGA's King and Queen, Joseph Roberson and Stefannie Lucas, share their experiences and perspectives. And all seem equally moved by the honor bestowed upon them. The coverage of the technical aspects of the celebrations is sparse, but we see a bit of the wardrobe design for the royal courts. And we visit some of the older, traditional, and newer, more inclusive, parading societies.

Spending so much money and energy on a holiday celebration is foreign to me, but the role of heritage in Southern culture intrigues me every time I encounter it. In the North, knowledge of one's ancestry makes for interesting trivia, but it does little to contribute to an individual's identity. The value that Southerners place on heritage, defined as the impact of history on identity, collective or individual, is apparent in Mobile's Mardi Gras and surrounding events, for better or worse. "The Order of Myths" looks at the better and the worse of holding heritage in such esteem, as it both enriches and limits the lives of those who value it. That much is true for both the middle-class black and upper-crust white communities that we see, even though their heritage is different. I don't think there is any need to be judgmental about it. Traditions, both old and new, have an important place in these communities. And Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama is a colorful way to explore these ideas.

The DVD (New Yorker 2009): Bonus features include 13 deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer (2 min), a "Q&A with Margaret Brown and Cast at the Mobile, AL Screening" (21 min) that features 4 members of the cast, and an audio commentary by Margaret Brown and cinematographer Michael Simmonds. In the commentary, Brown fills us in on her connection to the events of the film, gives us more information about them, and she and Simmonds discuss technical aspects of filming 370 hours of footage with 3 camera crews, the film's style, and the people in it.

I love this documentary. I grew up in Mobile, so I'm biased, but I found it very well crafted, informative, interesting, and a pleasure to watch. I've watched it at least four times and have recommended to many friends.

Taken as a documentary, qua documentary, very well done. Taken as a documentary about Mobile Mardi Gras, down right spectacular. Watch it. Worst case scenario, you will feel that you've not wasted your time and money.

In 2009 it is hard to believe that the "tradition" of the separation of the races still exists anywhere in the United States of America to this degree. Sure there is de facto segregation in the workplace and where people live but the Mobile, Alabama, tradition of holding separate Mardi Gras parades and functions reeks and this documentary shows the warts front and center without finger pointing. It just turns on the klieg lights and lets the white townsfolk shoot themselves in their proverbial feet the minute they open their mouths (and even by the looks or body movements they make when around blacks or confronting the subject).

The documentary itself is shot in a home movie style and we get to know the citizens of Mobile and the history of the town such that you feel as if you are there just wandering around town taking it all in. The filming style is its greatest strength as the "out of the mouths of babes" way of documenting the story works far better than any sort of Mike Wallace "60 Minutes" journalistic grind them down approach. When you see whites being served by blacks at various functions in white folks' homes, you almost have to do a double take. This is the 21st century in Mobile? Black waiters in white gloves? Black tailors and nannies? Still the only contact snooty rich white folk have with blacks is with the service industry? It's jaw dropping to watch.

Also, as someone not from the Deep South, the whole tradition of spending all this money ($60,000+ on a float!?) on a ridiculously outdated tradition while so many parts of their town look like they are caught between the Third World and the First is obscene. Also, the fact people actually care about who was queen in 1931 or whatnot shows how vapid some of these old boots' lives really are.

As far as I'm concerned the only "king" that should be crowned to represent Mobile, Alabama, is Major League Baseball's true home run king Hank Aaron.

If anyone in Mobile watches this and doesn't get the message, then maybe they do deserve to live in the past. The other thing I just don't get is: Seriously, even if it was desegregated, what is up with the whole idea of aping a royal court in a supposed democracy even if it's supposedly for fun? In Rio for Carnival, it works. In New Orleans, to some extent it makes sense. In Mobile, come on!

This is a great documentary for those who are interested in the finer details of Mardi Gras, and an even better one for those who have an enhanced understanding of some of the "Greater Mysteries" going on around us (those of you who know why the one crewe's symbol is a broken column, for instance, and/or the broken column's greater mystical significance). If you don't understand what I mean, I want you to picture in your mind a Mardi Gras crewe in their masquerade costumes and then think about these three words- "Eyes Wide Shut." For those who DO know what I'm talking about, the look on the father's face when he is asked to show his mask to the camera says it ALL..

A.A.

By the time you have read this you already get the gist of the movie. In one of the more "dramatic" scenes we see a knight in the white court hand a glass to a black waiter as he is being dragged away by his deb. Forget the fact that the knight in question is not only not a Mobilian he isn't even an American. What Ms. Brown fails to show in the movie is that the black court had the same coronation in the same locale with the same waiters and waitresses. One can only assume that members of the black court were handing their glasses to black wait staff. Why did Ms. Brown not show this? If it is a story of intentionally separate Mardi Gras groups what point does showing this non-Mobilian have to do with the story? How many times have you handed something to a black waiter?

Ultimately this movie has nothing to do with Mardi Gras or race. It is the story of a film maker who exploited her family and friends to make a story that would please her peers in New York. One can hear them now, "Margaret, how did you ever escape such a dreadful and backwards place? I cannot EVER imagine living there" as they hand the wine glass back to the black waiter who they would never acknowledge. Ms. Brown used her connections to get access, she was trusted by these people and she lied and intentionally embarrassed them and her hometown not by showing the truth but by crafting her story ahead of time and editing footage to match the story. What good would her documentary have been if there was not an evil side (the white Mobilians) and a good side (Ms. Brown). Good riddance.

A white man talks about the importance of the history of Mardi Gras and of wearing white capes on your face and keeping things separate and relates that to the strong trees in the city and how they are sacred like their history they have strong roots adding, no pun intended.

Ironically these trees with their deep roots are shown to literally be tearing up the city and its foundation which in turn could damage the souls of the citizen's feet, no pun intended.

If you think racial segregation is a thing of the past in the good `ole U.S. of A, "The Order of Myths" should disabuse you of that notion right quick.

It's a little known fact that the Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama is the oldest such celebration on American soil, predating the one in New Orleans by a number of years (some date it to as far back as 1699). Of far more interest and note is that, to this very day, the Mobile Mardi Gras is presided over by a pair of kings and queens - one white, the other black - with the balls and parades largely segregated along racial lines as well. Margaret Brown's fascinating and eye-opening documentary focuses on the history of the event, along with the intense behind-the-scenes preparations for the celebration in 2007. Brown interviews the respective kings and queens, as well as many of the designers and planners responsible for pulling the event off year after year. Brown also chronicles the many "mystical" organizations who donate money and manpower to the cause (the oldest being The Order of Myths, from which the movie derives its title).

Brown has opted not to use narration in her film, preferring to let the people she's interviewing speak for themselves, some articulately, some seemingly unaware of how exactly it is they are coming across - or perhaps they do and just don`t care. Yet, no matter how desperately we may want to concentrate solely on the pomp and spectacle of the occasion or to join in the celebration, the images of rooms full of white people and rooms full of black people can't help but color our perception and diminish our enjoyment of the carnival as a whole.

Still, it would be easy, I suppose, for outsiders to feel smugly superior to the people on screen, not only for their racist and, in some cases, sexist attitudes, but for their allegiance to traditions that may strike many of us as hopelessly outdated and silly. But Brown avoids turning her movie into an excuse for Southern-bashing and post-Bellum condescension by trying to honestly examine the roots and heritage of the community she's chronicling, not excluding the ugly side as well - the slave trade, the lynchings (including one as recently as 1981), the historic influence of the KKK.

So, based on this film, can we conclude that present-day Mobile is a hotbed of racists and bigots? Well, it does have an African-American mayor, and there does appear to have been some small movement towards integrating the festivities in recent years.

But in this post-Obama era, it might be incumbent on the fine folk of Mobile, in this one respect at least, to make a little effort to join the rest of us here in the 21st Century.

A must-see film.