Cover Story

By Asia Frey

Mobile’s collective ears were burning as hometown filmmaker Margaret Brown’s documentary “The Order of Myths” made its world premier at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah and our segregated Mardi Gras celebrations were thrust into a public debate about racism in the United States. Many would claim that is not a bad thing, while others might fear some of our hallowed carnival traditions look a bit backward to the rest of the world.

Since the film was finished very shortly before the festival, and since the participants who attended the screening, Stefannie Lucas, Brittain Youngblood, Dora Finley, Helen Meaner and Joseph Roberson, as well as Brown herself, could not or would not be reached for comment, locals are left to speculate as to the exact content of the film, cobbling together movie reviews and bloggers’ comments to determine a sense of the film, and to separate fact from gossip.

The synopsis of the film disseminated by the Sundance festival is as follows: “As winter turns to spring, Mobile, Alabama, buzzes and flutters with the floats, parades, masquerade balls, and secret mystic societies of Mardi Gras. The oldest Mardi Gras celebration in America, this time-honored ritual has always been racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown, herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city’s two carnivals to explore the complex contours of this hallowed tradition and the elusive forces that keep it organized along color lines.

“Taking a wonderfully restrained, observational approach that allows viewers to draw their own conclusions, Brown unveils the vibrant pageantry under way as ornate masks are donned, luminous gowns fitted, bejeweled trains painstakingly stitched, and the king and queen of each royal court trotted out at public appearances, parties, and coronations – within their distinct black and white realms, that is. Playfulness, reverence, and camaraderie suffuse the spectacles, generating genuine mirth and dignity in each community. Yet stories of a lynching as recent as 1981, and of the white Mardi Gras queen’s slave-trading ancestors, as well as subtle interracial social codes, cast a shadow on the proud Mobile heritage the white residents invoke. Do the recent formation of a racially integrated secret society and the attendance by this past year’s black Mardi Gras monarchs at the white folks’ ball augur cracks in a mysteriously enduring social order?”

Drawing our own conclusions is exactly what those of us in Mobile must, at this point, do. But, given that we do, in fact, have a racially segregated series of celebrations every year, we might be left to wonder how flattering this film might be, particularly to those entrenched in this “social order.”

In a video broadcast on the Sundance Festival’s official Web site, Brown states “I think people are proud of Mardi Gras and they’re proud of their traditions and their community, so they wanted to talk about it. It’s more difficult to get people to talk about the more painful things, like slavery and the lynching and things like this.”

But talk they did, and Mardi Gras royalty from both sides of the racial divide attended screenings at the festival that included questions and answer sessions with Sundance attendees who, seemingly, were not as accustomed to this open segregation as Mobilians. In that same video interview, conducted before the festival began, Brown asserts she hopes the conversation remains civil.

Scattered reports describe the conversation as spirited and emotional. On the Web site Austin360.com, blogger Chris Garcia described the Q & A “as vivacious and probing, as the audience rained passionate questions on Brown and several of the films’ subjects, who came from Mobile.”

Meanwhile, Yahoo Movies’ Park City Notebook, submitted by AJ Schnack, describes the scene in further detail, in which white debutante Brittain Youngblood was put on the defensive by filmmaker Michelange Quay when she described her upbringing by her own family and by black caretakers, only to be defended by fellow film participant Joesph Roberson, a Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association member.

While these scenes speak of a difficult-but-open approach to a complex situation, the only major film review available at press time, that by Variety writer John Anderson, was not favorable in terms of how Mobile and its masquerading denizens come across in “The Order of Myths.” His first paragraph describes the film as “derisive” and goes on to state that its appeal will likely stem from the “snideness” of its tone.

On the other hand, Aaron Barnhart of the KansasCity.com blog “TV Barn” briefly states that Brown “has done her hometown proud.”

Decribing Brown’s treatment of the question of segreated Mardi Gras, Variety’s Anderson states, “The strongest point Brown makes is that people descended from both sides of the city’s slave trade are still on each side of Mardi Gras celebration.” He also says Brown has “a solid visual style” and the film “looks good.” How good Mobile itself comes out looking remains to be seen.

What seems clear, however, is that Brown is brave. In her Sundance interview, she begins by saying how involved with Mardi Gras her family is. She is not an outsider looking in, but an insider airing laundry that could be construed by many as dirty. Of course, it’s not like this was shot with a hidden camera, and anyone in it signed a release. Four of them travelled with Brown to discuss the film, presumably an endorsement of the project and a message about their willingness to enter into a further dialogue about the issues of the film.

And, hopefully, that’s what we can all have, once we see the fabled “The Order of Myths.” Certainly, Brown is a legitimate, talented and respected filmmaker and hopefully we can be proud so many people from our town had a presence at one of the most prestitgious film festivals in the world. They were all brave to participate and as the festivities in question rage on back in Mobile, so does the anticipation over further details from this film.

The truth does, as they say, hurt. Until someone outside of Sundance see “The Order of Myths,” we cannot say how much. One thing is certain: the world finally knows that Mobile had Mardi Gras before New Orleans did.

At press time, information about the film’s local release was not available.

Asia Frey is Lagniappe’s film critic. You can e-mail her at afrey@lagniappemobile.com

Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.

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