In this day and age, it’s hard to believe there was a time, within the lifetimes of many Americans, where it was illegal to have an interracial marriage in parts of this country. True, we still have racism today. It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But to think that something that seems so normal today, to the point where we recently had a mixed race president, was once an action that could lead to jail time. But it was, and we would be wise not to forget such facts.
That all came to an end with the Lovings, a very aptly named couple, took their marriage to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Virginia (and by extension any other state’s) laws against such marriages, an action depicted in the 2016 film Loving.
Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) are a young married couple in a rural part of Virginia. Richard works as a bricklayer. Mildred is pregnant with their first child. All things being equal, the two aren’t bothering anybody. Richard is white. Mildred is black. He grew up in a poor section with a lot of black friends and neighbors. He’s already bought the land he will build a house on for his growing family.
Then, one night, the local sheriff shows up and arrests both for miscegenation. The framed marriage license on the wall from Washington D.C. carries no weight with the law. Richard is able to get bailed out pretty quick, but he can’t bail Mildred out himself for some reason. She has to spend the weekend in jail until her father comes by the following Monday. The pair only avoid jail time by promising to move out of the state and to never step foot in it at the same time for the next 25 years. Since Richard’s job is still there, as is his midwife mama and her extended family, it’s not like the two are going to just move permanently to another state. Eventually, the pair move back to Virginia and, with the help of an ACLU attorney (Nick Kroll), they manage to get their marriage legalized after a long series of appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Given the story, you’d think this would be a movie full of bombastic declarations of love and demands for justice, but it isn’t that kind of movie. Aside from the sheriff, there isn’t a lot of overt racism in the movie. Most of what’s on display is a sort of “well, it’s always been that way so why fight it?” sort of attitude. Neither Richard nor Mildred are particularly outspoken people. Both spend a lot of time with their heads bent over or eyes downcast, and I don’t think either of them ever really raises their voices to anyone. Mostly, Richard wonders why they can’t have their family since they aren’t really hurting anybody and Mildred makes decisions to push things with very little pushback from Richard. Most of the prying comes from Kroll’s attorney or Michael Shannon’s Life magazine photographer, and even then, the latter is more of Shannon is such a large personality onscreen anyway he can’t help but draw an eye. The Lovings are, in many ways, the least likely activists you can imagine. They don’t even go to witness the arguments in the Supreme Court, mostly because Richard didn’t take too kindly to the fact the state of Virginia would mostly argue the Lovings’ three children were legally bastards.
All that is mostly told through the eyes and body language. Neither Loving is given a speech much longer than a few lines. They’re more apt to react to what other people say to them. The most “exciting” moment after the initial arrest is Richard rushing home from work, pedal to the metal, because it sure does seem as if someone is following him. Something like that requires strong actors at the center of the film, and fortunately Edgerton and Negga are up to the task. Why anyone would want to imprison these two for anything is rather unbelievable since it’s doubtful there could have been a more harmless-looking pair of people on the planet. Seeing the early joy of their first few days as a married couple drain away as the authorities come along is heartbreaking, and their final victory all the more sweet. Text at the end of the movie says the real Richard Loving was killed by a drunk driver less than a decade later and Mildred never remarried before dying herself many years later, so seeing the happiness and victory, however fleeting, was fantastic. Fights like the Lovings’ may not lead to the end of racism, but they sure do take us a step closer to that goal.
Grade: A-
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