Reflections

George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire

Video, 160 min., 1999 (RP)

Few people in American politics are easier to hate than Alabama governor George Wallace. Quite possibly the country's most vocal advocate of segregation and other racist policies, Wallace's legend towers in infamy. Directed by Daniel McCabe and UT professor Paul Stekler, George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire provides a study that solidly encompasses the myth before honing in on its intensely personal aspects. The project assembles rare footage and insightful interviews, augmenting previous studies of the troubled politician with another dimension. Behind Wallace's mask of notoriety, the filmmakers uncover a tragic paradox central to his character. Wallace's story suddenly takes on an almost Faustian quality as we realize that we are watching a man who fundamentally altered his own ideology in pursuit of power. Payment and punishment came in the same form as he watched a nation enthusiastically respond to his hateful new proposals. Thorough and remarkably objective, the film stands to answer the most enigmatic questions about Wallace's character. Particularly impressive, however, is the way George Wallace the film resists answering for us the most difficult issue, a question George Wallace the man seemed to be asking even from his deathbed: Can we forgive him?