Irmo Branch Library - Multimedia Book Club discussion

Hello MMBC,

I hope you all are having a great week and enjoying experiencing Grey Villet's photo essay so far. Let's start our discussion with some questions on the photographs taken, along with Barbara Villet's supplemental text.

1. The first few images that Villet uses to introduce us to the Lovings as a couple and as a family are close-up portraits. Why do you feel he chose to use these photos in the Love vs. The Law chapter and as the first photos in the book? What effect do these shots have?

2. How does Barbara Villet's biographical text change how you view the photos of the Lovings? What do you understand about Mildred and Richard's case that you did not know before?

3. What do the photos in Love vs. The Law say to you about the Lovings daily life, work, and their children? How does this affect the argument against interracial marriage?

4. Do you feel that these images show any bias in favor of or against the Loving family or the institution of interracial marriage? Why?

1) The pair of initial portraits of the Lovings show Richard and Mildred individually but separately in focus. They look like they are both contemplating the situation, which they are experiencing together as a couple. By focusing on only one one of the couple, while the other is out of focus in the back or foreground, Villet portrays that Richard and Mildred are both going through the situation together but each experiencing it as individuals. Mildred's thoughts and reflections are different from Richard's, but they are going through this together. It reminds us that what is at stake is that this law is trying to separate the couple, which would have its own ramifications for each of them. Not to jump too far ahead, but it reminds me of a tense scene in the 2016 movie when one of Richard's friends makes the point to him that, as a white man, he could put the whole situation behind him just by walking away. While that is not something he is willing to do, as he adamantly rejects the idea that he would divorce his wife, it remains true that his privilege would allow him to walk away at his choosing.

2) This is where Barbara Villet's text is so compelling. We learn how steadfast Richard is in his resolve to stand by his wife and stand for their right to be married to each other in their hometown. It was most interesting to me to learn that they were not activists at all, that Richard and Mildred, particularly, wanted nothing more than to be able to live at peace in their community, with family and friends to support them, which is so important in shaping a life together. Barbara's text gives context to the anxious looks, the nervous twist of a wedding band on a finger.

3 & 4) To that point, before reading the book and watching the films, my impression of this case from school history lessons had been that the Lovings had been momentarily delayed in being able to get married at all. My overly simplified take imagined them resolving the case tidily and heading down to the courthouse for a marriage license at last. (Yes, I realize now that it had to be more complex than that impression.) The text and photos bring the reality of the story to light: they were married already and dragged through a nightmare of prosecution, litigiously attacked and persecuted by a racist power structure in their home state and singled-out by a culture reacting to change.

My first statement after watching the film adaptation of the story was that this law literally ruined their lives for most of a decade or longer. And seeing the photos, you see a mother in her element, caring for her young children, and a father who loves his wife, his kids, his home. The text tells how they are risking imprisonment to live this life together, free to have a regular family in the home of their choosing.

Yet the photos are so absolutely normal, in some way unremarkable. I could relate to the way Mildred cups her hand about her daughters hair: this could be me with my child, was my gut reaction. Especially at a time in history when an interracial marriage would have been viewed as out of the ordinary, the very mundaneness of the photos makes them so powerfully extraordinary.

I definitely think the photos make the case for the Loving's right to be married because they show that the arrangement could not be more familiar to the viewer. As Richard himself thought before the case rose to the level of the US Supreme Court: it shouldn't be such a big deal and could easily have been resolved by those in power in the community, a more lenient judge or a Sheriff more willing to look the other way. In this case, however, I feel the bias of the photos is warranted and inherent. Villet is saying: how can you look at this couple and think they should be punished for this simple, ordinary life. The logical morality becomes apparent when the camera brings their humanity to the forefront.