An Early "Thumbs Up" For "Bridge of Spies"

Brendan Sharp reviews Steven Spielberg's new film Bridge of Spies for the ABA Journal here, pointing out that the protagonist, James Donovan (played by Tom Hanks), is an insurance lawyer. Writes Mr. Sharp,

After three grueling years of law school and passing the bar, lawyers often discover that the cases they’d like to tackle aren’t necessarily the ones which put enough food on the table. It’s very difficult to come across and try a case which eventually goes before the highest court in the land, much less one bearing both historical and international significance.

 But for us Walter and Wilma Mittys, it's the kind of story in which we can lose ourselves.

Mississippi Finally Files Its Paperwork

The state of Mississippi finally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the U.S., in 1995. But the paperwork didn't actually reach the National Archives until this month. Why did it take so long? It might have taken even longer. Dr. Ranjan Batra, who works for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, happened to see Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg film, and wondered when the state ratified the amendment. He found the record of the state's vote, dated 1995, but no indication that Mississippi was listed in national records as having ratified the amendment, and mentioned the fact to a co-worker, Ken Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan took up the question with Mississippi's present Secretary of State, who dug out the paperwork, to discover that the paperwork was never sent in to the National Archives; he sent it in. Dr. Sullivan received notice of the National Archives' recordation on Lincoln's birthday. Another example of the power of film, and the power of Lincoln.

Here, Jon Stewart has fun with Mississippi's embarrassment over failing to file 13th Amendment paperwork.

The Lincoln Legend

John Blake of CNN reviews (and critiques) Steven Spielberg's new film "Lincoln," and suggests that the Spielberg Lincoln is not as accurate or as complex as the PBS Lincoln available in a three-part documentary which begins airing tonight. In part, says Mr. Blake, the documentary points out that Harriet Beecher Stowe, not President Lincoln, had a great part in persuading people that slavery was immoral, via her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Further, what fueled the enduring attraction of slavery in the South was not just twisted moral thinking on the part of its defenders, but its economic foundation. He discusses more reasons, more issues, here.

Copying Across Cultures

Madhavi Sunder, University of California, Davis, School of Law, has published Bollywood/Hollywood at 12 Theoretical Inquiries in Law 179 (2011). Here is the abstract.

Free flow of culture is not always fair flow of culture. A recent spate of copyright suits by Hollywood against Bollywood accuses the latter of ruthlessly copying movie themes and scenes from America. But claims of cultural appropriation go far back, and travel in multiple directions. The revered American director, Steven Spielberg, has been accused of copying the idea for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial from legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s 1962 script, The Alien. Disney’s The Lion King bears striking similarities to Osamu Tezuka’s Japanese anime series, Kimba the White Lion. Neither Ray nor Tezuka’s studio sued the American filmmakers and this Article is by no means an attempt to revive any particular legal case. Rather, this Article considers copyright’s role in promoting free cultural exchange, albeit on fair terms in a global marketplace of ideas marked by sharp differentials in power, wealth, and knowledge.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.