In Part II, the assassination of JFK brings up fears for Martin's own pending fate, and while there were quite a few years before that happened, his feelings on it increase in its terror. The post Kennedy years shows that the not so glorious future, through an encounter with Malcolm X, his alienation with powerful members of the government (including President Johnson), and even failing relationships with members of his own team, particularly adviser Al Freeman Jr. At the emotional height of this episode is the Vietnam War which Coretta accuses of being the greatest crime against black men.
But as powerful as King continues to be, the more dangerous his idealism seems to be to American commercialism and the obsession of profits over people. Lots of proven facts about King's life seem to be shuffled under the rug too, although this doesn't quite make him appear flawless. Continued use of news reels showing the real MLK mixing with ordinary people shows real problems hidden over the big stories, and while the narrative now starts to flow from incident to incident, it's an indication of how all these issues he's involved with coming to a head and leading to the tragedy to come. It's obvious that they took the best they had at the time and compiled as much as they could to tie everything together. Winfield's performance gets more intense and riled, as if he knew that he had to rush to get done what he could, and that puts the viewer for a few moments in his shoes, a fascinating but scary place to stand.
But as powerful as King continues to be, the more dangerous his idealism seems to be to American commercialism and the obsession of profits over people. Lots of proven facts about King's life seem to be shuffled under the rug too, although this doesn't quite make him appear flawless. Continued use of news reels showing the real MLK mixing with ordinary people shows real problems hidden over the big stories, and while the narrative now starts to flow from incident to incident, it's an indication of how all these issues he's involved with coming to a head and leading to the tragedy to come. It's obvious that they took the best they had at the time and compiled as much as they could to tie everything together. Winfield's performance gets more intense and riled, as if he knew that he had to rush to get done what he could, and that puts the viewer for a few moments in his shoes, a fascinating but scary place to stand.