Mudbound
Netflix
There are few things that open one’s eyes to a current situation better than submerging yourself into another, then returning. Mudbound, set pre-WWII in 1934, is a great depiction of this as it follows two protagonists and their family’s journey before, during, and after the war. Jamie and Ronsel find themselves on different teams before the war maintaining their mandated racially segregated lifestyle even while being in the same economic class. But during the war, they found themselves on the same team. Upon returning to America, in the Mississippi delta, they are expecting things to be different from when they left, but underwhelmingly find themselves in a type of groundhog day. The plot follows them as they wrestle with the reality of returning to a racist society after experiencing a type of post racism while fighting in the war.
Often, the military is a place where people from all walks of life come and experience a type of diversity and family that is seldomly experienced elsewhere. Like being on a team, issues like race and other barriers tend to take a knee to the main goal of coming together for a common goal. Unfortunately, outside of sports and war, this is hard to come by. Check out Mudbound to catch the drama of this reality unfold as Jamie and Ronsel come to grips with re-adjusting to normal life.