*EDIT/ADDITION: I think this sentence needs more nuance. People will DEFINITELY come together in a crisis/emergency, but the long-term effects of that behavior do not seem to last very long. That doesn't mean that those attempting to eliminate prejudice should throw up their hands; they just need to be more determinedly creative about the programs and methods employed to combat it. As part of that effort, we need more films like THE LAWLESS and THE WELL, including those that can somehow reach further into the mainstream. How to make that happen is clearly part of the elevated creativity needed from all individuals and companies involved in communications and the arts.
THE LAWLESS is extremely valuable because it expands the discussion of racial issues beyond the slavery-based dynamic to a more subtle examination of unexpressed assumptions about class and race that permeated America at the time, whether in big cities or small towns. There is no "happy ending" in THE LAWLESS, just the sobering fact that there is still so much work to do in order to overcome the lingering stench of racial prejudice. The position we are in at the end of the film is disturbingly similar to the one we find ourselves in right now--for my money, THE LAWLESS is the film to see in order to take away a realistic sense of the state of America. It also reminds us of the difficulty of maintaining an unfettered, reliable source of news and discourse in a nation that has always been susceptible to moneyed interests and those who would do their bidding in order to shape "reality." That's where THE WELL falls down, IMO, despite its excellent intentions and its harrowing first half.
Clearly YMMV. I urge folks to watch both films for what they offer to a much-needed and all-too-often suppressed perspective on the ugly underside of American racial prejudice and class warfare.
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