The Order of Myths ****

I am a bit of a documentary junky - perhaps because I really do believe that the truth is often stranger than fiction. My husband tolerates the docs with me, but they aren’t his thing. This one, however, had us both somewhat transfixed.

“The Order of Myths” chronicles Mobile, Alabama’s Mardi Gras celebration. Dating back to the 1700’s this Mardi Gras celebration is the oldest in America (who knew?). While the event is the focus, this documentary explores the city itself, its people, its mystical societies, its race relations and its obsession with masks and Moon Pies.

While it starts out as “quirky” there is an eeriness about the deeply rooted racial tension, the secrecy of the mystical societies and the genuine reverence for the Mardi Gras “royalty” that sneaks up on you. The film covers the Mardi Gras events of 2007, but in many ways you feel as if you have been transported back to the deep South prior to WWI. Segregation is not only alive in Mobile it is “well” and being elaborately played out in the Mardi Gras celebration events which are run by two separate associations – white and black, each of which produces its own “King and Queen” of Mardi Gras.

But this isn’t a “political” documentary nor can mere “political correctness” make sense of the rich complexity of Mobile’s myths and the way they play out in its current culture. Let’s put it this way, if Robert Graves were to have a home in the deep South, this would be it. At one point in the film the head of the “white” association exclaims “we love our trees…I mean, we’re not Druids or anything, but we love our trees…” Indeed, the trees have grown so well they have uprooted the sidewalks. Progress itself seems uprooted in Mobile, while the roots of southern tradition grow wider and deeper through the community.

While Mobile may be home to the last vestiges of segregation, there is nothing “black and white” about this engrossing and thoughtful portrayal that leaves one wondering if the masks of carnival reveal masks worn year round.