The Hate U Give (Discussion Post)
I'm going to do something a little different with this post, just because it's a rather more sensitive topic than anything I've posted previously.
The other day I saw The Hate U Give film in cinemas and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I'd love to review it properly but, honestly I don't think I could do a review any real justice with this film, because I don't think I can talk objectively about its subject matter.
Therefore this will be a discussion post, or rather a stream of consciousness if you prefer, just so that I can discuss this film and get my thoughts in a sensible order.
The Hate U Give stars Amandla Stenberg, of The Hunger Games and Darkest Minds fame, as Starr, the film's protagonist, a black girl from a poor area who goes to school with rich, white kids in the next town over. I've been captivated by Stenberg since her appearance in The Hunger Games, being of a similar age to her, and resolved then and there to keep up with her career. This film made me so incredibly glad that I decided to do so.
Stenberg is, in a word, INCREDIBLE in this film. The depth to her emotional range, which is varied and very prominent throughout the film, is such that I felt her character's anguish, so much so that I cried through most of the film. In fact, most of the cast deserve to be mentioned, particularly Anthony Mackie, of Marvel films fame, and Russell Hornsby, Grimm, who play their roles to perfection. Mackie is so disconcerting and a long way from his role as a superhero as a villain in this film, and yet it is also a completely believable and compelling performance. Hornsby as well plays his role as the protective father figure in the most charming, yet unique way, the scene that opens the film - of him teaching younger versions of Starr and her brothers his rules to live by - is at once both very sweet and also extremely upsetting and unsettling.
But, the main reason I want to talk about this film is not for its actors, but its message. This film deals with the very prevalent problem in America today of white police officers shooting unarmed, innocent black people.
Starr's main motivation through this film, comes back to her witnessing her second childhood friend be shot, this time by a white police officer. I'm a white, British woman. I will (probably) never go through the horrors black people face every day just for the colour of their skin. I am (relatively) well off. I can afford to eat every day, I have a home and a stable family life. I've never known what its like to not know where or even if my next meal is coming. I'm lucky.
But that is precisely why this film is so so important. We need to see these things, but its not enough to be told it happens on the news. People (mostly) forget. They move on. They shake their heads and say "oh what a shame," they might even be outraged and take to social media to tell other people about it. But nothing changes, and the world moves on.
I'm not saying that this film is going to magically change everything. Our society is too broken for there to be one easy fix. But its important that this film exists. That it was allowed to be made in its contemporary moment, not when its too late to promote change.
This film is important because it shows the characters as real people, whose lives could be affected by the issues the film raises. It shows the characters of the real people in the world, who have lost loved ones to this very real problem. The people we forgot, between one tragedy and another.
This post could not be a review for a film, because this film is more than just a film. Its about a moment in time. A moment that we can change, through our words, through peaceful protests, through social media. By changing our mindsets and becoming a community of human beings. By being kind and caring (just a little bit) about other people.
By giving love and breaking the cycle of hate.
I was worried about writing about this film. I didn't want to overstep the mark and write something that wasn't my place to say. But I couldn't just write an impersonal review. If you have anything to say about the film or the topics raised in this post, please feel free to comment. I hope I did the film justice.
-The Act of Writing-
The other day I saw The Hate U Give film in cinemas and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I'd love to review it properly but, honestly I don't think I could do a review any real justice with this film, because I don't think I can talk objectively about its subject matter.
Therefore this will be a discussion post, or rather a stream of consciousness if you prefer, just so that I can discuss this film and get my thoughts in a sensible order.
The Hate U Give stars Amandla Stenberg, of The Hunger Games and Darkest Minds fame, as Starr, the film's protagonist, a black girl from a poor area who goes to school with rich, white kids in the next town over. I've been captivated by Stenberg since her appearance in The Hunger Games, being of a similar age to her, and resolved then and there to keep up with her career. This film made me so incredibly glad that I decided to do so.
Stenberg is, in a word, INCREDIBLE in this film. The depth to her emotional range, which is varied and very prominent throughout the film, is such that I felt her character's anguish, so much so that I cried through most of the film. In fact, most of the cast deserve to be mentioned, particularly Anthony Mackie, of Marvel films fame, and Russell Hornsby, Grimm, who play their roles to perfection. Mackie is so disconcerting and a long way from his role as a superhero as a villain in this film, and yet it is also a completely believable and compelling performance. Hornsby as well plays his role as the protective father figure in the most charming, yet unique way, the scene that opens the film - of him teaching younger versions of Starr and her brothers his rules to live by - is at once both very sweet and also extremely upsetting and unsettling.
But, the main reason I want to talk about this film is not for its actors, but its message. This film deals with the very prevalent problem in America today of white police officers shooting unarmed, innocent black people.
Starr's main motivation through this film, comes back to her witnessing her second childhood friend be shot, this time by a white police officer. I'm a white, British woman. I will (probably) never go through the horrors black people face every day just for the colour of their skin. I am (relatively) well off. I can afford to eat every day, I have a home and a stable family life. I've never known what its like to not know where or even if my next meal is coming. I'm lucky.
But that is precisely why this film is so so important. We need to see these things, but its not enough to be told it happens on the news. People (mostly) forget. They move on. They shake their heads and say "oh what a shame," they might even be outraged and take to social media to tell other people about it. But nothing changes, and the world moves on.
I'm not saying that this film is going to magically change everything. Our society is too broken for there to be one easy fix. But its important that this film exists. That it was allowed to be made in its contemporary moment, not when its too late to promote change.
This film is important because it shows the characters as real people, whose lives could be affected by the issues the film raises. It shows the characters of the real people in the world, who have lost loved ones to this very real problem. The people we forgot, between one tragedy and another.
This post could not be a review for a film, because this film is more than just a film. Its about a moment in time. A moment that we can change, through our words, through peaceful protests, through social media. By changing our mindsets and becoming a community of human beings. By being kind and caring (just a little bit) about other people.
By giving love and breaking the cycle of hate.
I was worried about writing about this film. I didn't want to overstep the mark and write something that wasn't my place to say. But I couldn't just write an impersonal review. If you have anything to say about the film or the topics raised in this post, please feel free to comment. I hope I did the film justice.
-The Act of Writing-
I've been wanting to see this- now I'm even more intrigued!
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad my post made you more intrigued! You really do need to see it, its genuinely incredible!
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