THE HATE U GIVE (2018) – My rating: 10/10

The Hate U Give is a drama directed by George Tillman Jr. and written by Audrey Wells. It is based on Angie Thomas’ 2017 novel of same name.  The Hate U Give focuses on racism and the numerous shootings of young Black unarmed men by White cops.  The plot follows the fallout after a high school student witnesses a police shooting and is easily one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) is a young high school student who tries to live a normal life in the suburb of an all-black district of Garden Heights, with her family. Starr’s mother, Lisa Carter (Regina Hall) and father, Maverick Carter (Russell Hornsby) sacrificed to send her and her half brother, Seven Carterto (Lamar Johnson) to Williamson High, a predominately White private school in a White neighborhood, to avoid the downfalls of a ghetto school and a ghetto neighborhood. Starr is quite popular among the students and has several White girlfriends, Hailey (Sabrina Carpenter) and Maya (Megan Lawless) are among her prep school friends, which also includes a White boyfriend named Chris (KJ Apa).

One night, Starr attends a local house party and runs into her childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith). A brawl breaks out and shots are fired, so Khalil and Starr flee the party in his car. While driving Starr home, Khalil is pulled over by a police officer. In an unforgettable turn of events, Khalil is gunned down and shot dead in front of a horrified Starr, when the policeman mistakenly thinks Khalil is a criminal who was reaching for a gun that turned out to be a hairbrush.

Later, Starr is approached by an activist, April Ofrah (Issa Rae) who tries to get Starr to speak her truth to the media and the neighborhood. To complicate matters, Starr’s uncle Carlos (Common) is a police officer and King (Anthony Mackie) a local drug dealer who employed Khalil and is also Seven’s half sister’s Kenya (Dominique Fishback) father. In the aftermath of his death and funeral, citizens all over the city begin to demand justice leaving the traumatized but courageous Starr to find her voice and speak the truth about what happened the night of the shooting.  Starr was concerned that the students at her school would single her out as a “poor Black kid” from the ghetto and feel pity while adopting a “hands-off” approach.  Confused and angry, Starr eventually finds her footing and her truth. The back story regarding King, the neighborhood drug dealer is a little ify, in my opinion, but can easily be over looked.

The Hate You Give was so touching, I was not able to withhold my emotions, causing me to sob at the mere idea of an innocent person of any color being shot several times by a frightened cop.  The story was told in such a way that it truly gets under your skin. Amandla Stenberg’s performance was flawless. I love the way the officer was portrayed as he makes a traffic stop displaying his over the top nervousness which in my opinion, is the reason rookie or improperly trained police should not be assigned to the streets. They appear to be so afraid of getting shot they cannot think straight. Maybe all police should wear bullet proof vest. Injustice on all sides are brilliantly addressed in The Hate You Give, making it one of the most powerful films to come along in quite some time. Excellent movie — check it out!

DETROIT (2017) – My rating: 8.5/10

It’s hard to believe a movie based on true events that happened in  1967, at the Algiers Motel in Detroit during the 12th Street riot is still playing out in 2017. I’m sure it was just as shocking these events were happening in 1967, since slavery was suppose to be a thing of the past and the emancipation meant hope for a brighter future. I’m even sure many people won’t believe this really happened and many won’t care but one thing is certain, 3 young Black adults were killed by the hands of the police force at a very troubling time. These young adults will never see the light of day nor have another opportunity to do anything, good or bad. Their crime was the color of their skin. That was sad then and it’s sad now, it will be sad forever more. Kathryn Bigelow felt she had to bring this riveting story to the world, because no one else would — for that, I say thank you. You did an outstanding job reporting what happened as written by Mark Boal to the best of your ability.

On July 23, 1967, the Detroit police staged a raid on an unlicensed club that was celebrating the return of black veterans. A riot started while suspects were being arrested. The mob started throwing rocks at the officers before looting nearby stores and starting fires. Unable to maintain any semblance of order, Governor George W. Romney authorizes the Michigan National Guard and Army paratroopers to enter Detroit to provide assistance. On the second day of rioting, two cops pursue a fleeing looter. One of them, Philip Krauss, (Will Poulter) mortally wounds the man with a shotgun against orders, but is allowed to remain on active duty until his superiors can decide whether to file murder charges.

The Dramatics, a professional black R&B group, arrive in Detroit hoping to score a recording contract. Seconds before their scheduled performance at a music hall, the police shut down the venue and order them to leave the city. while in route, their bus is attacked by rioters and the group subsequently splits up, with lead singer Larry Reed (Algee Smith) and his friend Fred Temple (Jacob Latimore) renting a room at the local Algiers Motel for the night. They meet 2 White girls, Julie Ann (Hannah Murray) and Karen (Kaitlyn Dever), who introduce them to their friends Carl Cooper (Jason Mitchell) and Aubrey Pollard (Nathan Davis, Jr.) who were already staying at the motel. Carl and another friend (for fun) staged an innocent prank using a toy starter pistol, upsetting Julie and Karen, who move to the room of Greene (Anthony Mackie), a Vietnam War Veteran, while Larry and Fred return to their own room.

In the meanwhile, not far from the motel, Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega), a Black private security guard was assigned to protect a grocery store from looters, ingratiates himself with the Guardsmen so he won’t be mistaken for a rioter. Not expecting any problems, they all hear shots fired in their direction, which they all perceive as a sniper attack coming from the Algiers. A detachment of police arrive, led by Krauss, who immediately guns down one of the Algiers’ guest, plants a knife next to his body and watches him as he bleeds out.

This marks the beginning of the Detroit incident that caused this movie to be written in the first place.  I cannot go any further, you’ll have to see it to find out what happens next — Krauss seems to be the loose cannon and several others who followed him made it all come together as the inhuman, racist, murdering event it ended up being.  Just like the Holocaust, this is another moment in Black history that needs to be told, like it or not!  No one deserves to die because of their race or skin color!  Good job on telling a profound story.  Check it out if you haven’t!

 

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