Some education for the heart & mind

Jun 03, 2020

"By the way, I would've voted for Obama
for a third term if I could."

Going to interrupt the whole "does stuff hold up thing" this week and instead feature a few movies - couple documentaries and a couple narratives. No voting, just watch as many as you'd like and here's hoping they're affecting in some way for you, or even inspire some conversation or action.

And look, I get watching a movie, or even a bunch of movies, doesn't instantly solve anything. But there's a quote from Ava DuVernay (who directed one of the docs highlighted) in regards to another of her recent projects about "The Exonerated Five / Central Park Five", When They See Us, which seems poignant, "Entertainment serves many purposes and the mission was to create something that might move us into action while challenging us to evaluate why we believe what we believe."

The quote is from a website DuVernay built via her media platform / art collective ARRAY which has companion learning pieces for When They See Us (and other forthcoming projects) focused on students, but is for anyone really, if you're curious.

The four films I picked are centered on the immediate conversation around race / policing and hopefully add some context, learning and/or empathy upon viewing. But these subjects are often "hard" for people. I remember that coming up a lot when 12 Years a Slave was released, that people didn't want to watch it because it would really bum them out. Which, yes... life can be tough so one may not want to watch a "downer" of a movie. But maybe feeling shitty or uncomfortable for a relatively short period of time and living in someone else's experience for a moment can in some small way lead to others feeling better in the longer term.

In fact, there was another good quote on the site I mentioned above from Oprah (who exec produced When They See Us) that also fits, "And for everyone who says it’s ‘hard to watch,’ think about the people who still find it ‘hard to live.’"

Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."

THE 13TH
(2016)

Directed by Ava DuVernay (who also directed Selma), it focuses on the 13th amendment to the US constitution, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, except for punishment of a crime. And how the latter part was used to create a system where black people were/are criminalized in order to enact a different form of slavery, and create the situation of mass incarceration in the country.

I've watched this, but it bears multiple viewings as it's both emotional and rich with information.

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
(2017)

Part documentary and part completion of a project started by the doc's subject, James Baldwin. Baldwin, who died in 1987, was finishing a novel about his experiences with a number of civil rights leaders (of which he was one), and the film uses the author's words from that uncompleted book (read by Samuel L. Jackson) as well as footage of Baldwin himself explaining race in America, but also just what it is to be human.

The NY Times had an excellent review of the movie where they said, "Though its principal figure, the novelist, playwright and essayist James Baldwin, is a man who has been dead for nearly 30 years, you would be hard-pressed to find a movie that speaks to the present moment with greater clarity and force, insisting on uncomfortable truths and drawing stark lessons from the shadows of history."

I watched this knowing little about James Baldwin and came away extremely impressed by the movie and Baldwin, but also embarrassed I was so ignorant of his work. Highly recommended.

THE HATE U GIVE
(2019)

A movie that worked to highlight the issue being dealt with, yet again, via the lens of a young girl. The focus is on high school student, Starr, who is black, but goes to a majority white school and navigates code-switching between her two worlds. Her friend (who is also black) is killed by a cop during a traffic stop and she has to navigate the aftermath of emotions as well as figuring out how to take action.

Based on a popular young adult novel so may be fitting for kids (although I don't think any of the movies listed here should be off limits in that regard, but that's up to y'all 🙂).

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
(2018)

Based on a novel written by James Baldwin (yup, same one mentioned above) and directed by Barry Jenkins, who also directed (Oscar winner for Best Picture) Moonlight. A story where a young black couple in the 1970's are about to have a child, but the man is unjustly jailed. The focus is on how the love between the couple, and of their families, help them through the racial bias inherent in their (our) world.

What's In Theaters +

Discussion about this post