THE HATE U GIVE - MOVIE REVIEW
I took my son to see the Hate U Give last night, yes! I know it's a weeknight, but he had finished all his homework including the backwards Common Core math problems. Plus I had taken him to see the Goosebumps 2 movie over the weekend, and it was Mommy's choice for the next movie. I couldn't bear to see another Halloween or scary movie so I picked The Hate U Give, mainly because it's the type of movie I love and always go for. Despite him telling me the day before he did not want to see it because it was "going to depress me" literally the words that came out of my 10 year-old's mouth...,I insisted on him watching it with me because of the value I knew it had when it comes to social justice and making a change.
I had no idea it was based on a novel written by a woman of color and also a film where the lead was a young woman of color under 18 years old. So I'm glad George Tillman, Jr., had a good mother and I'm sure, a strong grandmother that raised him well and taught him how to value the powerful stories women have to tell, but mainly how women are to be respected. All the women in this film had important and fierce roles, even the White girls. All the women of color in this film even the token Latina girlfriend Star had at her predominantly White affluent school, and Khalil's Black drug addict mother were all whipping everyone into shape including our lead role's White boyfriend, Chris.
The most powerful message I believe this film had to express amongst many underlying ones, was that despite our communities falling apart and where the divide grows day by day, we the women, and especially women of color, and particularly the youth of color must do our very best to keep it together and to stress the importance of family, love and respect. Together we must end the vicious cycle of violence in neighborhoods like Star's, like mine, maybe even like yours... We cannot let our current leadership and the individual who occupies the White House and Congress destroy what we have worked so hard to maintain for decades and centuries, we are better than them and justice is still possible. The other vital message was that of HOPE. We cannot lose hope even when the government and institutional violence through police brutality make us believe that fighting back using our fists and weapons is the only way to gain respect and at least try to stay alive.
Issa Rae stars as the social justice advocate Lawyer who shows up in the sharpest blazers with her usual smart-ass T-shirts and pencil skirts or tight skinny jeans - HOT! She basically schools Star on her rights, how to organize, and helps her give volume to her inner powerful voice that she's been too afraid to use all these years of witnessing violence in her neighborhood and being traumatized by it as well. It's refreshing to see more women of color on screen and I applaud all the men who supported this film ad did their fair share of fundraising to get it greenlit. I also commend Issa for doing her part as well, I mean she could easily turn down these "smaller roles" in what would still be considered an "indie film" but she chose to take it on and make a statement especially in this political climate so I praise her for that decision as well. The casting was very good and all the roles played felt genuine, as a person of color who is at the very least bi-racial I identified with Star's dual life and her dual personalities almost to be able to coexist seamlessly in each of her worlds.
I do not want to spoil the plot so I would just URGE YOU ALL to see it, I realize that there are a few violent scenes that are not exactly appropriate for minors, but really when you consider what they see on that Fortnite video game, and on TV even on the 6 o'clock news, that is far worse. As an Educator, I believe this is a film that I would recommend all children see especially those in middle school and in 4th & 5th Grade, but most definitely in High School. Not to mention this movie is also meant for adults to see as well and learn from, how not to make the same mistakes we made with our parents with our own children, breaking the cycle and thinking about what our inherent prejudice does to our children particularly when we are not even aware of them absorbing everything we do.
BIG TIP: AMC movies are $5.00 ONLY adults and children on Tuesdays, at least in the Marina del Rey theaters so take advantage of that great deal!!! ENJOY & PEACE!
I had no idea it was based on a novel written by a woman of color and also a film where the lead was a young woman of color under 18 years old. So I'm glad George Tillman, Jr., had a good mother and I'm sure, a strong grandmother that raised him well and taught him how to value the powerful stories women have to tell, but mainly how women are to be respected. All the women in this film had important and fierce roles, even the White girls. All the women of color in this film even the token Latina girlfriend Star had at her predominantly White affluent school, and Khalil's Black drug addict mother were all whipping everyone into shape including our lead role's White boyfriend, Chris.
The most powerful message I believe this film had to express amongst many underlying ones, was that despite our communities falling apart and where the divide grows day by day, we the women, and especially women of color, and particularly the youth of color must do our very best to keep it together and to stress the importance of family, love and respect. Together we must end the vicious cycle of violence in neighborhoods like Star's, like mine, maybe even like yours... We cannot let our current leadership and the individual who occupies the White House and Congress destroy what we have worked so hard to maintain for decades and centuries, we are better than them and justice is still possible. The other vital message was that of HOPE. We cannot lose hope even when the government and institutional violence through police brutality make us believe that fighting back using our fists and weapons is the only way to gain respect and at least try to stay alive.
Issa Rae stars as the social justice advocate Lawyer who shows up in the sharpest blazers with her usual smart-ass T-shirts and pencil skirts or tight skinny jeans - HOT! She basically schools Star on her rights, how to organize, and helps her give volume to her inner powerful voice that she's been too afraid to use all these years of witnessing violence in her neighborhood and being traumatized by it as well. It's refreshing to see more women of color on screen and I applaud all the men who supported this film ad did their fair share of fundraising to get it greenlit. I also commend Issa for doing her part as well, I mean she could easily turn down these "smaller roles" in what would still be considered an "indie film" but she chose to take it on and make a statement especially in this political climate so I praise her for that decision as well. The casting was very good and all the roles played felt genuine, as a person of color who is at the very least bi-racial I identified with Star's dual life and her dual personalities almost to be able to coexist seamlessly in each of her worlds.
I do not want to spoil the plot so I would just URGE YOU ALL to see it, I realize that there are a few violent scenes that are not exactly appropriate for minors, but really when you consider what they see on that Fortnite video game, and on TV even on the 6 o'clock news, that is far worse. As an Educator, I believe this is a film that I would recommend all children see especially those in middle school and in 4th & 5th Grade, but most definitely in High School. Not to mention this movie is also meant for adults to see as well and learn from, how not to make the same mistakes we made with our parents with our own children, breaking the cycle and thinking about what our inherent prejudice does to our children particularly when we are not even aware of them absorbing everything we do.
BIG TIP: AMC movies are $5.00 ONLY adults and children on Tuesdays, at least in the Marina del Rey theaters so take advantage of that great deal!!! ENJOY & PEACE!
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