Based upon the novel by Angie Thomas
Screenplay Written by Audrey Wells
Directed by George Tillman Jr.
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13
Not terribly long ago, I heard a statement from comedian/author/activist D.L. Hughley that gave me tremendous pause as I regard the status of race relations in 2018 post Obama/present day Trump America, and it is as follows:
"The most dangerous place for Black people to live in is White people's imagination...We live in an America right now where we have evolved... but we inherently believe that Black people are criminal."
Dear readers, I express the following words to you without hyperbole or melodrama and with the fullness of honesty as I am able to muster at this point in time: I have never been more frightened for my safety as a Back man as I am right now in 2018. No. I am so fearful as to make myself some sort of shut-in. I go about my business every day as I am accustomed to doing. I go to work. I frequent my regular haunts. I see friends. I still look forward to upcoming public events. But even so, when I see police cars, I begin to shudder. Sometimes, as I am going about my business, I do wonder more often than ever if there will come a time when some random White person who inexplicably feels "threatened," solely due to my presence as a Black man will try to eradicate the "monster" by pulling out their conceal and carry ready pistol and shoot me...even as I pull into the driveway of my own home.
The racial disparity and vitriolic turbulence towards African Americans over these past 10 years has been so rapid and and unrepentantly overt in ways that I don't really believe that I ever really imagined them to being in the 21st century. Yes, I know my history. No, I am not naive to the ways of racists and racism in the United States of America but that being said, I am shocked to the point of being almost numbed by all that has occurred during this past decade. Of course, the undercurrent of racist resentment during Barack Obama's Presidency was expected. Yet, the increasing wave of coded dog whistle language from the collective mouths of our Republican public servants deeply unnerved me, as it was fully designed to perpetrate all that occurred concurrently and afterwards towards Black people in this country.
After the murder of then 17 year old Tryavon Martin on February 26, 2012 at the hands of George Zimmerman, who was then fully acquitted of all charges on July 13, 2013, I though to myself that night, "It is now open season on Black people." And so it has only continued...
Michael Brown.
Sandra Bland.
Philandro Castile.
Eric Garner.
Freddie Gray.
Tamir Rice.
Amadou Diallo.
Tony Robinson.
Botham Jean.
Every time. Every single time a new installment of our continuing African-American tragedy unfolds, I am left beside myself wondering just how and why this obscene, inhumane level of hatred and fear continues and as of this point in time, only continues to escalate... and furthermore, why the outcry against such intolerance is not louder and larger. Look at where we are now. In addition to all of the murders, we are now witnessing numerous 911 calls by Whites in regards to Black people having a bar-be-que, to napping, to golfing, to attempting to enter one's own apartment, to being attacked via shotgun for simply asking directions, to the preposterous cry of sexual harassment by a 9 year old, which in an of itself elicited terrifying echoes of Emmett Till, whose own lynching and murder in 1955 was based entirely in a lie by his accuser. Again I ask, why is the outcry not louder and larger?
It makes me sometimes feel and fear that this continuing tragedy is being viewed as tragedy only by Black people. That no one outside of my race can or will ever begin to view me and people like me as human beings like themselves and only as the imaginary creatures that fuel their fears and violent retribution. My level of paranoia has been dramatically raised as the lack of understanding, empathy and humanity has only made my spirit descend, all of which threatening to derail my pride and resistance.
In a cinematic year that has already displayed considerable excellence, especially within films that have explored variations of the Black experience within a variety of genres, including Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther," Boots Riley's "Sorry To Bother You," and Spike Lee's "BlacKKKlansman," George Tillman Jr.'s "The Hate U Give" is undeniably an exceptional piece of work and art.
In addition to existing as a letter perfect adaptation of Angie Thomas' wonderfully stirring and sobering young adult novel, Tillman Jr. has delivered a cinematic standout in its own right, as it deftly explores and investigates, with clear astuteness and brutally complex yet fully empathetic honesty, the realities of racial code switching, police brutality, racial profiling, the urgent necessity of the survival of Black communities and Black families, the legacy and continuation of Black activism and even more provocative material.
Miraculously, and especially for modern day mainstream cinema, it was a triumph to witness all of this material through the lens of a fully three dimensional 16 year old female Black leading character who is placed firmly at the film's center stage and is indeed the very protagonist that we would follow absolutely anywhere. With a poignancy and potency that belongs within the same rarefied class as Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station" (2013) and even Spike Lee's peerless "Do The Right Thing" (1989), George Tillman Jr.'s "The Hate U Give" is excellent filmmaking designed for essential viewing.
Fearing for the safety of their children in an environment where gangs, drugs and crime are rampant, Starr and her siblings attend a wealthy, predominantly White prep school named Williamson Prep. Although she is a member of the school girls basketball team, has two best friends in Maya (Megan Lawless) and Hailey (Sabrina Carpenter) and a serious boyfriend in Chris (KJ Apa), who is White, Starr purposefully keeps her life in Garden Heights silent while at school--from her manner of speech and culture to expressions of her temperament--thus referring to her Williamson Prep persona as "Starr Version 2." In turn, she also keeps the entirety of her school life silent back home at Garden Heights, especially her relationship with Chris from Maverick's knowledge.
Both of Starr's worlds begin to converge and ultimately collide on the fateful night at a Garden Heights house party where she is reunited with her childhood best friend and true first love Khalil (a wonderfully charismatic Algee Smith). After a shooting occurs at the party, Khalil begins to drive Starr back home, only to be stopped for an inspection by a White police officer. Despite Starr's protests and warnings, Khalil remains cocky, even while standing outside of his own car, hands upon the hood. When Khalil playfully reaches into the car and emerges with only a hairbrush, he is shot and killed by the officer in full view of Starr.
In the fallout of Khalil's murder of which Starr was the sole witness, a fact she also keeps secret from her friends at school as well as within her own community as to not raise the wrath of the local drug dealer King (Anthony Mackie), for whom Khalil was employed, Starr Carter begins her personal evolution regarding her relationships with racial injustice, community and political activism, as well as a growing sense of racial pride, self-respect and the rise of her voice for the truth.
George Tillman Jr.'s "The Hate U Give" is an absolutely superb presentation with seamless performances from the entire cast, and for my money, the two leading performances from both Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby fully deserve serious attention during awards season...and for that matter, so does the entire film itself.
While for some viewers, the film may wrap itself up too tidily, and to that I can understand that criticism to a degree. But to that, I do offer this as an explanation: "The Hate U Give" is indeed a film designed for a young adult audience based from source material designed for teenagers. That being said, the film does indeed give viewers, from teenagers upwards, an exceeding amount of difficult, provocative material, themes and concepts to unpack, ruminate over, discuss and debate as Tillman Jr. offers no easy answers...and realistically, how could he? Yet, what Tillman Jr. has accomplished with his clear, clean, measured, patient direction is akin to what Spike Lee has achieved throughout his career. The examination of difficult, controversial topics presented with a perspective of profound fair-mindedness and through the unapologetic lens of African-American eyes.
As with Angie Thomas' source material, the character of Starr Carter in the film version of "The Hate U Give" is blessedly multi-layered, with qualities, attributes, foibles, faults and an inner journey that is simultaneously individualistic as it is also universal.
For me, I completely related to Starr as I grew up within a middle class Black neighborhood with two formidable parents, both of whom employed within the Chicago public school system, yet I was sent to a predominantly White, private, college preparatory high school located in Chicago's beautiful Hyde Park and tucked comfortably upon the campus of the University Of Chicago for reasons both educational and also to keep me safe as they each worked long hours.
Most importantly, like Starr, I possessed no real knowledge of what the concept of "code switching" actually was but I did have a fiercely instinctual understanding as it was a means of just...well...living day to day as I traveled back and forth from one environment (Black) into another (White) every single day. Being questioned of perceived "Whiteness" due to where I attended school, to the manner of my diction, to studying habits, to personal likes and dislikes and so on with my Black peers in my neighborhood eventually led me to feeling isolated around my own race. While at school, I know now (and despite my comfort) that I attempted to hide my "Blackness" in order to fully assimilate with my friends and environment.
With "The Hate U Give," Starr Carter is a Black teenager who is a sneaker aficionado, an athlete and Harry Potter devotee (an extremely poignant touch that builds in power along the course of the film) coming to terms with the two versions of herself as she gradually evolves both sides into a unified whole. We meet her as she denies existing as her complete self in both environments through hiding aspects of herself from both her friends and Maverick. At school, emotions are buried so as to not fall into or confirm prevalent racial stereotypes of Black people and Black females in particular while at home, her friends and especially her boyfriend Chris are never mentioned, especially to her Father.
I appreciated how throughout the film, Tillman Jr. takes those aspects of Blackness and Whiteness and forces the characters as well as all of us in the audience to have our own perceptions challenged to a variety of provocative degrees. With regards to Starr and her prep school friends, regard how Starr's emergent embracing of her own Blackness, including the history of violence against Blacks which she explores in the social media open forum of her Tumblr, account affects her relationship with Hailey who reacts with micro-aggressions of increasing resentment.
Even further is her relationship with Chris, who at one point expresses to Starr that he doesn't "see color." We are able to take that statement from Chris' perspective, which is indeed an honest, open-hearted, sincere expression of racial solidarity and love. Yet, to Starr, she rightfully educates that a statement like that is in actuality insulting because if he is unable to "see" her Blackness, then he will never see her for who she is completely.
And so, we are left with a teenage interracial couple forced to make some hard decisions as to how serious they are towards each other as race and class are indeed two barriers they each need to seriously question crossing. Will Chris forsake the comfort and security of his Whiteness to embrace Starr in full and will Starr allow herself to trust that Chris truly loves her and will remain by her side regardless of their respective home environments and now the firestorm surrounding Khalil's murder and her rising sense of activism?
Racial, and again class, perceptions and stereotypes about poor Black neighborhoods are challenged provocatively and with a patient yet purposeful even handedness that explores a variety of angles, forcing characters and audience to think and/or re-think our own prejudices. One of the most striking sequences within this film is a brilliantly conceived, written, acted and directed sequence between Maverick and Starr during which they discuss not only how Khalil could be a drug dealer but WHY, making for a moment where we can see how the noblest intentions could be behind actions one can perceive to be irredeemable.
Another especially powerful sequence occurs later in the film between Starr and her Uncle Carlos (well played by Common), a police officer. As Starr continues to wonder just why the White officer would just shoot and murder the unarmed Khalil, Tillman Jr. allows the character of Carlos to engage us with the police officer's viewpoint about the hows and whys an officer could just shoot someone unarmed. And then, Tillman Jr. gives the floor back to Starr, which then allows the conversation to receive a profoundly sharp pivot into race, for what a White officer would and could do to a young Black male is decidedly not the same if the police officer were Black and the suspect was a White male in a suit driving a Mercedes. In that situation, would that officer shoot first or say "Hands up!"--a question that drives the film deeply into the heart of the story, which is indeed about the value of life placed on Whites and Blacks and which ones happen to possess more of that value.
With Starr's parents, Lisa and Maverick, Tillman Jr. invites us into two sides of an argument in which both sides are correct. Lisa solely wishes for her children to be safe and to have educational possibilities and opportunities they would not receive in their own neighborhood especially as their inner city school is precisely the very type that exists as a pipeline to the prison system.
Yet for Maverick, who wishes for precisely the same as Lisa for their children, just as important to him and what he wishes to impart to his family is the importance of the continued existence of the Black community regardless of economics, as evidenced through the presence of his grocery store and the other Black businesses that exist alongside his. For Maverick, if the Carter family uproots and abandons their community as others before them, not only would they be turning their collective backs upon their own, they would be actively contributing to the death of their own community. Utterly formidable questions with not one easy answer.
I have to take this time to make special mention of Maverick Carter, whose superlative presence is yet another factor in this film that forces us to re-think any possible harbored prejudices, this time the presence of the Black Father. And for that matter, the relationship between Maverick and Starr is yet another high quality depiction of the cinematic rarity that is the Father/daughter relationship and within a year that has showcased several, including Writer/Director Bo Burnham's "Eighth Grade" and Director Brett Haley's "Hearts Beat Loud."
As I have expressed many times upon this site in recent years, representation is everything and to have the opportunity to see a character as powerful as Maverick, and so enormously well portrayed by Russell Hornsby, was truly an exceptional gift, so notable considering the perception that Black Fathers are people that are perceived to be perpetually absent within Black communities nationwide.
For that matter, having a film in which a young Black female is not only front and center but the engine to the entire film is a near miracle. And in actuality, having Starr in the company of the young Black women who propelled the aforementioned "Hearts Beat Loud" as well as Director Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle In Time," all in the same cinematic year is a downright revelation and Amandla Stenberg's compelling, complete, compulsively engaging performance is equal to every single aspect, conflict, nuance and moment of this wonderful character and evolution that Author Angie Thomas created.
The greatest wish that I could have for George Tillman Jr.'s "The Hate U Give" is that for everyone who chooses to see this film, they are able to embrace the sheer overwhelming empathy of the work, a level of humanity that makes this film imperative viewing in my mind, especially now as Black people continue to be viewed in the most inhumane extremes. As described in the novel and throughout the film, the title of "The Hate U Give" arrives from a devastating lyric and "THUG LIFE" concept as written by the late Tupac Shakur, which is in full, "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody."
At this specific stage in our collective history in the 21st century, we are all caught within a cyclone of what happens when hate is allowed to lead the way, leaving monuments of damage, pain, fear, recrimination, vitriol and violence in its wake. As I stated at the outset of this posting, I am deeply frightened. For myself. For my family and my people. And to that end, for all of us should we allow all of this hate that surrounds us to fully consume us with taking a stand against it.
George Tillman Jr.'s "The Hate U Give" is absolutely the right film at the right time as it firmly addresses our societal epidemic concerning our racial divide as well as our overall humanity and inhumanity towards each other, with a specialized view into Black and White relations, perceptions, and violence.
Urgent, vital, crucial, impassioned and one of 2018's finest achievements.
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