Movies that confront American Racism
- 3 years ago
Movies that confront American Racism
https://art.tn/view/2233/en/movies_that_confront_american_racism/
The greatest films have the ability to expand our perception and empathy, to teach and inform, and ultimately, hopefully to inspire us to real action. The following works by Black filmmakers all hold this power. Though they are just a piece of the expansive repertoire of films that portray Black life and the many arms of systemic racism in America, the following titles are some of the most important films to add to your continual viewing list.
If Beale Street
For his follow-up to his 2017 Best Picture winner Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins chose to adapt James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. Set in Harlem, the story centers on a young black couple (played by Stephan James and newcomer Kiki Layne) who grew up together and fell in love. But then conflict takes over not originating from inside their relationship, but pressing in from the outside world. If Beale Street Could Talk is set in the 1970s, but thanks to the way it confronts how sexual assault allegations, policing, and racism can interlock for communities of color.
The Hate U Give
Amandla Stenberg leads a truly outstanding cast in The Hate U Give, an adaptation of Angie Thomas’s bestselling novel. Stenberg plays Starr, one of the few black students in her private high school, who witnesses the police shoot her friend in an incident that becomes a national flashpoint. The film has a great deal to say and no apologies to make about its outspoken message, even as it presents itself as a straightforward family drama. But The Hate U Give strikes a perfect balance between coming-of-age story and social drama. And in never sacrificing either of those two interests, it becomes a strong example of both.
Get Out
In his unforgettable directorial debut, Jordan Peele uses the tropes of horror films to illustrate the horrors of racism. Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a black man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he accompanies his white girlfriend on a visit home to meet her parents. Funny, frightening, and a trenchant criticism of race relations in America, Get Out opened the door to a new mode of storytelling about the evils of racism.
The Immortal Life
Adapted from Rebecca Skloot's best-selling nonfiction book of the same name, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancerous cells that were illegally harvested in 1951 have led to profound breakthroughs in medicine. Told through the lens of her daughter Deborah Lacks (played by Oprah Winfrey), the drama highlights the history of racial discrimination in the medical field and its grave impacts on people of color, especially Black patients.
Selma
Directed by Ava DuVernay, Selma chronicles the tumultuous civil rights campaign in 1965 in Alabama to secure equal voting rights for Black Americans. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Selma-to-Montgomery march culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark piece of legislation signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that outlawed discriminatory voting practices across the nation.
12 Years a Slave
Adapted from the 1853 memoir with the same title, the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave centers on the journey of Solomon Northup, a free Black man in New York who gets kidnapped and enslaved in Louisiana for 12 years before being emancipated. Directed by Steve McQueen, the somber retelling of Northup’s story exposes the dark realities of slavery and its psychological and emotional effects on the Black community, as well as their resilience in the face of utter cruelty.
https://art.tn/view/2233/en/movies_that_confront_american_racism/
The greatest films have the ability to expand our perception and empathy, to teach and inform, and ultimately, hopefully to inspire us to real action. The following works by Black filmmakers all hold this power. Though they are just a piece of the expansive repertoire of films that portray Black life and the many arms of systemic racism in America, the following titles are some of the most important films to add to your continual viewing list.
If Beale Street
For his follow-up to his 2017 Best Picture winner Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins chose to adapt James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. Set in Harlem, the story centers on a young black couple (played by Stephan James and newcomer Kiki Layne) who grew up together and fell in love. But then conflict takes over not originating from inside their relationship, but pressing in from the outside world. If Beale Street Could Talk is set in the 1970s, but thanks to the way it confronts how sexual assault allegations, policing, and racism can interlock for communities of color.
The Hate U Give
Amandla Stenberg leads a truly outstanding cast in The Hate U Give, an adaptation of Angie Thomas’s bestselling novel. Stenberg plays Starr, one of the few black students in her private high school, who witnesses the police shoot her friend in an incident that becomes a national flashpoint. The film has a great deal to say and no apologies to make about its outspoken message, even as it presents itself as a straightforward family drama. But The Hate U Give strikes a perfect balance between coming-of-age story and social drama. And in never sacrificing either of those two interests, it becomes a strong example of both.
Get Out
In his unforgettable directorial debut, Jordan Peele uses the tropes of horror films to illustrate the horrors of racism. Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a black man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he accompanies his white girlfriend on a visit home to meet her parents. Funny, frightening, and a trenchant criticism of race relations in America, Get Out opened the door to a new mode of storytelling about the evils of racism.
The Immortal Life
Adapted from Rebecca Skloot's best-selling nonfiction book of the same name, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancerous cells that were illegally harvested in 1951 have led to profound breakthroughs in medicine. Told through the lens of her daughter Deborah Lacks (played by Oprah Winfrey), the drama highlights the history of racial discrimination in the medical field and its grave impacts on people of color, especially Black patients.
Selma
Directed by Ava DuVernay, Selma chronicles the tumultuous civil rights campaign in 1965 in Alabama to secure equal voting rights for Black Americans. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Selma-to-Montgomery march culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark piece of legislation signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that outlawed discriminatory voting practices across the nation.
12 Years a Slave
Adapted from the 1853 memoir with the same title, the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave centers on the journey of Solomon Northup, a free Black man in New York who gets kidnapped and enslaved in Louisiana for 12 years before being emancipated. Directed by Steve McQueen, the somber retelling of Northup’s story exposes the dark realities of slavery and its psychological and emotional effects on the Black community, as well as their resilience in the face of utter cruelty.