The Hate U Give

100 Movies in 100 Days
Movie 10 Day 10
The Hate U Give

My cousin and I spent the entire day together. We actually went to an open casting call a few hours from our home. Sadly, we were there for 3 hours and still had 100 people a head of us. It was a fun experience but we didn't get a chance to audition. On the way home we decided to watch a movie and eat rootbeer floats. We had a whole list of movies to watch but we decided on The Hate U Give.

The Hate U Give is about Starr an African American girl and her family. Starr must learn to balance living in the hood, going to private school, and the fear of living a black kid in today's day and age. She becomes the sole witness in a cop killing an unarmed black teenager. The Hate U Give is not afraid to talk about the hard topics such as police brutality, gang violence and race relationships.

I cried several times during this movie. The first 5 minutes are about a father explaining to his young children how to react when you are pulled over by the police. How you might have done nothing wrong but you will still be labeled as a thug based on the color of your skin. It was a moment that made me cry because it's a reality for young black children. They have a layer of fear that white children will never understand. It's a harsh and horrifying truth.

The Hate U Give should have been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar this year. I'm not sure why the academy did not acknowledge this meaningful film. Maybe The Hate U Give was a little too real for some audiences. We live in a world where an unarmed black child can be killed and no justice is served for that child. This film took a big risk at showing how we, as a society, perpetuate and allow these wrongs to grow and thrive. It's tragic and painful to see.

The Hate U Give shows how beautiful a family can be. Starr's parents are not perfect, her father was in prison but he tells the children they are worth being better for. The parents put their kids into private school because they want them to break the cycle of poverty and oppression. Starr is caught in the middle of two worlds. Garden Heights is her home but it's an impoverished community. Her private school is wonderful but she can't be too ghetto or hood. She must speak like the white kids and show she belongs there. It's a lot of pressure for a 16 year old girl.

Starr has to learn to use her voice to speak for those who can not. She must risk everything to tell the story of another child taken too soon. It's a painful and beautiful film all at once. Go see it.