Maya F

Firstly, I would like to analyze the "fueling the hate" perspectives. What more fuel do we need, exactly? We are already at a blazing fire. A fire at which was mostly caused by the violence of policemen and injustice of the system in place. Additionally, it is a film and I believe a collective audience has taken the message too literally. The film is a work of realistic fiction and creative process. It is a metaphor for how a collection of black people feel when dealing with cops. Of course it is not painting all cops as evil, it is simply delving into a mindset of the black community and different types of fear and trauma that they think about every day. I understand it may appear that way, but I beg you do dig deeper. I also believe that by commenting on what victims were doing at the time they were killed is another artistic addition by equating how the protagonist was also doing something very simple and mundane, and yet still managed to become a victim of police brutality. I also find it very disrespectful to argue about all their actions that led them to be killed. Whether any of the victims had a record or not, we must acknowledge that each scenario could have been much different for a non-black person in the same situation. Lastly, it seems that most of the white/non-black audience's main concern is the inaccurate portrayal of policemen, while the black audience feels the entertainment industry is profiting off of black trauma. To the non-black audience, I ask that you review my first paragraph and plead that you do not read to literally into the characters' roles. It is all metaphorical.For the black audience, I say: Music, film, visual art, theatre, etc. has been a window to subtly show what is going on. It sounds unfair, and it is. One would think real-life murders by police and protests would show that struggle, but the arts can reach the minds of an audience unlike other means of media and exposure. There were many good ratings of a white audience feeling more informed--definitely not "entertained" or "delighted." I believe if you know this film was going to be a trigger for you, I would hope you would at least expect it to be another means of education and awareness for a non-black audience. Now, my reasoning for the four stars is because I agree that the ending was very abrupt and pessimistic. But even then, I respect the choice. I recall in the movie Get Out, that protagonist made it out alive. I honestly thought it was unrealistic. Now that I have experienced a more pessimistic ending, I also understand the ending is another metaphorical mindset. Some of the black community do feel hopeless. I do not think it was a portrayal of the system never getting better, but that some black individuals don't have any hope that it will. Again, it was not a general statement about how the entire black community feels, but simply a dark and traumatic mindset for a select category of the black community, and done in a metaphorical style. I was also confused by the plot at times, but I realize the random interludes of different scenarios was showing how there was almost no escape, no matter what he was doing. I believe it could have had more organization to make it clear for the audience, but I was able to see the purpose behind it. Overall, I see how this was a polarizing film. If you've made it this far, I thank you for listening to my personal take and hope that you support this as another window of education for the non-black community, and not be too hasty before you look deeply into the meaning, and beyond what is literally happening on the screen.