joshua kyeremateng

Dear Melina Matsoukas, My Review It was Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian existential philosopher who said, "At first, art imitates life. Then life will imitate art. Then life will find its existence from the arts." By all standards #QueenNSlim is a good movie except the ending. I understand the #BlackLivesMatter campaign and how all movie directors are cashing in. But your story, within my limited understanding literature could have ended with Hope. From my legal perspective, Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) and Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) could have cooperated with the police at the air trip, get arrested, charged and put before court. Because you introduce the visual proof in the movie, thus the video footage which showed what actually ensued as ocular proof, a case could be made on the score of self defense for both characters. With a scene of demonstrations n street protests from both white & blacks, lawyers from both races could be introduced in the movie to defend Queen and Slim and secure an acquittal on their murder charge on the basis of self defense but guilty for their fleece from the law. That, the story tells your audience comply with arrest, you will have your day in court and also highlight some genuine effort by some whites in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Yes some may doubt whether they (white folks) are genuinely involved but that narrative too should count. In the final analysis, with the fusion of the above the Morale of the story would have been Hope for blacks in America in the foreseeable future. The hope that blacks too can get justice in America. The hope that all, both white & blacks, can and should join forces to fight racial discrimination, intimidation and violence without racial suspicion. That Hope I'm afraid was conspicuously missing at the end of your movie. I think you missed a golden opportunity to make "life find its existence from the arts" as posited by Fyodor Dostoevsky.