Malagasy Lisa

Let me preface ALL of this by saying I have not read her book, “Caste.” What a disappointment. Oh, how I’d hoped this movie would provide detailed proof of how caste has been used around the globe to separate one group of people from another — a way to help educate people who would prefer to watch a movie than read a book — but this movie just glosses over the topic. Instead, it’s just a movie about her personal life. She had a series of losses of close family members in a short period of time, and though I adore her writing, her story just wasn’t compelling. I wasn’t moved to sympathize with her, I kept waiting for the “meat” of the movie to begin. Finally, like the last 20 minutes or so (of this VERY long film), they get to comparing caste in India to caste in the u.s. to caste in Palestine to caste in Germany, etc. But by then, I already had to sit through two hours of … meh. And I REALLY wanted to love this movie. I was hoping it would touch me like “12 Years a Slave,” or “The 1619 Project,” or some other tome that talked about the systems created in the u.s. to oppress people of color — but this movie did none of that. One part of it was hard to watch, though — the re-enactment of the murder of Trayvon Martin, where I closed my eyes, drilled my fingers into my ears, and even hummed a tune so I wouldn’t have to see or hear the brutality that poor young man suffered at the hands of that monster. That was what started the movie, and though it was INCREDIBLY painful (even though I wasn’t watching or listening), I’d hoped the rest of the movie would be equally visceral. But it wasn’t. Her story is mildly interesting, yes, and she’s a brilliant, gifted writer. But this is one movie that really didn’t even need to have been made. And I hate that I’m even thinking that, much less saying it. SO much potential. And if the movie is based on the book, I won’t bother reading it. DAMN!