Alexis Deann

As heartbreaking it was to watch this, I found “THEM” extremely educational and brought each perspective to light. It’s very hard to watch, and this series has a lot of hidden messages that will leave you wanting to watch more to piece together. This definitely opened my eyes even more to how things were in the past, and even though we’re now in 2021-things still need more changing unfortunately. This film covers everything from racism, POC who were used for doing all the labor and never got credit for it, white on Black violence, feminism, black face, stripping away black families, segregation, migration, rape, colorism, the low pay with doing the harder work if not the same as white ppl, how Black magic originally got its name, Black intelligence and common sense, (bc the white people esp in the show didn’t have any) Black motherhood, Black fatherhood, the fight to keep it together to build up strength while facing PTSD, trauma, and having mental breakdowns bc the constant abuse, racism, and struggle for acceptance, the Jim Crow law, etc. It covers ALOT, if you really pay attention. The back story with Betty was uninteresting and I didn’t care for her and felt it was unnecessary to add her little scenes bc it was 😴 *SPOILER* BUUUUTT the whole point to her “story” was how fast karma came around for her, by being the evil ugly person she was. There is a meaning to everything in this film, and it may take a couple times to get it but definitely worth it! Those who didn’t like this are clearly not getting the message. “THEM” is deep and had me crying my eyes out. It’s a film that will make you sit down and open your eyes to the things that happened for DECADES and unfortunately still happens. This isn’t a jab at all white people, if it doesn’t apply to you (I’m white). I knew what I was going to be watching and had a box of tissues next to me. This series does give you the perspective of what day to day life was like and still is like while living Black in America. It shows how uneasy it was/still is to trust white people in that time, as in this time as well. Why POC can be prejudice. That kind of trauma was passed down generation to generation bc that’s all that continued to happen and STILL happens. A never ending loop that shows how backwards and ugly this world is. This helps you understand all that, and if you watch it all the way to the end you’ll see it does show Black excellence. Be kind to others, and teach love not hate. All of our children are the future, and what we teach them is what they pass down to their kids. An eye opening film that definitely deserves more credit.