The Hate U Give
Synopsis
In an America more divided daily by the rhetoric of President Trump, we in Britain may have forgotten the huge discrimination still faced by people of colour there. 'The Hate U Give' focuses on one such problem - police shootings.
Starr (brilliantly played by Amandla Stenberg) is relatively lucky, her loving parents paying for her to go to Williamson, a wealthy and predominantly white school. She leads a double life; "'Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto,' she says. 'And I hate myself for doing it.' She keeps her white boyfriend Chris and friends at a distance from her home life, which she manages pretty well until the night when she witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, get shot by a white police officer at a traffic stop" - Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press.
Khalil's death becomes a national story and Starr's decision - should she speak up? Should she testify? - will define her life and those around her: Kahlil was working for a local drug lord, King, who wants her to keep quiet in case the police take him down too. Her classmates seem disconnected, even her boyfriend is slow to learn (he is used here to show that this issue affects as all).
The American response is shown by Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com: "This is the story of a 16-year-old girl who's learning that the world is even worse than what she knew. In the audience, there will likely be many more girls who will either be hearing a story like Starr's, or recognizing their own experience onscreen, for the first time."
A must-see for us here in the UK.
Starr (brilliantly played by Amandla Stenberg) is relatively lucky, her loving parents paying for her to go to Williamson, a wealthy and predominantly white school. She leads a double life; "'Williamson Starr doesn't give anyone a reason to call her ghetto,' she says. 'And I hate myself for doing it.' She keeps her white boyfriend Chris and friends at a distance from her home life, which she manages pretty well until the night when she witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, get shot by a white police officer at a traffic stop" - Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press.
Khalil's death becomes a national story and Starr's decision - should she speak up? Should she testify? - will define her life and those around her: Kahlil was working for a local drug lord, King, who wants her to keep quiet in case the police take him down too. Her classmates seem disconnected, even her boyfriend is slow to learn (he is used here to show that this issue affects as all).
The American response is shown by Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com: "This is the story of a 16-year-old girl who's learning that the world is even worse than what she knew. In the audience, there will likely be many more girls who will either be hearing a story like Starr's, or recognizing their own experience onscreen, for the first time."
A must-see for us here in the UK.
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