Girl Week 2018: The Hate U Give

It's Day 6 of Girl Week 2018. Thank you for making it this far. Let's drive on.

Directed by George Tillman Jr.

2018. Rated PG-13, 133 minutes.

Cast:

Amandla Stenberg

Russell Hornsby

Regina Hall

Anthony Mackie

Lamar Johnson

Sabrina Carpenter

Issa Rae

Common

KJ Apa

Algee Smith

Dominique Fishback

There's a scene early in The Hate U Give I'm completely familiar with that I know didn't happen in many of your households. We see a pair of parents giving their kids one of the many talks they have to give, if you're black. This talk was centered on how to behave if, and when, you get pulled over by the police. The point of this conversation is the very real possibility that any move made by a black person, especially a male, will be conceived as a dangerous enough threat that it will be met by swift and decisive violence. The police aren't there to serve and protect, but to search, seize, and execute if either of the first two are hindered in a way that makes them feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable. It's a talk I know many of my dear readers have never had and will never have to give to their children. I have not only given the talk, but have been stopped several times where "driving while black" is the only logical explanation. The ramifications of not flawlessly following the instructions one character gives his family, much the same as the ones I've given to my own son, and had to follow myself, are the topic of this film.

The Hate U Give centers on Starr (Stenberg), a 16 year old girl from the 'hood known as Garden Heights. Her parents don't want her attending the local high school, so they do all they can to send Starr and her brother Seven (Johnson) to a predominantly white private school across town. She excels in school, but much of day-to-day effort is spent trying to fit in as best she can in both worlds. At a party in Garden Heights that she reluctantly attends, she runs into Khalil (Smith), a boy she was really close with when she was younger, but hasn't seen in quite some time. They strike up a conversation and he offers her a ride when her friends bail on her to partake in some extracurricular activities in which she has no interest. On that ride, Khalil gets pulled over by the cops despite doing nothing wrong. Khalil's mistake is failing to follow the carefully laid out rules of the talk Starr's dad gave her. He reaches for a hairbrush and is immediately shot dead. The officer is, of course, put on paid administrative leave. The neighborhood is understandably up in arms. When it gets out that Starr saw the whole thing, she is implored to testify against the cop.

No doubt, the topics this film chooses to tackle are compelling and relevant. Aside from the aforementioned interactions between the police and black folks, there is also Starr dealing with her own dual identity. No matter where she goes, she never wants to "too" anything. She doesn't want to be too black at her white school nor too white in her black neighborhood. It's an all "too" real struggle for many African-Americans. The way many of us behave in public and in private are entirely different things. It's that way to some extent for most people, but for people of color it can be extreme. Constantly volleying between the two tears at a person's sense of self. The Hate U Give explores this phenomenon through some adept writing and a performance by Amandla Stenberg that breaks your heart many times over. This is where the movie is strongest. Though there is too much telling by way of narration for my liking, but this is the most well-handled aspect of the story. Starr's fight to find, maintain, and develop her identity resides in the film's engine room propelling it forward and reeling us in. It works because Stenberg has the ability to worm her way into our hearts no matter the quality of the movie around her.

The movie around Stenberg is a good one, in this case, but doesn't live up to its potential. Its handling of the main plot and the biggest subplot is the culprit. The subplot is forced into the movie merely to provide a secondary conflict for Starr and her family to deal with. It involves the local gang, under the leadership of King (Mackie), whom Starr's dad Maverick (Hornsby) used to be friends with and who is the father of Starr's best friend Kenya (Fishback). Due to the complicated nature of the relationships of all these people, King certainly has a role to play in the film. However, having him as an ancillary villain is unnecessary. His plotline is completely avoidable. It only matters because Starr goes out of her way to say the gang's name on television. It also makes a beeline for its obvious conclusion.

The main plot is where the bigger issues lie. Through most of the movie, it plays out in fine fashion. It hits all the talking points of the issue at hand, police treatment of blacks, and makes sure we're rooting for Starr. We're not just in support of her cause, we're actively rooting for her. Her successes and failures are ours. In case we ever waver, there are several well-timed 'hell yeah' moments to keep us locked in. Sadly, this storyline has an unfortunate duality of its own. It plays out in a way that totally makes sense. It's a moment we know is coming, but hope is not. That's fine. What's not is the film's insistence on sugar-coating it. This makes the movie seem less interested in being a meaningful examination of its chosen topic than it is manipulating it into an inspirational tale. Don't get me wrong, there needs to be inspirational films, however, I don't like when they happen as a result of softening blows it should otherwise land with impact.

Who is this movie for? If it's for black audiences, I get it. It's about staying strong and prospering in the face of mountains of systemic and self-created adversity. It's a never-give-up pep talk for a community occasionally in need of one. If it's for white audiences then the end of this film is doing its intended viewers a disservice. The main plot resolves itself in a way that feels all too familiar which is actually a good call. However, the aftermath of that seeks to bury it beneath a bed of roses. The audience is allowed to downplay and possibly even forget what really took place to focus on the happily ever after. The kick in the gut needed (expected?) is given as a love tap. It's a highly sanitized version of reality that wants to maintain artistic integrity and a happy ending which it doesn't quite earn.

None of this makes The Hate U Give a bad movie. If you're looking for a feel-good movie, by golly you're gonna get it. Stenberg's infectious charm will see to it. Backing her are a bevy of earnest performances. Lamar Johnson as Seven and vet Regina Hall as her mom are both very good, as is Sabrina Carpenter, who plays Hailey, Starr's friend from school. Common has a small role as Starr's uncle and gives the film one of its most poignant and disappointing moments. Most of the heavy liftng, however, is done by Russell Hornsby as Starr's dad. As much as our hearts bleed for Starr, his Maverick is really the most interesting character. Hornsby manages to convey all of his character's wisdom, flaws, pain, and hope all at once. We root for him as much as, if not more than, Starr. It's never in a way that detracts from her, though. We realize that rooting for him IS rooting for her. We get caught up in their plight and embrace their triumph. We find some troubling aspects when we dig around a bit, but in the moment, it's a ride that ends on a high. We love it because we need something good to come out of the rest of the film's despair.

Day 5's Girl Week Entries

Dell reviews Tully