Race to watch these movies

i am convinced that relationships are the key to South Africa’s transformation.

We can read and learn and unlearn and try to understand and engage and educate ourselves – which are all helpful and important things to do – but unless we are building real, authentic, two-way friendship with people we are not going to be moving forwards.

Sometimes the reading, learning, unlearning, understanding, engaging and educating are vital for us so that we won’t end up causing needless pain and frustration in those we are building relationships with.

And one of the best and maybe easiest ways for some of that learning and empathy comes through story-telling. When we hear someone’s story it often helps us to see them a bit better and to start to understand some of the issues and experiences and pain that might be present.

For us to expect our friends of colour to have to relive some of their pain in telling their stories to us so that we can learn is the hugest of asks – which many of us don’t realise – but fortunately there are some stories that have been told which can assist us in doing the necessary work we should be doing.

There are many books that do this really well and i trust that if you are serious about bridging the gaps you will be busy reading through some of those. But more recently there have been a number of movies which have come out which have told black stories in really powerful ways and i want to share 5 with you that i found super helpful while deeply uncomfortable and challenging as well.

Give these race movies a watch:

The Hate U Give

i have been wanting to watch ‘The Hate U Give’ for the longest time and so was really grateful that my friend Ashley messaged me last night to invite me to a screening.

‘Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds — the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the wealthy, mostly white prep school that she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is soon shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. Facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and decide to stand up for what’s right.’

If you can get past the fact that Starr is dating Archie from ‘Riverdale’ and that her dad is Hank from ‘Grimm’ [who i thought put in a powerfully nuanced performance] then this movie will grip you straight from the beginning and leave you with a lot to think about.

Context of communities, friendship, love, escape vs transformation, changing your voice vs using it, protest, family and a whole lot more.

Blindspotting

i watched Blindspotting on the plane on my way to visit Oakland – where the movie is set – earlier this year. It is by far the best movie i have watched in recent time.

‘Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning in his Oakland, Calif., neighborhood. His bond with his volatile best friend soon gets tested when Collin sees a police officer shoot a suspect in the back during a chase through the streets. Things soon come to a head when the buddies attend a party at the upscale home of a young and wealthy tech entrepreneur.’

What makes this movie more powerful for me was that the two main stars, Daveed Diggs [who plays Collin] and Rafael Casal [who plays his best friend Miles] are the writers of the movie and both of them put in extremely moving performances.

This is a hard movie to watch, but i would put it on my must-see for people trying to grasp some of the issues at play. While race struggles in America are very different [in some ways] to those in South Africa, i think sometimes a bit of an outsider perspective can help raise the kind of empathy needed more at home.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Sho, this was another movie i caught up with on the plane and another super powerful story worth diving into.

‘In early 1970s Harlem, daughter and wife-to-be Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together, but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.’

What was interesting for me about Beale Street was that it doesn’t contain any of the stereotypical violence that you associate with these movies or stories, but that at the same time the whole premise of the movie is incredibly violent in terms of how black lives are seen and treated.

The majority of this movie is told through the different relationships that occur between couple, family and friends and the incident itself almost serves as a backdrop to the different perspectives and judgements. There is an almost throw-away line that serves as part of the climax of the movie [which i won’t share cos spoilers] that for me summed up the violence that is worked on black bodies and families when they are viewed as less than. Well worth a watch.

The next two movies both have quite a different approach to the topic but are both powerhouses and definitely worth checking out.

BlacKkKlansman

The story of a black guy who infiltrates the KKK. No wait, let’s make it even better, cos this is the true story of a black man who infiltrated the Klu Klux Klan in the late 1970s.

‘From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.’

Spike Lee is an excellent storyteller and especially has a way of telling black stories well and after seeing the trailer i wanted to watch this movie for a long time. And, you guessed it, i finally got to see it on the plane on my way to America and i was not disappointed. The casting of John David Washington [son of Denzel but strong actor in his own right] and Adam Driver [who i wasn’t sold on in Star Wars but who i love in everything else i have seen him in] just adds to what is a really well-told and in many cases funny story.

The movie becomes deeply sobering at the end where some real live footage is shown of a number of KKK incidents which really just drive home the point of the repulsiveness of the organisation and its members.

Get Out

This was such an interesting one.  i am not a fan of horror movies and yet ‘Get Out’ in many ways plays like one. But when i heard it was directed by well-known comedian Jordan Peele and that it had race issues at its core i had to give it a watch. And it is such a brilliant movie that received a whole lot of much-deserved plaudits when it was released, including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and nominations for Best Director and Best Picture among others:

‘Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.’

i don’t want to say too much about this one cos if you have seen it already you will know and if you haven’t then you just need to watch so that the surprises happen by themselves. But what i will say is that it took an unlikely director combining with an unlikely genre [much as John Krasinski did later with A Quiet Place, another classic although not about race vibes!] and did a phenomenal job of addressing race through it all.

Get thee to a movie-watching device

There are definitely others that can be added to this list, it is not definitive by any means. And out of interest, what movies would YOU add to this list that deal with race conversations in a helpful and satisfying way? 

But these are just some of the movies i watched while i was in a space of really wanting to learn about race that i found both really helpful and just really incredible movies. All of these would make it on to my Top Movies list so not a hint of trying to suggest that these are ‘Good movies for race movies’ – they are just good movies. And tell some incredible tales that help making understand race and context and culture and relationships a little bit easier.

Which of these have you seen and what was your feeling about them?

[If you’re looking for some other tips as white people asking ‘But What Can I Do?’, click here]