Currently streaming on: HBO (133 minutes)
If you’ve read my review of “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas then you know I’m a fan of the novel.
It brought a perspective to the young adult fiction genre that’s lacking due to the protagonist being a person of color. Most of the novels written for young adults are written from the point of views of white characters.
The main character is 16 year old Starr Carter. She’s strong and vulnerable and frustrated and understandably angry, but there is so much that fuels her journey.
Starr (Amandla Stenberg) is a black student attending a predominantly white prep school.
She feels as though she has to live two lives: the Starr who can’t be too ghetto for her white classmates and the Starr who can’t be too white while hanging in her predominantly black neighborhood.
This is especially true when it comes to her father. Starr’s boyfriend is white, and feels as though she can’t even mention him as her father would react in a negative fashion.
Starr manages to live these two lives without much trouble. She only sees her white friends at school or at their homes and sees her black friends mainly on the weekends.
Everything changes when Starr’s childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith) is gunned down by a policeman on their way home from a party.
As the only witness present, Starr refuses to give a testimony as her neighborhood’s main drug lord (Anthony Mackie) threatens her and her family’s safety. She is also wary of the media scrutiny that is sure to follow such a testimony.
It’s a difficult story told in the simplest way possible.
The film is shot pretty straight forward. The main focus being Starr and her journey and that’s all we need.
The Carters are as normal a family as can be. They argue and disagree, but at the end of the day they love each other.
Starr’s school does have some stereotypical tropes, but nothing out of the ordinary. She has two best friends, one of which is white and immediately starts to show her prejudices once Khalil’s story is released.
The film does miss out on some minor albeit great moments in the book that I absolutely loved. Overall though it paints a portrait of Starr and her neighborhood and the problems in it that need to be fixed, but are hard to do.
Starr’s father (Russell Hornsby) has a lot of pride for his neighborhood and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else despite the violence. He owns a store and tries daily to make up for his drug dealer past. He also tries to find ways to make this place a better one to live.
Starr’s mother (Regina Hall) on the other hand yearns to leave the violence behind and move to a safer neighborhood.
There is nothing polarizing about the way this is presented. It is Starr’s world and the complications that come with it are a part of her reality.
Starr is an awesome person. She learns some difficult lessons and is able to face her difficulties head on and there is nothing but admiration that can follow this.
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