Film Review: The Hate U Give Asks Us To Love More
T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E – The Hate U Give Little Infants F—ks Everybody
-Tupac Shakur
SYNOPSIS: Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.
I cried about 32 million times throughout The Hate U Give (THUG) because it did something that is never done with cases involving young, black men getting killed by police; it reminds you the victim was human. The triumph of The Hate U Give is that it settles the morality every political discussion completely misses; these young, black men SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED!
Amandla Stenberg plays Starr Carter, and is a tour de force. She brings an impactful, surmount of strength to Starr that makes you forget she is 16, and going through a trauma no one should ever undergo. To the world, media, and the police, she is the witness to Khalil’s death, but to the viewer she is simply mourning the death of her friend whom is now a national symbol of police brutality and racial injustice. Director George Tillman Jr does beautifully in balancing Starr’s inner tumult. On one hand, she just wants to cry for her childhood friend/ crush, and, on the other, she feels compelled to become a social justice activist for his honor.
Starr is rarely allowed a moment to grieve her personal loss because everywhere she goes Khalil’s name is turned into a political argument. The film rummages through the same excuses used to excuse the deaths of Oscar Grant III, Mike Brown, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, etc. It is brought up that Khalil is a drug dealer, and a member of the King Lords. Yet, within the first 15 minutes of the film, you meet Khalil, and fall in love with him. Algee Smith plays the character with such a charm and innocence that I, silently, prayed Audrey Wells decided to rewrite the entire premise of the film: despite being based on Angie Thomas’ exceptional book.
Khalil was a 16 year old kid who had a grandmother sick with cancer, that could not afford her treatments and medicine. In addition, he had to take both emotional and financial care of his little brother because his mother was a drug addict. He was a teenager with very adult responsibilities, and, though drug dealing is not right, the film shows that, in severely impoverished communities, it is the only job. While you can judge a person for not having “honor” through their struggles, The Hate U Give spotlights the massive societal issues plaguing both black and poor communities. Frankly, I am grateful to the film for displaying that, the bad choices and situations you are in, are not always a measure of how good you are, which you see through Khalil.
Going into the theater, you feel a “star-crossed” affect reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As every move Starr and Khalil make puts them closer to “the cop’s” path, you want to leap from your chair and scream, “STOP!” Not only do you want to save Khalil, but you also want to save Starr. Something dies within her as she watches her friend bleed to death, while “The Cop” handcuffs and pins her to the ground. Though she wishes life could stop and stand still, as she tries to regather from her grief and convince fools that the death of an unarmed, black teen is unjustifiable, life asks her to grow up while it continues to go on. Suddenly, she is opened to a darkness that makes her question: “What is love of community and self, when you face a hatred so unabashedly cruel, it alters your hope that love is strong enough to conquer it?” Yet, it is not simply “the hate” of police whom accost her community and her family after the shooting; it is also the hate within the black community of Garden Heights.
The Carter family are the lifeline of this film, with each of its members bringing enough heart, laughs, and wisdom for you to breathe in between tears. Yet, Anthony Mackie’s King revels in the underworld as the head of the King Lords, and the actor makes sure to elaborate his character is NOT ashamed of this. With all that black people suffer systemically, King represents a tragic, real problem; how the community turns on itself. Thus, Mackie’s King and “The Cop” become symbols that the ultimate division, within humanity, is between good and evil, which crosses racial constructs. Such truth is amplified by Starr’s relationship with K.J. Apa’s Chris, who plays him so kind and generous, you remember true love does cross racial bounds. Hence, society is not being true to love, in spirit, if it still hates according to skin. The Hate U Give Comes Out In Select Cities On October 5 And In All Theaters On October 19.
