Fruitvale Station, the story of Oscar Grant’s tragic death,
is out in wide release now. I saw it last week it’s a beautiful movie that
tells the story of his last day, death, and brief aftermath of his family and
friends grief. The movie is quiet, almost European in the way it lays out
Grant’s story, which for me brought to mind other movies and cultural
touchstones.
The movie is very much a celebration of family-the one we
are born with and the one we make with our community and friends. The majority
of the characters are people of color, and while there certainly are conflicts
there is such overriding feeling of love and concern that I could not help
being reminded of. . . the TV show The Cosby Family. I know
that Bill Cosby is considered to be persona non grata for many in the black
community for his emphasis on “personal responsibility” and one can take apart The
Cosby Show in all kinds of ways. But I think it needs to be said the show was a
milestone of sorts-a highly (the
highest for years) rated TV show with an exclusively black cast (in terms of
the main cast) doing the same kinds of things and facing the same kinds of
issues that white people faced. It
certainly showed a middle-upper class existence but it was an incredibly positive
image of blackness that white people
do not see enough of, not to mention that the cast itself off-camera served as
positive role models as well. I was thinking this when somebody retweeted to me
a picture of the black men in her family, sons, husband, and brothers with the
reminder that they were precious. If anti-blackness is a problem, there needs
to be more pro-blackness, in all shapes and forms.
The theme of family also made me think of “The River Runs
Through It” based on Norman McLean’s novel of the same name. “River” is the
story of two brothers in Montana who would take very different paths, one tragically. It takes place in an entirely different
culture, time, and location. But family is family, and just as Norman’s brother
kept aspects of his life at arm’s length from his family, so does Grant. The
movie portrays Grant at a key point in his life, making significant decisions, just beginning to open up to the ones he loves. Not completely,
however, as he shields them from important issues in his life. “River” is heavy
with these themes as well, as Norman’s father says towards the end of the film,
it is the ones we are closest to us that elude us, but we can love them
completely, without complete understanding.
The final movie that came to mind is “Clockers” a Spike Lee
movie based on the Richard Price novel. I have not seen “Clockers” since it
came out more than ten years ago but what I remember was a story of a black man
trying to move up and out-and being pulled down by a variety of forces. The story is technically about a murder, but really I found that secondary to the stories of the characters themselves, and how they were managing. Some the problems were certainly systemic in nature, but some were personal. I want to make it clear I
completely agree with the narrative that if we want to improve impoverished
communities of color we need to talk about broad-based, economic solutions. I
know it doesn’t matter what a black man wears if the operating assumption is
that he is a criminal, and that parenting skills are of no use if the parents
can’t get jobs and truly support their family.
But, there are few things you can do, like show up to work
on time. I remember watching “Clockers” and finding the main character reminiscent
of the young black men I treated in rehabilitation, post-spinal cord injury.
Most had been in gang related activity, I am sure some committed crimes. They
were generally friendly, hard-working, nice guys. It was easy to imagine them
doing positive things with their lives, it was also easy to see how their own
demons pulled them down. You just
wondered if they had somebody just to provide a little bit of guidance, and
little bit of toughness, could they make things happen. Because you know they
have the ability, they are not lacking in intelligence. I understand
the greatest problems come the outside, but still you just wish they could pull
it together just a bit more.
The movie has Grant at this point-ready to move forward. But
of course it was not to be, which is why every scene is touched with a little
sadness, as you know it is the last time that thing will happen. The pitch-perfect
cast helps the simple, straightforward narrative.
It’s subtle, and not fleshed out, but the role of prisons is
also in the movie. It is only in two scenes but it both vividly illustrate the
dehumanization of the prison process itself, and how difficult it is to truly leave even when technically you have. It is the violence of these scenes,
partially real, partially implied, set against the quiet meditative aspect of
most of the movie that make them stand out and stick with you.
Finally there are the police. The obvious question is how
does an unarmed, non-threatening person (it’s clear Grant was not aggressive in
any way during the police encounter) get killed by a police officer? But in the
movie, it’s frustrating simple to see how this happened. I have always thought that a characteristic of a great story with
a major conflict (or conflicts) is that there are no villains. I think
Fruitvale Station accomplishes this, because, while not excusing the actions in
kind of way, I did not see the police as villains. They are not presented as
monsters-I think it is completely believable that they did not want to kill
Grant and regretted the death. But it is painfully clear, to me anyway, by the
way the police chose to manage the situation, the outcome was not only
inevitable it was logical. What is seen as the “villain” is
the system, which resulted in the process that led up to the death. It is impossible not to
ask yourself how could have this been done differently? It really isn’t about
the people; it’s the larger issue of how as society we have allowed things to get
this point. If we want to live in a world where this kind of thing happens, and
probably happens regularly, we need to insist that changes, at every level,
happen, and the word reform is really not enough. There needs to be a complete overhaul and everything needs to be on the table.
It’s worth noting that justice, of a sort, was achieved in
this case. Major figures resigned, the offending officer did go to jail, if for
a short period of time. As imperfect as this was, I can’t help comparing it to
Chicago where similar cases have not led to any changes whatsoever. As people
grapple with the Zimmerman verdict, as more people come to the understanding
that increasing economic inequality hurts people of color disproportionately I
can only hope that art like Fruitvale Station can expand people’s consciousness
and lead to change.
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