The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give

Starring Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Algee Smith

Directed by George Tillman Jr.

The Story:
Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) is trapped in two different worlds: she lives in Garden Heights - the mostly minority community known for violence - but goes to school in preppy Williamson, where she's only one of a few minorities.  She balances her two Starr personas - maintaining a white-person style at Williamson and letting loose in Garden Heights - with not a lot of problems.  Then at a party, she runs into her childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith), and after leaving the party he's pulled over.  After he reaches for a hairbrush, the cop mistakes it for a gun and shoots him dead in front of Starr.

Traumatized, Starr struggles with coming forward, because she fears that it will not just shatter the image she made for herself at school, but will also draw the unwanted attention of local drug dealer King (Anthony Mackie), whom Khalil was working for.  Her father Maverick (Russell Hornsby) wants to protect his family, but also instills in them the importance of their heritage, while her mother Lisa (Regina Hall) wants to shield Starr from any troubles.  As the racial lines become more blurred, Starr becomes more outraged at what happened, and decides to truly let her star shine.

The Synopsis:
"The Hate U Give Little Infants Fs Everybody"
This phrase was popularized by the rapper Tupac in the 1990s as an acronym for "THUG LIFE," and is clearly the basis for this film, which is itself based off a novel by Angie Thomas.  The film is an obvious nod to recent issues concerning Black Lives Matter and white cops killing unarmed black civilians, and director George Tillman Jr. manages to portray the real struggle African Americans face in America today without being too preachy or heavy-handed, mostly due to the stunning performance of Amandla Stenberg.

Starr Cater is a sixteen year old girl who lives in the mostly minority city of Garden Heights, which is known for violence, drug lords, and poverty.  Yet in the midst of this, she has an excellent family including loving parents Maverick and Lisa, and two supportive brothers, along with some friends.  Still, she doesn't go to school in Garden Heights, but instead a prestigious mostly-white high school in the rich city of Williamson, where Starr puts on a different front, trying not to be too "ghetto" to her white friends, and where she has a white boyfriend.

At a party, she runs into her old childhood friend Khalil, and the two leave the party together.  Khalil gets pulled over, and while Starr was trained at a young age as to how to act when a white officer pulls her over, Khalil is more rebellious, due to the fact that he really didn't do anything wrong.  When he disobeys the officer's orders and reaches inside the car for his hairbrush, the officer shoots him dead in front of Starr.

Traumatized by the event, Starr struggles with coming forward, because she knows if she does then she'll be "outed" at her school as being in the ghetto, and also draw the unwanted attention of local drug lord King, whom Khalil was working for.  She begins seeing the injustice happening to her people, and she realizes that she can no longer be silent and decides to let her voice be heard, despite the consequences.

"The Hate U Give" is an incredibly timely film that powerfully tells the other side of the story, the side that's often ignored by the public.  We've seen time and time again on the news of an unarmed black person being shot and killed by a white police officer, and while the news covers it for awhile, it tends to become just background noise until the next event happens.  Director George Tillman Jr. wants to show that this type of thing happens more often than not, and really gives the viewers an in-depth look as to how the minority world handles these types of situations.  Since I'm white, I won't fully understand or feel for these characters, but I still felt emotional about it, and the brazen injustice they face just because they're a different skin color.

Amandla Stenberg has appeared in mostly YA novel-to-film adaptations such as "The Hunger Games," "Everything, Everything," and "The Darkest Hours," but it's here that we truly see her star power shine, as she tackles a very real and very emotional reality for today's youth - being told to be silent, and just blindly accepting what happens because they're too young to know any different.  We see her struggle with her own identity as she thinks she has to be two different people in the two worlds she lives in.  At her prep school, she feels like she has to act less "ghetto" while all her white friends try to act that way in incredibly stupid ways.  At home, she feels she can't show too much intelligence, because she thinks she'll be made fun of.  Stenberg balances this act like a pro, and you really feel for her even before the traumatic event occurs, because she can't be her true self anywhere.

After her friend is shot dead by a cop in front of her eyes, she struggles with what to do: does she step out and speak out for her dead friend, and risk loosing her identity as well as become a target for the local drug kingpin, or just stay silent and let her friend's death fall by the wayside?  You think the answer would be simple, but you're not in that situation, and I don't think it would be an easy one to face.  We see her true struggle, and her powerful resolve to not let her friend die in vain, even though she knows its an uphill battle.  I found myself more than once cheering her on, as she truly emerges as her real self, and finds the inner confidence she never knew she had.

Tillman not only tells Starr's story though her eyes, but uses visuals to illuminate the duality she goes through.  At her home, it's all natural colors where she can be herself more, but at her prep school there's shades of blue that make her blend more in with the others around her, and there's no hiding the fact.  She feels like she has to hide, even from her own boyfriend, because she's worried as to how others will see her.  She can't allow her boyfriend to come to her home, and pushes him away after her friend dies, because she doesn't want him to know the real her - because he'll never understand due to his white skin color.  It's emotional and powerful, and unfortunately a truth many youths face today.

I can go on with how amazing the film is, as the entire cast gives top-notch performances, the story stays consistent and strong, and it's an absolutely timely movie for today's generation, but I'll simply just end my ranting now and let you see this spectacular film for yourself.

The Summary:
Blending a powerful message with a top-notch cast, "The Hate U Give" is an important film as it gives a voice to the voiceless, and shows the true power one person has to change things for the better.

The Score: A+