If I were to write about this movie, I would definitely have to rewatch it, because I did not pick up on the visual stylings Monica Castillo mentions in the roegerebert.com review:
To visually mirror the experience of switching between the worlds of Garden Heights and Williamson, the lighting and color of the scenes also change from warm, familiar tones (Garden Heights) to washed out blue hues (Williamson). The scenes in the Carter household look inviting and well lit, bringing to mind the comfort of a loving family. When Starr is at school, her face looks washed out and pale, as if the screen was trying to mute the colors of everyoneâs skin to look the same. She tries so desperately to fit in this environment, she sacrifices who she is in more ways than just avoiding using the slang terms her classmates have co-opted. [1]
I would also need to find something very specific to focus on so as not to feel I was oversimplifying the film. The same review by Monica Castillo sums up the film thusly:
It may be a popular movie with arguably simple messages, but it delivers them in emotionally effective ways. [...] If the story ever seems too basic, too âintro to race in America,â itâs because this is the story of a 16-year-old girl whoâs learning that the world is even worse than what she knew. In the audience, there will likely be many more girls who will either be hearing a story like Starrâs, or recognizing their own experience onscreen, for the first time. [1]
Therefore I would focus on how forgiveness is brought up in the film but not used.
When Starr has a falling out with her school friend, her mom tells her âyou need to forgive and move onâ, this could be applied to her main 3 conflicts in the film, but it never is, and she specifically says she is not accepting of her former friend in the end and has moved on to âfull friendsâno longer needing that âhalf friendâ.
Explore that the title The Hate U Give is from Tupacâs acronym T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E. meaning âThe Hate You Gave Little Infants Fucks Everybodyâ. Is there a meaning to the fact that the movie leaves off the second word? Maybe not since there is an entire NYT article about how the director toned language down to keep a PG-13 rating.[2] If there is a meaning though, then who is the titular THUG?
Tupac does say that the message behind his acronym is âwhat you feed us as seeds, grows and blows up in your face.â[3] contrast that with the film saying âItâs not the hate u give. Itâs the hate we give. But we can break the cycle.â as she steps between the small child with a gun (whom she calls the little infant given hate about to fuck everybody) and her father and the police; a middle generation bridging between two others.
How does it change several statements in the film and narrative descriptions of events if you substitute Kahlilâs name for what we are told is its meaning: friend.
Does the importance of the Harry Potter story at the beginning and connection at the end tie at all into her fatherâs reading of Harry Potter being about gangs?
This mediate.com article on mediation and forgiveness brings up an important point: that we never see anyone apologize to Starr or anyone else. The article states:
It seems to be an important matter in forgiveness that the one who has violated an agreement, a limit, or a norm acknowledges this, takes responsibility, and that some kind of regret is expressed. [...]
If that doesnât happen the person who has been psychologically violated may be stuck in an experience of having been personally exposed to indifference and disrespect in a way that it appears that an agreement made with them doesnât matter and that they are looked down upon as individuals. What may establish trust and reliability will be the offenderâs realization of having made a mistake. At the same time it is an important point that the reliability will fall apart if the mistake is repeated several times. In such a situation the apology will often seem hollow and the experience of indifference and disrespect will strengthen once again.
From an immediate and pragmatic perspective the violated persons will be able to act rationally and constructively. Their reasons may be that they want to show generosity, that they donât want to overreact and seem sensitive, that they want âto move onâ with what matters most. At this stage they will most often be prepared to forgive in the terms of: âNever mind, letâs move on.â
However, from an emotional perspective such an experience may lead to reduced trust and perhaps an unconscious antipathy. Over time and with repetition of the violation of the agreement a situation where the offender does not show any regret or realize his guilt, will become for the violated party an experience of injustice and powerlessness. The result will most often be a diminishing of mutual trust and an increased risk of regarding the offender as a threat to self-confidence or security. [4]
This then aligns perfectly with Starrâs motherâs advice which is the âimmediate and pragmatic perspectiveâ mentioned above and Starrâs rejection of said advice and own action which is a manifestation of the âemotional perspectiveâ mentioned above.
Choosing more concise quotes from the above mediation article would help me arrive at the conclusion that forgiveness could not be an answer in this film because apologies are not evidenced, and I would conclude there.
This is all to say if I were to write about this film, but I probably will not.
[1] The Hate U Give review for rogerebert.com (2018)
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