The Hate U Give is a must see! Not only because it’s an enjoyable film but because it talks about important current real world problems like police brutality and gun violence.

Directed by George Tillman Jr. ‘The Hate U Give’, is based on the book written by Angie Thomas. The plot follows Starr Carter a sixteen year old African-American girl, played by Amandla Stenberg. Carter lives in the fictional neighborhood of Gardenheights, which is a poor mostly black community and attends a school with a mostly white and wealthy student body.

A large part of the plot is focused on her struggle of finding herself with having to switch back and forth between her two separate environments. She is pressured to act differently depending on who she is around.  in an interview with The Cut, an entertainment news website, Angie Thomas, the author of the book The Hate U Give, said “Especially for young POC (people of color), when we enter majority-white spaces, we feel the need to assimilate, to blend in, to prove ourselves.” This personal experience was reflected in Starr’s character.

When her and her childhood friend Khalil, played by Algee Smith, are driving they are pulled over and after questioning the white officers he is asked to get out of the car and he then is shot and killed. Starr goes to the grand jury as the only witness to the murder of her unarmed, innocent friend. She has a hard time getting over the trauma but eventually, she is drawn to activism and starts protesting for black rights and against police brutality.

I think one of the intentions of recreating this book as a movie was to take a story that a large group of people can relate to. It can also be used as a tool to inform people about the bias against people of color in America to a larger audience.

Another important aspect of the Starr’s story is her perspective of the world as a young woman. Thomas said in her interview with The Cut, “In so many cases where unarmed black people lost their lives, the victims were young. Trayvon Martin was 17. Tamir Rice was 12. Michael Brown was 18. When young people see that, they’re affected by it”

Thomas continued “I know young boys in my neighborhood who said that they could have been Trayvon. They could have been Tamir. The young lady who was slammed on the floor at her school by a police officer, when they see that, they see themselves. I wanted to write this for them,” in an interview with The Cut.

This story is especially relevant today because of the recurring issue of police brutality. Police brutality has been around for a long time and has always been a huge problem in our country but today social media is providing a platform to help bring awareness of injustices.

“They talk about real life situations in the movie. They try to inform people and tell them ‘hey this is really happening and this is really real, this is what we do to each other and what they do to us, black men and all that.’”said 10th grader Demetrius Seay, after seeing The Hate U Give.

 Today president Trump feeding people lies and racist, sexist opinions it is important to have movies that show what the world is like for people other than white racist bigots. To let people know to not give up on fighting for equality, your voice is still is a weapon, us it.

As a privileged white person I will never understand what it’s like being a person of color. I cannot relate to the things people of color have to go through their entire lives purely because of my appearance. Especially as a white woman I am looked at as most innocent by police.

That’s why I think it’s important other white people see this movie because it really reminded me to be conscious of my privilege and to be an ally to people of color and minorities and I think other white people should also recognize that.

“No matter what your view is on police brutality –some people are really irritating– it’s good to watch [The Hate U Give] because if you dont know whats going on or you don’t know the other side you can always learn from that… because it is a very real movie.” said Emma Lindquast sophomore at South High on why The Hate U Give is important.

The movie not only has a great message it’s also well directed, well made and has great acting. With many powerful and heavy scenes in the plot, in order for the film to turn out you need to depict those scenes well.

The Black Lives Matter protest that they portrayed in the movie was very well done.  Although the Black Lives Matter protests i have been to havent been as intense as the one in the movie i know there are many instances where they can be. I saw this pattern of well produced realistic scenes throughout the movie

The Hate U Give was a very Powerful, inspiring movie. When there was a emotional part in the movie you could really feel it through the screen. This movie is going to have a big impact moving forward. Because the main character is a young woman it shows how anyone can voice their opinion and you can never be too young to start standing up for what you believe in.