Activists enjoy painting a brutal (and somewhat fictitious) picture of the supposed police state we live in. Rarely is fiction stranger than truth, but in this case, it might be.
The novel, The Hate U Give, is being adapted into a movie of the same title. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the book (and supposedly the movie) tells the story of a 16-year old girl, who “witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend” and then struggles to “speak her truth.”
In a review of the book by The Guardian, The Hate U Give apparently addressed the racial tensions in American society through the eyes of teenagers who must “bear the ferocious outrage” of “race and community.” The protaganist, young Starr, is taught how to deal with the cops in one particularly compelling scene.
The review quoted the scene: “”Keep your hands visible.” her father advised. “Don’t make any sudden moves.”” Pretty good advice to anybody dealing with the police in a potentially confrontational situation. Rather than focusing on both sides of the story, the plot paints all African-Americans as victims of society, pounded by false accusations, racism, and injustice at the hands of the law. There aren’t any good cop characters to balance out the bad cops, instead, there are multiple scenes of racist characters -- especially cops -- dealing out abuse.
This is a trend in Hollywood, with the film Detroit in national theaters, detailing the true story of the 1967 Detroit riots where three African American men were shot by police in a motel room.
But The Hate U Give isn’t even historical -- it’s just mindless theoretical sketches asserting that racism is still alive. And it’s being catered towards young adults. An actress from The Hunger Games, Amandla Stenberg, is the star of this film.
The police are a necessary part of society, as keepers of the law and order so desirable in a democracy. While there are both good and bad members of the force, it’s important to look at the corrupt policemen as individuals, and not representative of the entire system.
Unfortunately, The Hate U Give does just the opposite.
