What’s up everybody! Welcome to the very first Dope Black Movies review.
I’m Victor Stiff, a writer and film critic who watches of hundreds of films a year
and my goal for this channel is to help you discover your next favourite movie.
Today I’m reviewing one of 2020’s most powerful films, HBO’s adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’
award-winning 2015 book, Between the World and Me. Before we get into the film, I’m going to
give you a bit of background on Coates, his book, and his role as
one of America’s most prominent black voices. Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American journalist and
author, and his 2015 non-fiction book Between the World and Me is a #1 New York Times best-seller.
Coates has been writing professionally for two decades, but developed a massive
following as a Coates’ national correspondent at The Atlantic where he penned hard-hitting
features about systemic racism and white supremacy in the United States.
He was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and won
the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction. He’s also a MacArthur 'Genius' Award Winner.
Vanity Fair referred to Coates as “our most vital public intellectual.” And The New York
Times called him “among the most influential intellectuals and writers in the United States.”
He’s not just a prominent voice in America’s most necessary conversation, he’s the voice.
Coates published Between the World and Me in 2015 in an attempt to “grapple” with
the death of his friend and Howard University classmate, Prince Jones.
Jones was killed on September 1st, 2000 when a police officer fired 16 rounds into his vehicle.
The book takes the form of a letter from Coates’ to his teenage son.
The author ruminates on the experience of being black in America and gives examples that prove
the United States has never lived up to its loftiest ideal: that all men are created equal.
Between the World and Me interrogates what it means to be black in America.
It forces the audience to consider “What it actually means to inhabit a
black body and find a way to live within it.” Given this difficult subject, no one expects
Between the World and Me to tell a feel-good story. Coates’ perspective as a black father is
justifiably bleak. He writes, “Black people love their children with a kind of obsession. You are
all we have, and you come to us endangered.” A lesser movie would descend into grief-porn
but the black experience is so much more than that. This best-selling work
of art resonates with millions of readers because of it also has the power to uplift.
This push and pull between hope and heartbreak has drawn comparisons to the legendary author
and activist, James Baldwin – and Between the World and Me even borrows the framing device
from Baldwin’s 1963 novel The Fire Next Time. Coates’ Howard University alum, Kamilah Forbes,
directed the movie and there wasn’t another filmmaker as well-equipped
to bring this book to life. Forbes is the Executive Producer
for Harlem’s world-famous Apollo Theater. Some of her many directing and producing
credits include iconic black productions like Def Poetry Jam, and The Wiz Live.
Forbes also directed Between the World and Me’s theatrical adaptation which ran at the Apollo.
Forbes didn’t turn the book into a documentary or even a narrative feature.
This is its own distinct thing. The film follows the books structure; actors read the words Coates’
wrote to his son. But this adaptation includes the type of grace notes and artistic flourishes
that come from working within a visual medium. Forbes uses archival footage, old photos, live
performances, animated sequences, and a series of monologues to bring Coates’ work to life.
Forbes stays true to the spirit of the book while giving her adaptation a unique flavour. The film’s
most powerful moments happen whenever a cast member delivers a monologue right into the camera.
And it’s here where the film expands beyond the scope of the book. When you read books,
a conversation unfolds in your head. You can’t get more personal than that. But something magical
happens when a talented actor stares straight into the camera and pours out their soul.
You watch the cast’s hearts burst open as their pain and frustration bleeds out onto your screen.
Any viewer with a shred of empathy will soak these feelings up like a sponge.
These moments transcend storytelling artifice as you connect with the actors
on the most visceral level. And oh, what a cast…
The film stars Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Jharrel Jerome,
Susan Kelechi Watson, Phylicia Rashad, Joe Morton, Yara Shahidi, Tariq Trotter, Janet Mock,
Courtney B. Vance, and the goddess, Oprah Winfrey. And that’s leaving out quite a few people.
It’s this chorus of voices that really separates the book and the movie. When Coates shared his
lived experience with his adolescent son, the words were only one man’s point of view. Having
the massive cast repeat Coates’ words forces you to recognize how universal this situation is.
African American fathers and sons have had this very discussion for generations, and likely will
continue doing so for generations to come. As the cast recite their lines, you begin
to recognize that the actors aren’t standing in for Coates; they’re repeating his words,
sure, but they’re baring their own souls. The cast take the book’s seminal words, “Dear son,
I'm telling you this in your 15th year,” but change who they’re addressing. They’re speaking
to their own loved ones: daughters, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. It’s a small change
that shifts the film’s message off its access and helps us experience this message in a new context.
Between the World and Me evolves from a solo act to a grand symphony.
Here’s a sad reality: You could release Between the World and Me in any decade,
and it would feel timely. But given what we’ve experienced in 2020, police misconduct,
the protests, and the attacks on black bodies, this film couldn’t arrive at a better time.
Between the World and Me is a meditation on blackness. It calls out the boundless
indignities heaped upon black Americans. But even though the African American experience is
tied to suffering, this movie refuses to revel in black pain. It features moments of hope,
strength, and dignity worthy of a Wakandan king. Though far from optimistic, Between the World and
Me has the power to revitalize all the weary souls beaten down by what Coates calls the
beautiful struggle. This’ candid and heavy-hearted cautionary tale is also a powerful affirmation,
speaking to how intolerance and oppression forged an indomitable black spirit.
“They made us into a race,” Coates famously writes. “We made ourselves into a people.”
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We’ve got a Sundance 2021 video coming real soon. And please keep supporting black cinema. If you’re
in the U.S. you can watch Between the World and Me on HBO Max, and if you live in Canada
you can catch this excellent film on Crave. Thank you so much for watching the first Dope
Black Movies review. One Love.