August 22, 2024 • 58 mins
In this episode, I, Dr. Benjamin PhD, along with Alexsis, a passionate social worker from Omaha, reflect on the compelling themes of "The Hate U Give." We share our personal stories and frustrations with the ongoing racial injustices highlighted by the film and the deep emotional impact of Khalil's tragic encounter with law enforcement. This isn't just a film analysis; it's a heartfelt conversation about real-life struggles and the importance of empathy and awareness.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of MovieRx contains discussion
about hot-button topics likerace and police brutality.
If this subject is triggeringfor you, it should be.
It should be triggering for allof us, but if you can't handle
it, step away and take the timeto see to your needs.
Thank you for listening.
Hello, and welcome to MovieRx,where I prescribe entertainment,
(00:45):
one movie at a time.
I am your host, dr Benjamin PhD.
What does the PhD stand for?
Today it's a message Preventhate and discrimination.
And my producer has steppedaway so she can't shake her head
at me or anything.
I think she would agree, though.
(01:05):
Today I have a guest.
I have a social worker out ofOmaha works with at-risk youth
who experience trauma factorslike poverty.
Today, my guest is Alexis.
Welcome, alexis.
Hello.
So the way that I typicallystart this thing is I will I'll
kind of talk about my initialimpression, impression about the
(01:25):
movie.
Uh, and it's usually a littlebit more technical as far as
this movie goes.
I might've seen the trailer forthis movie before it came out,
but oddly, I don't feel like itwas well-marketed.
I didn't.
I don't really remember seeinga whole lot of stuff about it
after it came out.
Um, and and that seems verystrange to me.
Um uh no, this is a movie thatyou brought me, so thank you for
(01:50):
bringing me this movie.
Today, we're going to talk aboutthe hate you give.
Uh.
This movie is a Fox 2000production, released in 2018,
directed by George Tillman jr.
Uh stars Amandla Stenberg,regina Hall and Russell Hornsby.
And the IMDb description onthis one.
(02:11):
Typically, alexis, imdbdescriptions are not typically
very good.
Let me hear your thoughts onthis one.
Star witnesses the fatalshooting of her childhood best
friend, khalil, at the hands ofa police officer.
Now, facing pressure from allsides of the community, star
must find her voice and stand upfor what's right.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That is the description for this movie on
IMDb.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
If this was a cupcake , that would be like the
frosting they're missing thewhole cake the whole cake is
gone.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yeah, the cake is gone.
It sounds like it sounds like ablues song actually.
Yep, so, um, now, my, myinitial movie impression with
this was that the cinematographyin this movie was excellent.
Uh, fantastic use of lightingto change moods, uh, portray
themes and and move emotions.
(03:11):
The music was good.
Dustin O'Halloran made theoriginal score.
Um, and and uh, some old schoolrap, tupac, uh, supported by
some more modern artists.
The music was really reallygood.
Um, but the, the star of thismovie really is the story, um,
the story was moving.
Uh, I have a hard time watchingthese movies, uh, as I, as I
(03:35):
tend to get really emotional,and not not always healthy
emotional.
I, I, I can sometimes get veryangry.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Um, when, when I watch movies like this sometimes
get very angry when I watchmovies like this.
How did you feel about themovie?
I felt really similar.
Honestly, you feel that angerand I think a lot of it.
For me is there's nothing thatone person can do to fix the
problem, and that was evenbefore seeing some of the things
(04:02):
that I have like it, of course,like resonated because we all
know, like police brutality is amajor, major issue, um racial
oppression, all of the things,and I think, seeing the story,
like I was like okay, this isvery upsetting.
And then I feel like it justgets more and more upsetting as
time goes on because we realizehow real this is and I think I
(04:27):
think that's kind of the point.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Um, this is almost like a I I feel like a love
letter to white people, like Idon't know if you remember that
show that was uh.
I think it was on netflixseveral, a few years ago.
I mean, I don't know, uh waslike, I think it was called like
dear white people or somethinglike that.
Um, but but this this feelslike a really good letter to uh,
(04:52):
to people who would becompletely ignorant of uh, of a
situation that they may notunderstand, and sometimes it's
just because there's no uh,there's no opportunity to.
I live in the Midwest but Ilive in, you know, south central
Nebraska.
There's not, there's not awhole lot of diversity here.
(05:14):
I mean it's, it's growing, butas I was growing, yeah, there
there wasn't really muchdiversity at all here at all
when I was, when I was in middleschool and in, uh, elementary
school, high school, even.
As far as the characters go, II've got some characters listed,
(05:34):
but there's just tons of themthat like and some of them kind
of surprised me at how much, howimportant they were to me uh,
as far as the story goes, kindof changed a little bit more
than what I thought they would.
So I don't know, I guess I kindof just want to talk about some
of our favorite characters.
Why don't you, why don't youstart?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
you give me, give me one of your favorite characters
um, as easy as it is, I woulddefinitely say star.
Seeing her growth throughoutthe movie and hearing her
narrative of like what is goingon?
How is she processing this?
What are her next steps?
She's just a very wise soul.
Two wives.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Like there were times like you just wanted to hug her
and be like, oh my gosh, I wishyou didn't know or have to know
about these things.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And I just think, seeing her resiliency, yeah, she
, absolutely, she lives up toher name for sure, she's a star
well, and on top of that, Ithink that there's so much of
her story that we don't that shehas already lived.
Some of her story was not toldto us before before we come in
(06:45):
into the story, because, likethey talk about periodically
throughout the movie, they talkabout the hood trio.
You know how.
They were all Harry Potter fans, her and her two best friends,
and when the movie started oneof them was already dead.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Um, because because of similar, uh, similar
situation.
So it's like this is not newfor her.
I mean experiencing it the waythat she is, that she does in
this movie is new.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Like being that close to the situation was new, but
other than that, like this isnot, it's almost like just
tuesday yeah, for for this girla lot of, I think, the people
around her too, like death isvery like, oh, I'm gonna die
when I'm old.
And for her it's very muchopposite.
It's like this could be my lastday, my last five minutes, and
(07:41):
that's because of the traumathat, like, this poor child has
already gone through and I don'treally think that she before um
, the death of her friend thatwe see in the movie happen, um,
that she had actually likeprocessed through that.
I think, yeah, like you said,it was just so normal because
you don't know anythingdifferent.
(08:02):
And yeah, I think that is oneof the hardest things is, like
when you see them actively goingthrough it, but they don't
really know how bad it is.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Because for us, we look at it from the outside and
we're like, oh my god, like thispoor child, this family, like
very much has gone throughabsolute hell and, yeah, for
them it's just another, anotherday and you can definitely see
that divide, um, um, like I meanI I had put in here on on kind
of some of the talking points,the, um, you know, the the star,
(08:34):
versus Williamson star or star2.0, the, the one that she is at
home, uh in in garden Grove, Ithink is what it's called, uh in
in garden Grove, I think iswhat it's called, uh, and her,
when she's at school, are aretwo completely different people,
because the people that shesees at school they don't
(08:54):
understand it.
They don't, they're not a partof that life, they're not a part
of that culture or anything.
They a lot of them, like tothink that they are, but uh, but
she, she just plays along, uhin in a way that is very, uh,
vanilla.
But you can definitely see,like especially in some of the
situations that she comes inafter, after the the incident in
(09:16):
the movie, like the way thatpeople talk to her when she's,
when she's getting sick, sickafter she wakes up the first
time, going to sleep after her,after watching her friend get
shot.
Her dad says the first morningis always the worst yeah you
know, and and it's like, wait asecond.
Always like, like, like this isexpected, like this is almost a
(09:39):
rite of passage in like how manytimes have you gone through
this where?
you know what to expect and youknow how to prepare another
person and your child like heknew to be sitting next to her
bed when she woke up like Idon't know, I, I that comes back
to the whole white privilegething I, I never would have
(10:00):
thought of that.
Um, that's, that's somethingthat I never had to think about
and never would.
Because I, because I inherentlyhave something different about
me that protects me from that.
I guess I don't really want tojump too far into the into that
part of it, but at least notuntil we get into the talking
points.
Now, one one that I was kind ofsurprised with how I felt about
(10:23):
was her boyfriend.
I thought I was going to hatehim.
I really did.
I thought I was going to hatethat kid.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I thought he was going to be a villain, he was
going to be part of the awfulthings, and I was surprised.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
He was a little bit of a hero, a bit of a dork hero,
but a total hero, like some ofthe things that he did for star,
just because he cared for her,uh, went, went beyond reason and
went beyond logic and wentbeyond self-preservation.
Yeah self-preservation.
Yeah uh, I mean when, when hewalked into king's house with
(11:08):
star to go get seven I was likeI.
The first thing that happened,the first thing that went
through my mind was kid, get thefuck out of there.
What are you doing?
What are you doing in agangbanger's home when his, when
he's not home and his wife islike get out?
But it was.
But I mean, he, he didn't care,he didn't think twice about it,
(11:30):
he just went right up, got, youknow, helped, helped the kids
get out of the house, get intohis Range Rover and take off
like and, and then then tookthem to the rally, like the, the
, the protest downtown andeverything like that, and then
helped through that.
Yeah, I don't know I I reallyliked him.
What about what?
What about another one of yourfavorites?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
I would say star's mom, I think kind of like her
dad.
They always just like, knew howto comfort her, and it's
equally as sad as it is sweetbecause again, it's like they
are so prepared, it's just partof their routine, but I think
they were amazing and calm and,honestly, I I wish all parents
(12:11):
were like, were like they are,because they, yeah, just knew
what to expect.
Um, she was very, very like.
She gave star the space thatshe needed, but she was always
there and made herself availableand I think, yeah, that's part
of the reason why, too, I wisheveryone could watch this is
just get some points on be therefor your kids, because she did
(12:36):
it.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
It was kind of nice to have her there, because she
was there thinking the thingsthat nobody else was.
Like do we need to get a lawyerfor this girl Because the hood
isn't going to like her talking,but it's not the right thing to
not talk.
You know and and things like.
Like.
I mean, she was.
She was the first one to putherself in star's position and
be like.
(12:57):
Y'all need to take a moment andrecognize what.
What position this girl is in.
One of my other favorites wasMaverick, her dad, um.
I think the reason why why Iloved Maverick so much was
because he was, um, he was smartand understanding when he
needed to be.
He was tough when he needed tobe.
I know I know you're supposedto be mad at him for doing it
(13:20):
and everything, but like youknow, after after they have the
bullets going through thewindows and everything, but like
you know, after after they havethe bullets going through the
windows and everything, he, hegot his family safe and then he
went back because that sayssomething that a lot of people,
I think, don't understand.
That it is it's a little bitmachismo, but not really like
there's a thing about it.
That is just.
This is my home and I am hereto protect it.
(13:41):
I have what's important to meinside the home, somewhere safe
but, I am going to protect myhome.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
That he was able to do that.
That's something that you seein men, regardless of where they
live, what color they are.
Any of those things I would bethe same way.
And to see him be able to dothat full scope everything from
being supportive to beingprotector and then handing off
that mantle of pride to hisdaughter, especially like right
(14:11):
there at the end of the movie,it was just.
It was great.
I loved it.
Everything about Maverick wasjust really great for me.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I agree, I think a lot of parents in that situation
, like when the bullets wereflying, would have just like
gone out there and tried tofight whoever was doing that to
them and like not acting out oflike the fight or flight Like he
(14:46):
was very, very I can tell wherelike star got her wisdom and
her strength from and it'sabsolutely shown through, yeah,
both her mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, I think the uh like an important distinction
with that is that I think Ithink I would have felt
differently about Maverickleaving his family with Carlos.
I think he would.
I think I would have feltdifferently about Maverick
leaving his family with Carlos.
I think I would have feltdifferently about how he handled
that situation if, instead ofgoing to his home, he would have
gone looking for King.
Yeah, but he didn't.
He went to his home and hewaited, and that shows a lot of
(15:22):
wisdom and a lot of control.
Yeah, and again, I think thatshows a lot of wisdom and a lot
of control.
And again I think I think thatshows a lot of where star got it
.
Um, now, something that is kindof questionable is taking his
boy with him.
That was a little bit.
I was a little bit angry withhim about that.
Like you should have left yourkid at home.
I'm just saying, but, but atthe same time you know, um, I
(15:45):
mean I, I don't know the dynamicin that of you know, well, this
is going to be you someday andyou're going to have to learn
how to protect your home, youknow, or or that, but uh, but
either way, I don't know.
So in the talking points thefirst one I got on here is the
right at the very beginning ofthe movie the talk, uh, right
(16:08):
off the bat this movie got me,uh, it.
it was a kick in the teeth and akick in the stomach, um and it,
and it got very personal for me, uh, because he he was having a
very important talk with hisfamily, uh, with his children,
about, um, uh, about, aboutgrowing up as a black person.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
The realities that come with it.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And and the horrible truths that come with it.
And having that talk, my nephewis black and because we grew up
in a white neighborhood, we'reall white, we, we didn't know
about that, we didn't, we didn'tunderstand the talk and how
that needed to happen.
And so, uh, especially, youknow, in 2020 and 2021, when a
(16:59):
lot of that stuff really startedgetting thick it, it was kind
of scary to see some of thatstuff and and realize that in
some ways, we had kind ofdropped the ball by not having
this knowledge to give to, togive to my nephew, um and and so
.
So this movie got reallypersonal for me right from the
(17:21):
beginning.
It was kind it was.
It was really rough.
Uh, I mean, I, they didn't evenget the, they didn't even get
the damn name of the movie outbefore I started to, before I
started to get stinging in mynostrils, you know, like that,
that ouch you're already comingto like keep yourself composed
right it's, and it's like, okay,that's not even fair.
(17:44):
Damn you, alexis warned you guysbut uh but no, it was, it was,
that's.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That's the mark of a good movie, you know, one that
can really one that can reallyget to you that way, um I think
seeing that and seeing as, likesomeone who was born white, like
you, it's something that we'renever going to have to deal with
and that we're never going tounderstand, and I think that
makes it all the moreheartbreaking.
(18:25):
Anything within your power asone single person to make that
not happen and I think that'swhat's really, really hard is
knowing that I can do, I canlive my life completely normally
, as I usually would, and nothave to ever even think about
like what those kids had tothink about, because that had to
be traumatic, like as an adultto hear, but like thinking of a
kid, that's like it's evenharder yeah, like right right in
(18:48):
there with that talk, likeright at the tail end there, you
know, I mean he, he told themhow to how to handle a traffic
stop and then, and then he goesinto their, into the uh, into
the black panther you know ourown bill of rights kind of thing
um, which are very different.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I don't know if you've ever looked that up or
anything like that, but uh, it'sum, it is very different, but
God, I love them.
Like there's just there's a lotof message there and I mean I
could probably almost have awhole episode of of a podcast
just about that I know a littlepiece of the movie because it's
huge, like the meaning behind it.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, within the first five, ten minutes it's
like you can already.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
It's just very intentional and I think it
needed to happen the way that itdid and there's no easier way
to really to really start ajourney like that Than a great
big crash.
And they sure accomplished it.
Oh yeah, for sure.
So one of the next points I hadon here Was the Star versus
(19:56):
Williamson Star.
It's weird to me how she startsdiscussing Star Versus.
Star 2.0 at school because, likeI mean, she's making all these
comparisons like and it and itfeels very much like like she's
talking about cutting parts ofherself out just to be normal,
(20:19):
yeah, um, and it's like, well, Imean, is that really normal
then?
Like, cause, again my whiteprivilege?
I grew up everybody telling meto be yourself, just be yourself
, you know, and things like that.
But she talks about how goingto school slang makes star hood,
(20:42):
that she hates that, she doesit, but she still does it.
Um, has that been somethingyou've ever noticed somebody
doing?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Um, yeah, just like every day atwork, Um, we have some kids
that are closer to like themiddle school age and it's
already a hard age because youalready, like, want to fit in
with your peers.
You try to wear the same clothes, you look for the same brand,
like you want all of the things,just so that you stand out in a
(21:13):
positive way and not in like a,an outsider way.
But to add on on top of oh yeah, this language, like these
people around me aren't going tounderstand, so I'm going to
keep it on the down low, butit's okay if they say it and if
I try to join in or if I repeatthe same thing, it's going to be
taken very, very serious orlike on a very, very different
(21:34):
level, and I can definitely seethat.
And just like blending thedifferent, diverse backgrounds
and it is very sad becauseyou're already going through a
hard time at that age again,like just trying to fit in, so
to add in like just things thatthe way that you joke, the way
that you talk, the differentslang, the different words that
(21:56):
you use at home, where you'reable to do that and be
completely yourself, and thenyou have to almost like mute
yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, and when you think about it, it's like,
especially in that kind of asituation, you're stuck trying
to find your identity twice.
You're you're stuck trying tofind your identity at home and
with your friends at home andyour friends in your
neighborhood and you knowwhatever.
And then you're also stucktrying to find yourself at
school, with your friends atschool, and I mean it's just, uh
(22:30):
, and.
And then in in that placethere's a, there's, you know,
your friends at school, in class, and your friends in activities
and your friends in.
So the struggle of of findingwhere you fit, uh is already
difficult enough without havingto manufacture one that is
completely out of your control.
Uh, that is.
(22:51):
Yeah, it is.
That is out of your realm ofcontrol.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, um, and a lot of kids haven't even processed
like that race has even.
I mean you know it's present,but yeah, a lot of kids like you
don't imagine them to have toprocess those things, because
you think of kids and you thinkof like innocence and not having
to have that stressor or haveany of those like extra layers
(23:17):
that you have to worry about.
And that's what she probablysees, the kids around her and
she's like, why, like, are theyhaving to go home and be a
completely different person?
Are they having to come hereand be a chameleon?
And it's I think she isstarting to recognize that in
this point in the movie andshe's like, okay, like I, I
(23:39):
think I'm the only one around methat's having to be a chameleon
and read the room.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Right now, uh, shortly shortly after, we
learned a lot about uh star andher life at school, her life at
home, things like that.
Uh, that's when we meet Khalilum, which I I just think that's
the coolest damn name ever,khalil, like I just I love it.
But we meet Khalil and at firstwe like him and then we like
(24:11):
him a little bit more, but thenthen we're like, oh God man,
like when he goes and kisses herwhen she has a boyfriend, he
knows it, and all that otherstuff.
And then and then you, then youjust absolutely love the guy
when he says it's okay, we gottime, and you're just like, okay
, this guy, this guy is so cool,he has taken some cool from
(24:34):
everybody else.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Seriously.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Like all the rest of the guys, just to be that cool.
And seriously, what girldoesn't want to hear that?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Very similar to like her emotional and like wise
level, and I think that's why,like they gravitated toward each
other because, yeah, especiallyat that age, I feel like most
boys or they wouldn't even havea second thought.
Yeah, like kind of knew thatthis would create problems for
her and he respected her enoughto be like okay, like this isn't
(25:05):
the right time.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
But right, no, it was it.
The with as much, with as muchas they were able to pack into
that, I don't, I don't even knowit was five minutes, but there
was.
There was not a lot ofinteraction with him on the
screen and by the the end of it,you love the guy.
Yeah.
And then he goes to take herhome and gets pulled over after
(25:30):
moving, you know, a hundred feet.
Yeah.
As they pull away, he getspulled over and then and then we
get put into a into a situationwhere star knows exactly what
to do because her dad had totalk with her and so she's
trying to execute.
Khalil is not going along withit.
(25:51):
She is urging him, she ispleading with him to just do as
he's told, and things like that.
And the situation gets hairywith the officer.
He ends up getting taken out ofthe car.
Situation gets hairy with theofficer.
He ends up getting taken out ofthe car.
The officer is going back to golook at his information and he
reaches in and grabs a hairbrush, puts it up against the side of
(26:12):
his head to brush his hair alittle bit and gets shot.
I believe it's three times andthat is the event.
I mean, that's the thing thatreally kicks off.
Uh, the rest of this movie, umand, and it's pretty intense.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
The whole lifetime that you've like gotten to know
these people.
And yeah, didn't even fullykick off yet.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, I was going to say I don't think it was 20
minutes in that all of thishappens.
But this girl can act that whenhe got her cuffed and put onto
the ground next to the tire ofthat car and she was screaming
at him talking to Khalil whilehe was laying on the ground, God
(27:02):
, she could, really.
She could just reach into andgrab those emotions and really
start pulling them out.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You can just tell it came from the soul.
I feel like part of thatabsolutely acting, but part of
it.
She probably felt reallysimilarly to how we feel and
yeah, that's just the emotionand like the genuine.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So the next part that I have here.
I've got two sound bites.
These are two sound bites fromthe interview with the police
after the shooting.
The first one is the first half.
And then mom kind of steps inand says hey, I need you to give
her a moment.
They give her a little bit oftime, star says she's ready to
go and then they startquestioning her again and I
(27:47):
split this up into those twodifferent sections.
So here's the first one.
Witnesses of the party statedthat there was an altercation
and gunshots.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
Did Khalil have anything to do with it?
I mean, no, we were justtalking.
(28:18):
When the fight broke out, heoffered to take me home because
he wanted to make sure that Igot home safely.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
And that's when 115 pulled us over for no reason.
Who the officer?
That's his badge number.
I remember it, star, do you?
Speaker 4 (28:29):
know why Khalil reached into the car.
I think he was checking to seethat I was okay.
You think you don't know?
No, I don't know, because,because that's what had happened
, did you and Khalil.
Would you please just give hera second?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
So that was the first half of the interview, and the
reason why this little bit kindof stood out to me a little bit
was because they were talkingnothing about except what
happened before, which I mean, alittle bit of that is to be
expected with any kind ofinvestigation.
Usually it's not that muchfurther before, usually it's
just you know the events leadingup immediately to whatever
(29:12):
point.
But I mean they're talkingabout potentially an hour and a
half, two hours before andthey're really they're really
focusing on on where Khalil isand and kind of what.
Uh, what his frame of mind is,whether he's inebriated or
otherwise compromised.
Yeah, I don't think they werebeing so transparent that it was
(29:34):
getting past them.
Yet here in the second half ofthe interview I think we kind of
see a little bit of a change inthe direction that things are
going.
Did you drink alcohol at?
Speaker 4 (29:45):
the party.
No, I don't drink.
Did Khalil?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Not that I saw Did you ever see Khalil sell
narcotics?
Speaker 4 (29:52):
No, I never personally saw Khalil sell drugs
or do drugs, but you knew thathe did.
You have not asked my daughterone question about the cop.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
We just want the whole picture.
Why don't you?
Speaker 4 (30:01):
ask questions about what happened.
115 killed Khal Kalou and hedidn't do anything wrong, so I
don't know what more of a biggerpicture you need.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
And then that's that's where they kind of uh I,
I think I've got a, uh somebodythat I once heard say the say
the phrase showed their ass.
I mean, they, they weren'tbeing bashful at all.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Like I think, honestly, they were trying to
find quote unquote, likejustification for what they did,
because they knew that therewas absolutely no reason to even
pull him over in the firstplace, let alone do what they
did shoot him three times right,and I think it was really like
it was the start of the what'sthe word?
Almost making him a villain,like villainizing the victim.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Instead of focusing on what the hell just happened.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Right Like trying to solve the problem.
Just kind of gloss over anythingthat had anything to do with
that.
They would have to find someway to turn him into a villain,
I mean, and you can see thatwhen he's got her handcuffed and
on the ground and then he, uh,he's got the gun pointed at
(31:11):
khalil on the ground after he'salready been shot three times,
and he says where's the weapon,where's the gun?
And then he's looking aroundfor it and then the only thing
he finds is a hairbrush.
And he realizes and and I meanyou see it in his face shit like
, oh god, what the fuck did Ijust do?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
and he knows he's screwed.
He feels bad it's.
Yeah, he knows he's screwed itends up.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
we find out, uh, at a get together in the
neighborhood that he's notscrewed.
Uh, carlos comes around andtells maverick and and star and,
uh, the rest of theneighborhood that he's not
screwed.
Carlos comes around and tellsMaverick and Star and the rest
of the family that he's gettingput on paid leave and then
that's his punishment and thatif they want to press the issue,
that it's going to go to agrand jury.
Really doesn't sound like he'sterribly screwed there.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
That is when I watched this.
When it first came out I waslike thank God, this doesn't
happen in real life.
And then look at where we're atnow.
Like it it literally happensevery day, wearing Did you drink
(32:20):
alcohol.
Like they're focusing on tryingto find a why when the why is
very much clear and that's onlybecause someone took advantage
and someone like victimized thisperson.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Right Now.
One of the next talking pointsthat we have on here is one that
you would put in I like it thehairbrush and how it represents
racial oppression, thediscrimination that's still that
has been and still occurringtoday.
Tell me a little bit about whyyou put that on there.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
I mean, there's been so many instances, even a few
weeks ago with the boiling water, like it.
It's the hairbrush, it's theboiling water, it I think it was
a wall at one time Like it, Ithink it was a wall at one time
like it's just a nonstop andunfortunate reality that we live
in at this point.
(33:10):
And I think, yeah, initiallywhen I had watched the movie, it
was like, oh, okay, like yeah,we don't ever have to think of
this happening in real life.
But it does.
And it's not even about theperson.
It's just literally looking attheir race or who they're
hanging out with.
It's trying to justify a reasonwhy racial oppression is okay
(33:32):
and even, kind of, like we hadtalked about earlier, they're
not admitting to like, yeah, I'ma racist person.
No, they don't do that.
It's the actions and thecontinuous pattern of what we
see happening.
And it's kind of eerie because,yeah, like it was happening
before this movie came out, andthis movie, like you said to
like wasn't mainstreamed near asmuch as it should have been.
(33:54):
And I wish people could seethis because I feel like they
would also understand thatsomething as simple as a
hairbrush or like reaching for apen, like it's totally
different, as if you or I wereto do that or if it was Khalil
like it.
It's very, very unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Well, and and that also kind of brings to mind a
conversation that star has withCarlos later, when, when he's
talking to her trying to get herto understand a policeman's
side of it, and he tells star,you know, it's not always easy
because you don't know like, youknow what, if he's been using
and he's high, and if they're,if they're conversing in the car
(34:34):
, they might be trying tocorroborate a story.
If he reaches in the car, hecould be reaching for a weapon
and things like that.
And what do I do?
I shoot, you know.
And and she said, well, yeah,but what if that's a white man?
You know, are you still gonna?
Are you still going to tell himto shoot?
Are you going to tell him toput his hands up?
And then it's almost like itgot ripped out of him and he
(34:56):
says I say put your hands up.
And I don't know, I've.
I know officers on so manydifferent levels, some that you
know I've, I've worked with whenI was working at the paper.
You know officers in my family,officers that I've worked with
in the past at various otherdifferent jobs, ones that I've
(35:16):
just known from the communitythat I grew up in, and it's all
over the place.
Yeah, I have officers that I'veknown for years that have told
me that they don't know how tochange it, but that it is
different.
They will tell you I treat ablack man differently than I
treat a white man.
And some of these officers thatI've talked to that say that
(35:37):
are also officers of color andthey don't know why.
And every single one of themthat you know that that at least
acknowledges that they do thatwill tell you that they hate,
that they do and that they wishthat they could change it.
They just don't know how.
My producer just reminded me ofof a mutual friend of ours that
(35:57):
had the same thing happen in themilitary with when serving
overseas in in Afghanistan.
He wishes that he could changethe way that he views people
from the Middle East.
He just he doesn't know how,because they are somehow made to
be perceived as being the enemyin some way for so long that it
becomes this hateful part ofyourself and it's a struggle, I
(36:21):
think, for on any level to thinkabout any kind of compassion.
Uh, just how difficult thatcould be.
As Carlos is talking andtalking about these things, I I
sympathize with him on somelevel because?
Because, yes, being a policeofficer is a very difficult job
and it is very dangerous, butthat doesn't mean that that that
(36:43):
justifies that a black manbeing shot doesn't need to be
treated the proper way.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
All of us I mean we all have to unlearn biases.
Whether it's, it doesn't matterwhat it even applies to, like
(37:10):
it could be something so smalland it could be something major,
like this.
And you have to work throughunlearning those and you have to
think through processes.
And it's scary, like even justin the recent events, that you
had just some officers.
They know that there's aproblem and they don't think
before they do things like that.
Because, yeah, like you said,if it was a white man, they
(37:34):
probably would have said, like,put your hands up, they would
have taken a second to assessthe situation.
Like, even when you're doing CPRon someone, you're not just
going to go in and start like,you have to assess the situation
, like, look what's around you.
Even if it's a very intensesituation, situation, it should
be no different with this.
And I feel like the oppressionthat's in all of us, like the
(37:55):
instinct that some people havenot unlearned or even
acknowledged is they just startshooting.
And I think what gets me too isshooting three times and
shooting in places that you it'snot shooting to protect
yourself, it's shooting to kill.
And that's where, like, whatare cops have tasers for?
Aren't those supposed to comefirst and it's, it's insane.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
And yeah, I wish I could say like oh, it's not this
extreme, but it is this extremeanother thing to think about as
far as carlos is concerned,something that I think maybe
doesn't get thought about enougheither.
You know, carlos says if thatman that reaches into the car is
a white man.
He says put your hands up.
Is that because he doesn't wantto be a black officer that just
(38:43):
shot a white man?
Speaker 4 (38:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
I mean, is that part of it too?
You know, I mean there's somany different levels to all of
it too.
You know, I mean there'sthere's so many different levels
to all of it I totally agree,though.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yeah, it would have been probably the same or like a
similar outcome if it wouldhave been, yeah, like a black
cop shooting and killing a whiteman, but instead of having the
police department behind you,like it was in the case of the
cop that shot khalil, it wouldhave been the community as in,
like they would have been behindthe white person that was shot,
(39:11):
versus, like in this situation,where it's the police
department who's very much justjustifying and making excuses
for what happened.
It's just like a flippedscenario.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
So, uh, the next one that I have.
Uh, I've got another soundbitehere.
Uh, I'll, I'll just go aheadand play it.
It's uh's, I call it a dim orshining star grand jury.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Stuff like this ends up on the news.
People get death threats.
Cops target them.
What will it mean at school?
Will I suddenly be the poorgirl from the hood who saw her
friend get killed?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I just gotta be quiet so a dim or shining star speak
out or be retaliated against.
As you had written down here,star was initially so scared of
speaking out to defend khalil,and not just because of the
police, I mean, there werepeople in her own community that
were threatening her not totalk and not to testify.
(40:25):
She's facing retaliation fromboth law enforcement and her
neighbors If she says something.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
The system that's supposed to be there to protect
you, because it'd be differentif, say, it was a few people
from the neighborhood and youknow that you can rely on
systems like law enforcement tointervene and help you.
But yeah, when it's both, youare basically like you're
screwed.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
I don't blame her.
I think that's where a lot ofpeople, that's still why a lot
of people like, don't talk aboutthings like this, is because
it's oh, what are they going tosay?
What are they going to do?
Speaker 1 (41:01):
I don't have any protection threatened or killed
by the people who are supposedto be like family, or harassed,
threatened and killed by peoplewho swear an oath to protect you
and you can't count on eitherone for your safety.
(41:22):
That leaves you a little bitfeeling like you're just dangled
out in the fucking wind, like Imean, like you've got nowhere
to go, you've've got nobody tolean on, and and what the hell
are you supposed to do besides?
Stay quiet.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
And they do that on purpose.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Especially like we see it all the time, because,
yeah, whether it's like a reallywealthy family who is going to
hire the best lawyer in town andthey find ways around things,
or it's a situation like thisthat, yeah, like all systems on
each side are not going toadvocate for you and you're
going to be the only one, maybebesides, like a handful of
(42:00):
people in your immediate family,that's, I can't imagine many of
us would have done what sheultimately did and still stood
up.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
Yeah, I mean, she grabbed a bullhorn and got texts
from her mom complaining, youknow, about leading protests and
all that stuff.
I mean, the kind of strengththat that takes is is phenomenal
.
And and again, I think that alot of that speaks to to the
parents that gave her thoseethics and values, even though
(42:34):
they didn't know whether theywere.
I don't think that either hermom or dad knew what they wanted
her to do.
They just wanted her to do whatshe wanted to do, what she felt
she needed to.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
It was probably torn between, like, we know that
advocating is the best thing,but also it's their daughter and
they don't want to see anythinghappen to her because they know
it's.
They have seen it happen andthat's where, like, I wish we
knew the backstory behind whothey are as people and what
their life looked like yearsbefore and as parents.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Once people become parents, then that is 100.
Their job, like, yeah, youstill have to go to work and
make money and things like that,but after you're a parent, 100%
your job is to make sure thatthat person outlasts you.
Like, that is, that is 100%.
Everything that you, the fiberof your being, needs to go
towards is making sure that thatlittle human that you created
(43:30):
lives longer than you do like.
So when, when you have parentsin that kind of a situation,
they don't, they don't know whatthey want.
Um, so first off, kudos to themfor letting her decide what she
wanted to do oh my god, yeah Imean, she already had enough
damn pressure from everybodyelse, like the last thing she
(43:52):
needed was pressure from herparents.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
So and already going through that like identity
crisis of trying to figure outwho she is and wanting to
express herself but hating whenshe does it.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
And how she does it.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
The fact that she still had the courage to do what
she did, and it's sad because Ifeel like a lot of it was
almost like she's preparingherself for like.
All right, this is probablywhat this outcome is going to
look like, but at least I didsomething and at least I'm not
just going to let Khalil beanother statistic.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Right Now, another one that we kind of jumped over
pretty quick but we did.
We did kind of brush up againstthe topic earlier of Haley and
it's right after, right after,like a lot of this stuff starts
happening with the, you know,with her doing the interview and
all of that stuff then.
Then we get a whole differentthing with with Haley, and I've
(44:49):
got a soundbite here for that.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
So I guess you're not going to get over it anytime
soon.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Get over it.
Yes, Get over it.
You can't even see that you'reacting racist.
Huh Cause I'm not.
It's all our and us and blacklives matter, girl, Until you
clutch your purse when you're inthe elevator with the black
person, you don't need to usethe N-word and use a fire hose
on Black people to be racist.
Haley, You're different Star.
(45:24):
I'm different what I'm?
The non-threatening Black girl,yeah you are.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
Your friend wasn't.
He was a drug dealer.
So, first off, I'm going tostart by saying this interaction
and the interactions that areleading up to this with Haley,
that little actress isincredible.
Because, the only thing that Ihad seen her in previously was
Girl Meets World.
Uh-huh, in previously was girlmeets world and I I adored her
(45:57):
in that show and in this movie Ifucking hate her.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
I cannot stand her.
I've never hated her in a showor a movie until this yeah, wow,
like she's a really greatactress.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Just right there, because that if you can still
appreciate somebody for thetalent that they have and still
hate a character that theyportray, then then they're doing
a good job.
But yeah wow with this, withthis little interaction, the big
thing in this, I think, is theactive versus passive racism.
Star points out.
(46:30):
You know that you don't have touse a fire hose and use the N
word to be a racist.
The thing that I think that alot of people that is lost on a
lot of people, especially whenit comes to passive racists is
that it's not, it's notnecessarily hate as much as it
is biases, things like um, likeshe had mentioned.
It's all homegirl until you'reclutching your purse on an
(46:52):
elevator with a Black person.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
And she just happens to be one of the non-threatening
.
Black people and I think that'swhere a lot of Part of why I
hate her so much in this movieis because she represents too
much of the majority of thepopulation that are like, well,
I'm not racist, I have a friendthat's Black, or I'm not
(47:16):
homophobic, I have a friendthat's gay, but like that
doesn't mean you're beinganti-racist or you're being
anti-homophobic, like there issuch a huge difference.
I actually took a class on.
It was specifically on beinganti-racist and it was
eyeopening for this scenariobecause I'm sure a lot of us,
like growing up in small townMidwest, like we were like, oh I
, the people that understandthis issue and Haley very much
(47:53):
is the people that are closedminded and they don't give a
shit what you say and, honestly,it's probably not going to
matter what you say becausethey're still going to justify.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
They are already perfect.
They don't have to changeanything about themselves
because they are already perfect, just the way that they are.
Yeah, I did.
I did cut it off before that my, my producer just brought up
the phrase after that was thatsomebody was going to kill him
anyway.
There's a reason I cut that offbecause when I watched this
(48:24):
movie, that part enraged me.
I had to leave the room at justhow insensitive, uh and and
ignorant that phrase was.
Um, the lack of understandingand compassion that it would
take for somebody to forsomebody to think that is.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
I I can't comprehend it because again, what would it
have been if it was a white kidthat was shot?
Everybody would be mourning.
They probably closed downschool for the funeral vigil
there'd be, you know, lock-insthere'd be.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I mean, there would be funding, that there would be
some kind of a, some kind of afund that was made to to fix
whatever it was that hurt thatkid and and all this, there
would be t-shirts made within 24hours.
There would be people with within memorial on the on the back
window of their, of all thekids' cars and all of that stuff
(49:18):
instant goddamn taneously.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
And it would go on for years, like it would be if
there wouldn't be a oh.
You're not over it yet.
Speaker 1 (49:26):
Right, it would still be.
It would.
Speaker 3 (49:29):
yeah, those stickers would be on those back windows
for the next 25 goddamn years,until all the white trash got
rid of their cars like I mean it, just it would be, it would be
a an ongoing tradition and I'veunfortunately seen this not
specifically with like racism,but the kids that were affected
(49:51):
by mental health and they endedup dying as a result of that
when I was in high school.
Um, you'd see, like all thesekids that came from really
wealthy families, they havescholarships, they have annual
golf tournaments, just constantshit.
Like again, the school a schoolof like like 2000 kids shuts
down to go to this funeral,which is beautiful.
(50:12):
I love that, but like we didn't.
None of that happened when itwas a band kid or when it was a
kid that lived in a trailer.
Like out of the four or five inmy high school experience, one
of them, like one of these kids,got to be remembered the way
that they deserved and it's onlybecause they came from an all
American wealthy family.
(50:35):
And the same thing with this,like it's unfortunate because,
yeah, it would be totallydifferent if it was a white kid.
Yeah, even if he wasn't intothe things that he was, it would
be the same thing, like theywould find something else.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Right, and I think that a lot of the point of that
was missed too, because thedeeper point I don't think was
really was really pushedterribly hard, even in this
movie, and that is the kind ofplaces that black communities
are in, the opportunities thatthey have, the jobs that are
available, the amount of peoplethat live in the area versus the
(51:10):
number of jobs available, theopportunities that are presented
to young people just to make aliving are not always savory.
And I mean you can say what youwant about, yeah, well, move to
a different neighborhood.
Well, fuck you.
Where's the money to do that?
You know, I mean, there's somany different things that
prevent black kids and and kidsfrom those kinds of communities
(51:31):
to get out let alone findsomething better.
Speaker 3 (51:35):
Uh-huh Like.
There's kids even in our areathat have to walk to school and
hope that they don't experiencesome sort of discrimination or
violence walking to school.
And it's two miles away fromkids that get dropped off by
their parents and enter safely.
Like it's, and it's again allpurpose.
Like it's the red lining andthe opportunities are scarcely
(51:59):
available.
Because that's just.
I mean people could dosomething about it, but they
don't.
And it's because of the samethings it's.
No one wants to tackle theproblem, it's just easier to
deal with it.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Well, when, when the expectation is that young black
people are drug dealers, peoplewho have control over things
like zoning can say well, Idon't want black kid drug
dealers in my neighborhood.
So you know, I'm going to makethis zone this big so that I
can't, you know, and then I'mgoing to put a, a, an industrial
zone between them, and you know, but I want to make sure that
(52:35):
there's at least a commercialzone on my side so that it's not
all stinky and smoky, and youknow.
And then, oh, over there,huddled in the midst of all of
these warehouses, and you know,dangerous chemicals and
convenience stores, we're goingto put this neighborhood that is
just perfectly affordable forblack families that are
struggling?
(52:58):
God damn it, alexis.
I'm mad, I'm so mad.
Speaker 3 (53:03):
It's just yeah and that's what.
I just wish that everybodycould watch it, because there's
so many layers like it.
One layer leads to 14 justunder that umbrella right and
that's just what is soinfuriating.
And the more time goes on, themore it just like, unfortunately
resonates with you right.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
Really now we've kind of kind of, uh, we've kind of
run over a little bit.
I don don't mind, um, but uh.
So this is where we get to thepoint where I talk about the
active ingredient.
Uh, the thing, the thing thathas changed you, that has moved
you, that has that has beenmedicinal for you, uh, what,
what's your active ingredientwith this movie?
Speaker 3 (53:44):
I think mine is be a part of the resolution and don't
be a part of the problem.
And it doesn't mean you have todedicate literally anything
drastic or extreme in your life.
All it means is just do somedamn like research.
It doesn't take too much to goon Google and look at the facts,
look at what's given in frontof you and do something about it
(54:07):
, or just be aware of what'sgoing on around you.
Like I know for me, I'm a verynon-confrontational, not
assertive person, so I don'texpect anyone to go like start a
march or start a protest.
But if you see something, saysomething, stand up for people
that aren't allowed to use theirvoice by society and just be a
(54:29):
part of the change, because ifyou're not doing anything,
you're only making it worse.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
Right For me.
I can't really say that thishas a definitive active
ingredient for me, but what itwas was a good reminder to pay
attention First off to my whiteprivilege, because I think I
think, when forgetting thatwhite privilege is about the
(54:55):
time that it makes it easier forum, for that sneaky, passive
racism to come in.
And it also reminds me howimportant it is to to help where
I can, uh, and to do my part byby speaking up for sure.
Um, when met with a situationwhere I can make a difference,
(55:18):
it is my duty to do so.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
Exactly, yeah, and I think that's where a lot of
people get the whole likethought of white privilege wrong
as well.
What do I, what am I supposedto do about it?
It's like, just be aware, lookfor things that are actively
happening.
Whether you're at the grocerystore, you're in line at a
drive-thru, things happen everyday and you can either choose to
(55:41):
not see it or you can see itand be a voice for someone, and
it doesn't mean you have to gobe a public speaker.
It can literally just mean likeoffering emotional support for
someone or listening, because wealso can't go in and be like I
totally understand what you'regoing through, because we never
(56:03):
will Like we will neverunderstand.
But you can choose tounderstand to the best of your
ability.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
Right the boyfriend.
Speaker 3 (56:11):
For sure, and that's just what makes it more powerful
, too, is.
He's an awesome example, andthat's even like you do not have
to go that extreme, but justbeing there and doing as much as
you can.
Speaker 1 (56:23):
Yes, don't go walking into random drug dealers'
houses, and especially not whentheir wife is home by themselves
.
That is not a good idea.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (56:34):
We do not.
We do not condone this actionand and yeah, At any rate,
Thanks, Alexis, Thanks forcoming on, Thanks for bringing
me this movie.
I I hadn't watched it and I gotjust as fired up and pissed off
as I thought I would, but itreally was a good, unique
(56:54):
experience seeing this movie.
So thanks again for coming on.
Speaker 3 (56:59):
Of course, Thank you guys for having me.
Yeah, I think it was a goodopportunity to watch it and just
yeah, I think the more thingslike this are talked about, the
more it'll be understood andhopefully people understand it
in the way that it's supposed tobe sent and like message isn't
completely what the extremethoughts are on things like this
(57:20):
now.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Now, if you have a movie that's been medicine for
you and you'd like to be on theshow, you can email me at
contact at movie-rxcom.
You can also leave me avoicemail or a text at
402-519-5790.
If anxiety is what's keepingyou from being on, you can write
me a couple of paragraphs abouta movie and I can read them on
air.
Remember, this movie is notintended to treat, cure or
(57:43):
prevent any disease, and we'llsee you at the next appointment.
Thank you, Bye.
This episode of MovieRx contains discussion
about hot-button topics likerace and police brutality.
If this subject is triggeringfor you, it should be.
It should be triggering for allof us, but if you can't handle
it, step away and take the timeto see to your needs.
Thank you for listening.
Hello, and welcome to MovieRx,where I prescribe entertainment,
(00:45):
one movie at a time.
I am your host, dr Benjamin PhD.
What does the PhD stand for?
Today it's a message Preventhate and discrimination.
And my producer has steppedaway so she can't shake her head
at me or anything.
I think she would agree, though.
(01:05):
Today I have a guest.
I have a social worker out ofOmaha works with at-risk youth
who experience trauma factorslike poverty.
Today, my guest is Alexis.
Welcome, alexis.
Hello.
So the way that I typicallystart this thing is I will I'll
kind of talk about my initialimpression, impression about the
(01:25):
movie.
Uh, and it's usually a littlebit more technical as far as
this movie goes.
I might've seen the trailer forthis movie before it came out,
but oddly, I don't feel like itwas well-marketed.
I didn't.
I don't really remember seeinga whole lot of stuff about it
after it came out.
Um, and and that seems verystrange to me.
Um uh no, this is a movie thatyou brought me, so thank you for
(01:50):
bringing me this movie.
Today, we're going to talk aboutthe hate you give.
Uh.
This movie is a Fox 2000production, released in 2018,
directed by George Tillman jr.
Uh stars Amandla Stenberg,regina Hall and Russell Hornsby.
And the IMDb description onthis one.
(02:11):
Typically, alexis, imdbdescriptions are not typically
very good.
Let me hear your thoughts onthis one.
Star witnesses the fatalshooting of her childhood best
friend, khalil, at the hands ofa police officer.
Now, facing pressure from allsides of the community, star
must find her voice and stand upfor what's right.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That is the description for this movie on
IMDb.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
If this was a cupcake , that would be like the
frosting they're missing thewhole cake the whole cake is
gone.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yeah, the cake is gone.
It sounds like it sounds like ablues song actually.
Yep, so, um, now, my, myinitial movie impression with
this was that the cinematographyin this movie was excellent.
Uh, fantastic use of lightingto change moods, uh, portray
themes and and move emotions.
(03:11):
The music was good.
Dustin O'Halloran made theoriginal score.
Um, and and uh, some old schoolrap, tupac, uh, supported by
some more modern artists.
The music was really reallygood.
Um, but the, the star of thismovie really is the story, um,
the story was moving.
Uh, I have a hard time watchingthese movies, uh, as I, as I
(03:35):
tend to get really emotional,and not not always healthy
emotional.
I, I, I can sometimes get veryangry.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Um, when, when I watch movies like this sometimes
get very angry when I watchmovies like this.
How did you feel about themovie?
I felt really similar.
Honestly, you feel that angerand I think a lot of it.
For me is there's nothing thatone person can do to fix the
problem, and that was evenbefore seeing some of the things
(04:02):
that I have like it, of course,like resonated because we all
know, like police brutality is amajor, major issue, um racial
oppression, all of the things,and I think, seeing the story,
like I was like okay, this isvery upsetting.
And then I feel like it justgets more and more upsetting as
time goes on because we realizehow real this is and I think I
(04:27):
think that's kind of the point.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Um, this is almost like a I I feel like a love
letter to white people, like Idon't know if you remember that
show that was uh.
I think it was on netflixseveral, a few years ago.
I mean, I don't know, uh waslike, I think it was called like
dear white people or somethinglike that.
Um, but but this this feelslike a really good letter to uh,
(04:52):
to people who would becompletely ignorant of uh, of a
situation that they may notunderstand, and sometimes it's
just because there's no uh,there's no opportunity to.
I live in the Midwest but Ilive in, you know, south central
Nebraska.
There's not, there's not awhole lot of diversity here.
(05:14):
I mean it's, it's growing, butas I was growing, yeah, there
there wasn't really muchdiversity at all here at all
when I was, when I was in middleschool and in, uh, elementary
school, high school, even.
As far as the characters go, II've got some characters listed,
(05:34):
but there's just tons of themthat like and some of them kind
of surprised me at how much, howimportant they were to me uh,
as far as the story goes, kindof changed a little bit more
than what I thought they would.
So I don't know, I guess I kindof just want to talk about some
of our favorite characters.
Why don't you, why don't youstart?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
you give me, give me one of your favorite characters
um, as easy as it is, I woulddefinitely say star.
Seeing her growth throughoutthe movie and hearing her
narrative of like what is goingon?
How is she processing this?
What are her next steps?
She's just a very wise soul.
Two wives.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Like there were times like you just wanted to hug her
and be like, oh my gosh, I wishyou didn't know or have to know
about these things.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
And I just think, seeing her resiliency, yeah, she
, absolutely, she lives up toher name for sure, she's a star
well, and on top of that, Ithink that there's so much of
her story that we don't that shehas already lived.
Some of her story was not toldto us before before we come in
(06:45):
into the story, because, likethey talk about periodically
throughout the movie, they talkabout the hood trio.
You know how.
They were all Harry Potter fans, her and her two best friends,
and when the movie started oneof them was already dead.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Um, because because of similar, uh, similar
situation.
So it's like this is not newfor her.
I mean experiencing it the waythat she is, that she does in
this movie is new.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Like being that close to the situation was new, but
other than that, like this isnot, it's almost like just
tuesday yeah, for for this girla lot of, I think, the people
around her too, like death isvery like, oh, I'm gonna die
when I'm old.
And for her it's very muchopposite.
It's like this could be my lastday, my last five minutes, and
(07:41):
that's because of the traumathat, like, this poor child has
already gone through and I don'treally think that she before um
, the death of her friend thatwe see in the movie happen, um,
that she had actually likeprocessed through that.
I think, yeah, like you said,it was just so normal because
you don't know anythingdifferent.
(08:02):
And yeah, I think that is oneof the hardest things is, like
when you see them actively goingthrough it, but they don't
really know how bad it is.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Because for us, we look at it from the outside and
we're like, oh my god, like thispoor child, this family, like
very much has gone throughabsolute hell and, yeah, for
them it's just another, anotherday and you can definitely see
that divide, um, um, like I meanI I had put in here on on kind
of some of the talking points,the, um, you know, the the star,
(08:34):
versus Williamson star or star2.0, the, the one that she is at
home, uh in in garden Grove, Ithink is what it's called, uh in
in garden Grove, I think iswhat it's called, uh, and her,
when she's at school, are aretwo completely different people,
because the people that shesees at school they don't
(08:54):
understand it.
They don't, they're not a partof that life, they're not a part
of that culture or anything.
They a lot of them, like tothink that they are, but uh, but
she, she just plays along, uhin in a way that is very, uh,
vanilla.
But you can definitely see,like especially in some of the
situations that she comes inafter, after the the incident in
(09:16):
the movie, like the way thatpeople talk to her when she's,
when she's getting sick, sickafter she wakes up the first
time, going to sleep after her,after watching her friend get
shot.
Her dad says the first morningis always the worst yeah you
know, and and it's like, wait asecond.
Always like, like, like this isexpected, like this is almost a
(09:39):
rite of passage in like how manytimes have you gone through
this where?
you know what to expect and youknow how to prepare another
person and your child like heknew to be sitting next to her
bed when she woke up like Idon't know, I, I that comes back
to the whole white privilegething I, I never would have
(10:00):
thought of that.
Um, that's, that's somethingthat I never had to think about
and never would.
Because I, because I inherentlyhave something different about
me that protects me from that.
I guess I don't really want tojump too far into the into that
part of it, but at least notuntil we get into the talking
points.
Now, one one that I was kind ofsurprised with how I felt about
(10:23):
was her boyfriend.
I thought I was going to hatehim.
I really did.
I thought I was going to hatethat kid.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I thought he was going to be a villain, he was
going to be part of the awfulthings, and I was surprised.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
He was a little bit of a hero, a bit of a dork hero,
but a total hero, like some ofthe things that he did for star,
just because he cared for her,uh, went, went beyond reason and
went beyond logic and wentbeyond self-preservation.
Yeah self-preservation.
Yeah uh, I mean when, when hewalked into king's house with
(11:08):
star to go get seven I was likeI.
The first thing that happened,the first thing that went
through my mind was kid, get thefuck out of there.
What are you doing?
What are you doing in agangbanger's home when his, when
he's not home and his wife islike get out?
But it was.
But I mean, he, he didn't care,he didn't think twice about it,
(11:30):
he just went right up, got, youknow, helped, helped the kids
get out of the house, get intohis Range Rover and take off
like and, and then then tookthem to the rally, like the, the
, the protest downtown andeverything like that, and then
helped through that.
Yeah, I don't know I I reallyliked him.
What about what?
What about another one of yourfavorites?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
I would say star's mom, I think kind of like her
dad.
They always just like, knew howto comfort her, and it's
equally as sad as it is sweetbecause again, it's like they
are so prepared, it's just partof their routine, but I think
they were amazing and calm and,honestly, I I wish all parents
(12:11):
were like, were like they are,because they, yeah, just knew
what to expect.
Um, she was very, very like.
She gave star the space thatshe needed, but she was always
there and made herself availableand I think, yeah, that's part
of the reason why, too, I wisheveryone could watch this is
just get some points on be therefor your kids, because she did
(12:36):
it.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
It was kind of nice to have her there, because she
was there thinking the thingsthat nobody else was.
Like do we need to get a lawyerfor this girl Because the hood
isn't going to like her talking,but it's not the right thing to
not talk.
You know and and things like.
Like.
I mean, she was.
She was the first one to putherself in star's position and
be like.
(12:57):
Y'all need to take a moment andrecognize what.
What position this girl is in.
One of my other favorites wasMaverick, her dad, um.
I think the reason why why Iloved Maverick so much was
because he was, um, he was smartand understanding when he
needed to be.
He was tough when he needed tobe.
I know I know you're supposedto be mad at him for doing it
(13:20):
and everything, but like youknow, after after they have the
bullets going through thewindows and everything, but like
you know, after after they havethe bullets going through the
windows and everything, he, hegot his family safe and then he
went back because that sayssomething that a lot of people,
I think, don't understand.
That it is it's a little bitmachismo, but not really like
there's a thing about it.
That is just.
This is my home and I am hereto protect it.
(13:41):
I have what's important to meinside the home, somewhere safe
but, I am going to protect myhome.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
That he was able to do that.
That's something that you seein men, regardless of where they
live, what color they are.
Any of those things I would bethe same way.
And to see him be able to dothat full scope everything from
being supportive to beingprotector and then handing off
that mantle of pride to hisdaughter, especially like right
(14:11):
there at the end of the movie,it was just.
It was great.
I loved it.
Everything about Maverick wasjust really great for me.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I agree, I think a lot of parents in that situation
, like when the bullets wereflying, would have just like
gone out there and tried tofight whoever was doing that to
them and like not acting out oflike the fight or flight Like he
(14:46):
was very, very I can tell wherelike star got her wisdom and
her strength from and it'sabsolutely shown through, yeah,
both her mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, I think the uh like an important distinction
with that is that I think Ithink I would have felt
differently about Maverickleaving his family with Carlos.
I think he would.
I think I would have feltdifferently about Maverick
leaving his family with Carlos.
I think I would have feltdifferently about how he handled
that situation if, instead ofgoing to his home, he would have
gone looking for King.
Yeah, but he didn't.
He went to his home and hewaited, and that shows a lot of
(15:22):
wisdom and a lot of control.
Yeah, and again, I think thatshows a lot of wisdom and a lot
of control.
And again I think I think thatshows a lot of where star got it
.
Um, now, something that is kindof questionable is taking his
boy with him.
That was a little bit.
I was a little bit angry withhim about that.
Like you should have left yourkid at home.
I'm just saying, but, but atthe same time you know, um, I
(15:45):
mean I, I don't know the dynamicin that of you know, well, this
is going to be you someday andyou're going to have to learn
how to protect your home, youknow, or or that, but uh, but
either way, I don't know.
So in the talking points thefirst one I got on here is the
right at the very beginning ofthe movie the talk, uh, right
(16:08):
off the bat this movie got me,uh, it.
it was a kick in the teeth and akick in the stomach, um and it,
and it got very personal for me, uh, because he he was having a
very important talk with hisfamily, uh, with his children,
about, um, uh, about, aboutgrowing up as a black person.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
The realities that come with it.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And and the horrible truths that come with it.
And having that talk, my nephewis black and because we grew up
in a white neighborhood, we'reall white, we, we didn't know
about that, we didn't, we didn'tunderstand the talk and how
that needed to happen.
And so, uh, especially, youknow, in 2020 and 2021, when a
(16:59):
lot of that stuff really startedgetting thick it, it was kind
of scary to see some of thatstuff and and realize that in
some ways, we had kind ofdropped the ball by not having
this knowledge to give to, togive to my nephew, um and and so
.
So this movie got reallypersonal for me right from the
(17:21):
beginning.
It was kind it was.
It was really rough.
Uh, I mean, I, they didn't evenget the, they didn't even get
the damn name of the movie outbefore I started to, before I
started to get stinging in mynostrils, you know, like that,
that ouch you're already comingto like keep yourself composed
right it's, and it's like, okay,that's not even fair.
(17:44):
Damn you, alexis warned you guysbut uh but no, it was, it was,
that's.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That's the mark of a good movie, you know, one that
can really one that can reallyget to you that way, um I think
seeing that and seeing as, likesomeone who was born white, like
you, it's something that we'renever going to have to deal with
and that we're never going tounderstand, and I think that
makes it all the moreheartbreaking.
(18:25):
Anything within your power asone single person to make that
not happen and I think that'swhat's really, really hard is
knowing that I can do, I canlive my life completely normally
, as I usually would, and nothave to ever even think about
like what those kids had tothink about, because that had to
be traumatic, like as an adultto hear, but like thinking of a
kid, that's like it's evenharder yeah, like right right in
(18:48):
there with that talk, likeright at the tail end there, you
know, I mean he, he told themhow to how to handle a traffic
stop and then, and then he goesinto their, into the uh, into
the black panther you know ourown bill of rights kind of thing
um, which are very different.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I don't know if you've ever looked that up or
anything like that, but uh, it'sum, it is very different, but
God, I love them.
Like there's just there's a lotof message there and I mean I
could probably almost have awhole episode of of a podcast
just about that I know a littlepiece of the movie because it's
huge, like the meaning behind it.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, within the first five, ten minutes it's
like you can already.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
It's just very intentional and I think it
needed to happen the way that itdid and there's no easier way
to really to really start ajourney like that Than a great
big crash.
And they sure accomplished it.
Oh yeah, for sure.
So one of the next points I hadon here Was the Star versus
(19:56):
Williamson Star.
It's weird to me how she startsdiscussing Star Versus.
Star 2.0 at school because, likeI mean, she's making all these
comparisons like and it and itfeels very much like like she's
talking about cutting parts ofherself out just to be normal,
(20:19):
yeah, um, and it's like, well, Imean, is that really normal
then?
Like, cause, again my whiteprivilege?
I grew up everybody telling meto be yourself, just be yourself
, you know, and things like that.
But she talks about how goingto school slang makes star hood,
(20:42):
that she hates that, she doesit, but she still does it.
Um, has that been somethingyou've ever noticed somebody
doing?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Um, yeah, just like every day atwork, Um, we have some kids
that are closer to like themiddle school age and it's
already a hard age because youalready, like, want to fit in
with your peers.
You try to wear the same clothes, you look for the same brand,
like you want all of the things,just so that you stand out in a
(21:13):
positive way and not in like a,an outsider way.
But to add on on top of oh yeah, this language, like these
people around me aren't going tounderstand, so I'm going to
keep it on the down low, butit's okay if they say it and if
I try to join in or if I repeatthe same thing, it's going to be
taken very, very serious orlike on a very, very different
(21:34):
level, and I can definitely seethat.
And just like blending thedifferent, diverse backgrounds
and it is very sad becauseyou're already going through a
hard time at that age again,like just trying to fit in, so
to add in like just things thatthe way that you joke, the way
that you talk, the differentslang, the different words that
(21:56):
you use at home, where you'reable to do that and be
completely yourself, and thenyou have to almost like mute
yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, and when you think about it, it's like,
especially in that kind of asituation, you're stuck trying
to find your identity twice.
You're you're stuck trying tofind your identity at home and
with your friends at home andyour friends in your
neighborhood and you knowwhatever.
And then you're also stucktrying to find yourself at
school, with your friends atschool, and I mean it's just, uh
(22:30):
, and.
And then in in that placethere's a, there's, you know,
your friends at school, in class, and your friends in activities
and your friends in.
So the struggle of of findingwhere you fit, uh is already
difficult enough without havingto manufacture one that is
completely out of your control.
Uh, that is.
(22:51):
Yeah, it is.
That is out of your realm ofcontrol.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yeah, um, and a lot of kids haven't even processed
like that race has even.
I mean you know it's present,but yeah, a lot of kids like you
don't imagine them to have toprocess those things, because
you think of kids and you thinkof like innocence and not having
to have that stressor or haveany of those like extra layers
(23:17):
that you have to worry about.
And that's what she probablysees, the kids around her and
she's like, why, like, are theyhaving to go home and be a
completely different person?
Are they having to come hereand be a chameleon?
And it's I think she isstarting to recognize that in
this point in the movie andshe's like, okay, like I, I
(23:39):
think I'm the only one around methat's having to be a chameleon
and read the room.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Right now, uh, shortly shortly after, we
learned a lot about uh star andher life at school, her life at
home, things like that.
Uh, that's when we meet Khalilum, which I I just think that's
the coolest damn name ever,khalil, like I just I love it.
But we meet Khalil and at firstwe like him and then we like
(24:11):
him a little bit more, but thenthen we're like, oh God man,
like when he goes and kisses herwhen she has a boyfriend, he
knows it, and all that otherstuff.
And then and then you, then youjust absolutely love the guy
when he says it's okay, we gottime, and you're just like, okay
, this guy, this guy is so cool,he has taken some cool from
(24:34):
everybody else.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Seriously.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Like all the rest of the guys, just to be that cool.
And seriously, what girldoesn't want to hear that?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Very similar to like her emotional and like wise
level, and I think that's why,like they gravitated toward each
other because, yeah, especiallyat that age, I feel like most
boys or they wouldn't even havea second thought.
Yeah, like kind of knew thatthis would create problems for
her and he respected her enoughto be like okay, like this isn't
(25:05):
the right time.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
But right, no, it was it.
The with as much, with as muchas they were able to pack into
that, I don't, I don't even knowit was five minutes, but there
was.
There was not a lot ofinteraction with him on the
screen and by the the end of it,you love the guy.
Yeah.
And then he goes to take herhome and gets pulled over after
(25:30):
moving, you know, a hundred feet.
Yeah.
As they pull away, he getspulled over and then and then we
get put into a into a situationwhere star knows exactly what
to do because her dad had totalk with her and so she's
trying to execute.
Khalil is not going along withit.
(25:51):
She is urging him, she ispleading with him to just do as
he's told, and things like that.
And the situation gets hairywith the officer.
He ends up getting taken out ofthe car.
Situation gets hairy with theofficer.
He ends up getting taken out ofthe car.
The officer is going back to golook at his information and he
reaches in and grabs a hairbrush, puts it up against the side of
(26:12):
his head to brush his hair alittle bit and gets shot.
I believe it's three times andthat is the event.
I mean, that's the thing thatreally kicks off.
Uh, the rest of this movie, umand, and it's pretty intense.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
The whole lifetime that you've like gotten to know
these people.
And yeah, didn't even fullykick off yet.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, I was going to say I don't think it was 20
minutes in that all of thishappens.
But this girl can act that whenhe got her cuffed and put onto
the ground next to the tire ofthat car and she was screaming
at him talking to Khalil whilehe was laying on the ground, God
(27:02):
, she could, really.
She could just reach into andgrab those emotions and really
start pulling them out.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You can just tell it came from the soul.
I feel like part of thatabsolutely acting, but part of
it.
She probably felt reallysimilarly to how we feel and
yeah, that's just the emotionand like the genuine.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So the next part that I have here.
I've got two sound bites.
These are two sound bites fromthe interview with the police
after the shooting.
The first one is the first half.
And then mom kind of steps inand says hey, I need you to give
her a moment.
They give her a little bit oftime, star says she's ready to
go and then they startquestioning her again and I
(27:47):
split this up into those twodifferent sections.
So here's the first one.
Witnesses of the party statedthat there was an altercation
and gunshots.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
Did Khalil have anything to do with it?
I mean, no, we were justtalking.
(28:18):
When the fight broke out, heoffered to take me home because
he wanted to make sure that Igot home safely.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
And that's when 115 pulled us over for no reason.
Who the officer?
That's his badge number.
I remember it, star, do you?
Speaker 4 (28:29):
know why Khalil reached into the car.
I think he was checking to seethat I was okay.
You think you don't know?
No, I don't know, because,because that's what had happened
, did you and Khalil.
Would you please just give hera second?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
So that was the first half of the interview, and the
reason why this little bit kindof stood out to me a little bit
was because they were talkingnothing about except what
happened before, which I mean, alittle bit of that is to be
expected with any kind ofinvestigation.
Usually it's not that muchfurther before, usually it's
just you know the events leadingup immediately to whatever
(29:12):
point.
But I mean they're talkingabout potentially an hour and a
half, two hours before andthey're really they're really
focusing on on where Khalil isand and kind of what.
Uh, what his frame of mind is,whether he's inebriated or
otherwise compromised.
Yeah, I don't think they werebeing so transparent that it was
(29:34):
getting past them.
Yet here in the second half ofthe interview I think we kind of
see a little bit of a change inthe direction that things are
going.
Did you drink alcohol at?
Speaker 4 (29:45):
the party.
No, I don't drink.
Did Khalil?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Not that I saw Did you ever see Khalil sell
narcotics?
Speaker 4 (29:52):
No, I never personally saw Khalil sell drugs
or do drugs, but you knew thathe did.
You have not asked my daughterone question about the cop.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
We just want the whole picture.
Why don't you?
Speaker 4 (30:01):
ask questions about what happened.
115 killed Khal Kalou and hedidn't do anything wrong, so I
don't know what more of a biggerpicture you need.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
And then that's that's where they kind of uh I,
I think I've got a, uh somebodythat I once heard say the say
the phrase showed their ass.
I mean, they, they weren'tbeing bashful at all.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Like I think, honestly, they were trying to
find quote unquote, likejustification for what they did,
because they knew that therewas absolutely no reason to even
pull him over in the firstplace, let alone do what they
did shoot him three times right,and I think it was really like
it was the start of the what'sthe word?
Almost making him a villain,like villainizing the victim.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Instead of focusing on what the hell just happened.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Right Like trying to solve the problem.
Just kind of gloss over anythingthat had anything to do with
that.
They would have to find someway to turn him into a villain,
I mean, and you can see thatwhen he's got her handcuffed and
on the ground and then he, uh,he's got the gun pointed at
(31:11):
khalil on the ground after he'salready been shot three times,
and he says where's the weapon,where's the gun?
And then he's looking aroundfor it and then the only thing
he finds is a hairbrush.
And he realizes and and I meanyou see it in his face shit like
, oh god, what the fuck did Ijust do?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
and he knows he's screwed.
He feels bad it's.
Yeah, he knows he's screwed itends up.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
we find out, uh, at a get together in the
neighborhood that he's notscrewed.
Uh, carlos comes around andtells maverick and and star and,
uh, the rest of theneighborhood that he's not
screwed.
Carlos comes around and tellsMaverick and Star and the rest
of the family that he's gettingput on paid leave and then
that's his punishment and thatif they want to press the issue,
that it's going to go to agrand jury.
Really doesn't sound like he'sterribly screwed there.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
That is when I watched this.
When it first came out I waslike thank God, this doesn't
happen in real life.
And then look at where we're atnow.
Like it it literally happensevery day, wearing Did you drink
(32:20):
alcohol.
Like they're focusing on tryingto find a why when the why is
very much clear and that's onlybecause someone took advantage
and someone like victimized thisperson.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Right Now.
One of the next talking pointsthat we have on here is one that
you would put in I like it thehairbrush and how it represents
racial oppression, thediscrimination that's still that
has been and still occurringtoday.
Tell me a little bit about whyyou put that on there.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
I mean, there's been so many instances, even a few
weeks ago with the boiling water, like it.
It's the hairbrush, it's theboiling water, it I think it was
a wall at one time Like it, Ithink it was a wall at one time
like it's just a nonstop andunfortunate reality that we live
in at this point.
(33:10):
And I think, yeah, initiallywhen I had watched the movie, it
was like, oh, okay, like yeah,we don't ever have to think of
this happening in real life.
But it does.
And it's not even about theperson.
It's just literally looking attheir race or who they're
hanging out with.
It's trying to justify a reasonwhy racial oppression is okay
(33:32):
and even, kind of, like we hadtalked about earlier, they're
not admitting to like, yeah, I'ma racist person.
No, they don't do that.
It's the actions and thecontinuous pattern of what we
see happening.
And it's kind of eerie because,yeah, like it was happening
before this movie came out, andthis movie, like you said to
like wasn't mainstreamed near asmuch as it should have been.
(33:54):
And I wish people could seethis because I feel like they
would also understand thatsomething as simple as a
hairbrush or like reaching for apen, like it's totally
different, as if you or I wereto do that or if it was Khalil
like it.
It's very, very unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Well, and and that also kind of brings to mind a
conversation that star has withCarlos later, when, when he's
talking to her trying to get herto understand a policeman's
side of it, and he tells star,you know, it's not always easy
because you don't know like, youknow what, if he's been using
and he's high, and if they're,if they're conversing in the car
(34:34):
, they might be trying tocorroborate a story.
If he reaches in the car, hecould be reaching for a weapon
and things like that.
And what do I do?
I shoot, you know.
And and she said, well, yeah,but what if that's a white man?
You know, are you still gonna?
Are you still going to tell himto shoot?
Are you going to tell him toput his hands up?
And then it's almost like itgot ripped out of him and he
(34:56):
says I say put your hands up.
And I don't know, I've.
I know officers on so manydifferent levels, some that you
know I've, I've worked with whenI was working at the paper.
You know officers in my family,officers that I've worked with
in the past at various otherdifferent jobs, ones that I've
(35:16):
just known from the communitythat I grew up in, and it's all
over the place.
Yeah, I have officers that I'veknown for years that have told
me that they don't know how tochange it, but that it is
different.
They will tell you I treat ablack man differently than I
treat a white man.
And some of these officers thatI've talked to that say that
(35:37):
are also officers of color andthey don't know why.
And every single one of themthat you know that that at least
acknowledges that they do thatwill tell you that they hate,
that they do and that they wishthat they could change it.
They just don't know how.
My producer just reminded me ofof a mutual friend of ours that
(35:57):
had the same thing happen in themilitary with when serving
overseas in in Afghanistan.
He wishes that he could changethe way that he views people
from the Middle East.
He just he doesn't know how,because they are somehow made to
be perceived as being the enemyin some way for so long that it
becomes this hateful part ofyourself and it's a struggle, I
(36:21):
think, for on any level to thinkabout any kind of compassion.
Uh, just how difficult thatcould be.
As Carlos is talking andtalking about these things, I I
sympathize with him on somelevel because?
Because, yes, being a policeofficer is a very difficult job
and it is very dangerous, butthat doesn't mean that that that
(36:43):
justifies that a black manbeing shot doesn't need to be
treated the proper way.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
All of us I mean we all have to unlearn biases.
Whether it's, it doesn't matterwhat it even applies to, like
(37:10):
it could be something so smalland it could be something major,
like this.
And you have to work throughunlearning those and you have to
think through processes.
And it's scary, like even justin the recent events, that you
had just some officers.
They know that there's aproblem and they don't think
before they do things like that.
Because, yeah, like you said,if it was a white man, they
(37:34):
probably would have said, like,put your hands up, they would
have taken a second to assessthe situation.
Like, even when you're doing CPRon someone, you're not just
going to go in and start like,you have to assess the situation
, like, look what's around you.
Even if it's a very intensesituation, situation, it should
be no different with this.
And I feel like the oppressionthat's in all of us, like the
(37:55):
instinct that some people havenot unlearned or even
acknowledged is they just startshooting.
And I think what gets me too isshooting three times and
shooting in places that you it'snot shooting to protect
yourself, it's shooting to kill.
And that's where, like, whatare cops have tasers for?
Aren't those supposed to comefirst and it's, it's insane.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
And yeah, I wish I could say like oh, it's not this
extreme, but it is this extremeanother thing to think about as
far as carlos is concerned,something that I think maybe
doesn't get thought about enougheither.
You know, carlos says if thatman that reaches into the car is
a white man.
He says put your hands up.
Is that because he doesn't wantto be a black officer that just
(38:43):
shot a white man?
Speaker 4 (38:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
I mean, is that part of it too?
You know, I mean there's somany different levels to all of
it too.
You know, I mean there'sthere's so many different levels
to all of it I totally agree,though.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yeah, it would have been probably the same or like a
similar outcome if it wouldhave been, yeah, like a black
cop shooting and killing a whiteman, but instead of having the
police department behind you,like it was in the case of the
cop that shot khalil, it wouldhave been the community as in,
like they would have been behindthe white person that was shot,
(39:11):
versus, like in this situation,where it's the police
department who's very much justjustifying and making excuses
for what happened.
It's just like a flippedscenario.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
So, uh, the next one that I have.
Uh, I've got another soundbitehere.
Uh, I'll, I'll just go aheadand play it.
It's uh's, I call it a dim orshining star grand jury.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Stuff like this ends up on the news.
People get death threats.
Cops target them.
What will it mean at school?
Will I suddenly be the poorgirl from the hood who saw her
friend get killed?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I just gotta be quiet so a dim or shining star speak
out or be retaliated against.
As you had written down here,star was initially so scared of
speaking out to defend khalil,and not just because of the
police, I mean, there werepeople in her own community that
were threatening her not totalk and not to testify.
(40:25):
She's facing retaliation fromboth law enforcement and her
neighbors If she says something.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
The system that's supposed to be there to protect
you, because it'd be differentif, say, it was a few people
from the neighborhood and youknow that you can rely on
systems like law enforcement tointervene and help you.
But yeah, when it's both, youare basically like you're
screwed.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
I don't blame her.
I think that's where a lot ofpeople, that's still why a lot
of people like, don't talk aboutthings like this, is because
it's oh, what are they going tosay?
What are they going to do?
Speaker 1 (41:01):
I don't have any protection threatened or killed
by the people who are supposedto be like family, or harassed,
threatened and killed by peoplewho swear an oath to protect you
and you can't count on eitherone for your safety.
(41:22):
That leaves you a little bitfeeling like you're just dangled
out in the fucking wind, like Imean, like you've got nowhere
to go, you've've got nobody tolean on, and and what the hell
are you supposed to do besides?
Stay quiet.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
And they do that on purpose.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Especially like we see it all the time, because,
yeah, whether it's like a reallywealthy family who is going to
hire the best lawyer in town andthey find ways around things,
or it's a situation like thisthat, yeah, like all systems on
each side are not going toadvocate for you and you're
going to be the only one, maybebesides, like a handful of
(42:00):
people in your immediate family,that's, I can't imagine many of
us would have done what sheultimately did and still stood
up.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
Yeah, I mean, she grabbed a bullhorn and got texts
from her mom complaining, youknow, about leading protests and
all that stuff.
I mean, the kind of strengththat that takes is is phenomenal
.
And and again, I think that alot of that speaks to to the
parents that gave her thoseethics and values, even though
(42:34):
they didn't know whether theywere.
I don't think that either hermom or dad knew what they wanted
her to do.
They just wanted her to do whatshe wanted to do, what she felt
she needed to.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
It was probably torn between, like, we know that
advocating is the best thing,but also it's their daughter and
they don't want to see anythinghappen to her because they know
it's.
They have seen it happen andthat's where, like, I wish we
knew the backstory behind whothey are as people and what
their life looked like yearsbefore and as parents.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Once people become parents, then that is 100.
Their job, like, yeah, youstill have to go to work and
make money and things like that,but after you're a parent, 100%
your job is to make sure thatthat person outlasts you.
Like, that is, that is 100%.
Everything that you, the fiberof your being, needs to go
towards is making sure that thatlittle human that you created
(43:30):
lives longer than you do like.
So when, when you have parentsin that kind of a situation,
they don't, they don't know whatthey want.
Um, so first off, kudos to themfor letting her decide what she
wanted to do oh my god, yeah Imean, she already had enough
damn pressure from everybodyelse, like the last thing she
(43:52):
needed was pressure from herparents.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
So and already going through that like identity
crisis of trying to figure outwho she is and wanting to
express herself but hating whenshe does it.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
And how she does it.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
The fact that she still had the courage to do what
she did, and it's sad because Ifeel like a lot of it was
almost like she's preparingherself for like.
All right, this is probablywhat this outcome is going to
look like, but at least I didsomething and at least I'm not
just going to let Khalil beanother statistic.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Right Now, another one that we kind of jumped over
pretty quick but we did.
We did kind of brush up againstthe topic earlier of Haley and
it's right after, right after,like a lot of this stuff starts
happening with the, you know,with her doing the interview and
all of that stuff then.
Then we get a whole differentthing with with Haley, and I've
(44:49):
got a soundbite here for that.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
So I guess you're not going to get over it anytime
soon.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Get over it.
Yes, Get over it.
You can't even see that you'reacting racist.
Huh Cause I'm not.
It's all our and us and blacklives matter, girl, Until you
clutch your purse when you're inthe elevator with the black
person, you don't need to usethe N-word and use a fire hose
on Black people to be racist.
Haley, You're different Star.
(45:24):
I'm different what I'm?
The non-threatening Black girl,yeah you are.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
Your friend wasn't.
He was a drug dealer.
So, first off, I'm going tostart by saying this interaction
and the interactions that areleading up to this with Haley,
that little actress isincredible.
Because, the only thing that Ihad seen her in previously was
Girl Meets World.
Uh-huh, in previously was girlmeets world and I I adored her
(45:57):
in that show and in this movie Ifucking hate her.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
I cannot stand her.
I've never hated her in a showor a movie until this yeah, wow,
like she's a really greatactress.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Just right there, because that if you can still
appreciate somebody for thetalent that they have and still
hate a character that theyportray, then then they're doing
a good job.
But yeah wow with this, withthis little interaction, the big
thing in this, I think, is theactive versus passive racism.
Star points out.
(46:30):
You know that you don't have touse a fire hose and use the N
word to be a racist.
The thing that I think that alot of people that is lost on a
lot of people, especially whenit comes to passive racists is
that it's not, it's notnecessarily hate as much as it
is biases, things like um, likeshe had mentioned.
It's all homegirl until you'reclutching your purse on an
(46:52):
elevator with a Black person.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
And she just happens to be one of the non-threatening
.
Black people and I think that'swhere a lot of Part of why I
hate her so much in this movieis because she represents too
much of the majority of thepopulation that are like, well,
I'm not racist, I have a friendthat's Black, or I'm not
(47:16):
homophobic, I have a friendthat's gay, but like that
doesn't mean you're beinganti-racist or you're being
anti-homophobic, like there issuch a huge difference.
I actually took a class on.
It was specifically on beinganti-racist and it was
eyeopening for this scenariobecause I'm sure a lot of us,
like growing up in small townMidwest, like we were like, oh I
, the people that understandthis issue and Haley very much
(47:53):
is the people that are closedminded and they don't give a
shit what you say and, honestly,it's probably not going to
matter what you say becausethey're still going to justify.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
They are already perfect.
They don't have to changeanything about themselves
because they are already perfect, just the way that they are.
Yeah, I did.
I did cut it off before that my, my producer just brought up
the phrase after that was thatsomebody was going to kill him
anyway.
There's a reason I cut that offbecause when I watched this
(48:24):
movie, that part enraged me.
I had to leave the room at justhow insensitive, uh and and
ignorant that phrase was.
Um, the lack of understandingand compassion that it would
take for somebody to forsomebody to think that is.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
I I can't comprehend it because again, what would it
have been if it was a white kidthat was shot?
Everybody would be mourning.
They probably closed downschool for the funeral vigil
there'd be, you know, lock-insthere'd be.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I mean, there would be funding, that there would be
some kind of a, some kind of afund that was made to to fix
whatever it was that hurt thatkid and and all this, there
would be t-shirts made within 24hours.
There would be people with within memorial on the on the back
window of their, of all thekids' cars and all of that stuff
(49:18):
instant goddamn taneously.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
And it would go on for years, like it would be if
there wouldn't be a oh.
You're not over it yet.
Speaker 1 (49:26):
Right, it would still be.
It would.
Speaker 3 (49:29):
yeah, those stickers would be on those back windows
for the next 25 goddamn years,until all the white trash got
rid of their cars like I mean it, just it would be, it would be
a an ongoing tradition and I'veunfortunately seen this not
specifically with like racism,but the kids that were affected
(49:51):
by mental health and they endedup dying as a result of that
when I was in high school.
Um, you'd see, like all thesekids that came from really
wealthy families, they havescholarships, they have annual
golf tournaments, just constantshit.
Like again, the school a schoolof like like 2000 kids shuts
down to go to this funeral,which is beautiful.
(50:12):
I love that, but like we didn't.
None of that happened when itwas a band kid or when it was a
kid that lived in a trailer.
Like out of the four or five inmy high school experience, one
of them, like one of these kids,got to be remembered the way
that they deserved and it's onlybecause they came from an all
American wealthy family.
(50:35):
And the same thing with this,like it's unfortunate because,
yeah, it would be totallydifferent if it was a white kid.
Yeah, even if he wasn't intothe things that he was, it would
be the same thing, like theywould find something else.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Right, and I think that a lot of the point of that
was missed too, because thedeeper point I don't think was
really was really pushedterribly hard, even in this
movie, and that is the kind ofplaces that black communities
are in, the opportunities thatthey have, the jobs that are
available, the amount of peoplethat live in the area versus the
(51:10):
number of jobs available, theopportunities that are presented
to young people just to make aliving are not always savory.
And I mean you can say what youwant about, yeah, well, move to
a different neighborhood.
Well, fuck you.
Where's the money to do that?
You know, I mean, there's somany different things that
prevent black kids and and kidsfrom those kinds of communities
(51:31):
to get out let alone findsomething better.
Speaker 3 (51:35):
Uh-huh Like.
There's kids even in our areathat have to walk to school and
hope that they don't experiencesome sort of discrimination or
violence walking to school.
And it's two miles away fromkids that get dropped off by
their parents and enter safely.
Like it's, and it's again allpurpose.
Like it's the red lining andthe opportunities are scarcely
(51:59):
available.
Because that's just.
I mean people could dosomething about it, but they
don't.
And it's because of the samethings it's.
No one wants to tackle theproblem, it's just easier to
deal with it.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Well, when, when the expectation is that young black
people are drug dealers, peoplewho have control over things
like zoning can say well, Idon't want black kid drug
dealers in my neighborhood.
So you know, I'm going to makethis zone this big so that I
can't, you know, and then I'mgoing to put a, a, an industrial
zone between them, and you know, but I want to make sure that
(52:35):
there's at least a commercialzone on my side so that it's not
all stinky and smoky, and youknow.
And then, oh, over there,huddled in the midst of all of
these warehouses, and you know,dangerous chemicals and
convenience stores, we're goingto put this neighborhood that is
just perfectly affordable forblack families that are
struggling?
(52:58):
God damn it, alexis.
I'm mad, I'm so mad.
Speaker 3 (53:03):
It's just yeah and that's what.
I just wish that everybodycould watch it, because there's
so many layers like it.
One layer leads to 14 justunder that umbrella right and
that's just what is soinfuriating.
And the more time goes on, themore it just like, unfortunately
resonates with you right.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
Really now we've kind of kind of, uh, we've kind of
run over a little bit.
I don don't mind, um, but uh.
So this is where we get to thepoint where I talk about the
active ingredient.
Uh, the thing, the thing thathas changed you, that has moved
you, that has that has beenmedicinal for you, uh, what,
what's your active ingredientwith this movie?
Speaker 3 (53:44):
I think mine is be a part of the resolution and don't
be a part of the problem.
And it doesn't mean you have todedicate literally anything
drastic or extreme in your life.
All it means is just do somedamn like research.
It doesn't take too much to goon Google and look at the facts,
look at what's given in frontof you and do something about it
(54:07):
, or just be aware of what'sgoing on around you.
Like I know for me, I'm a verynon-confrontational, not
assertive person, so I don'texpect anyone to go like start a
march or start a protest.
But if you see something, saysomething, stand up for people
that aren't allowed to use theirvoice by society and just be a
(54:29):
part of the change, because ifyou're not doing anything,
you're only making it worse.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
Right For me.
I can't really say that thishas a definitive active
ingredient for me, but what itwas was a good reminder to pay
attention First off to my whiteprivilege, because I think I
think, when forgetting thatwhite privilege is about the
(54:55):
time that it makes it easier forum, for that sneaky, passive
racism to come in.
And it also reminds me howimportant it is to to help where
I can, uh, and to do my part byby speaking up for sure.
Um, when met with a situationwhere I can make a difference,
(55:18):
it is my duty to do so.
Speaker 3 (55:20):
Exactly, yeah, and I think that's where a lot of
people get the whole likethought of white privilege wrong
as well.
What do I, what am I supposedto do about it?
It's like, just be aware, lookfor things that are actively
happening.
Whether you're at the grocerystore, you're in line at a
drive-thru, things happen everyday and you can either choose to
(55:41):
not see it or you can see itand be a voice for someone, and
it doesn't mean you have to gobe a public speaker.
It can literally just mean likeoffering emotional support for
someone or listening, because wealso can't go in and be like I
totally understand what you'regoing through, because we never
(56:03):
will Like we will neverunderstand.
But you can choose tounderstand to the best of your
ability.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
Right the boyfriend.
Speaker 3 (56:11):
For sure, and that's just what makes it more powerful
, too, is.
He's an awesome example, andthat's even like you do not have
to go that extreme, but justbeing there and doing as much as
you can.
Speaker 1 (56:23):
Yes, don't go walking into random drug dealers'
houses, and especially not whentheir wife is home by themselves
.
That is not a good idea.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (56:34):
We do not.
We do not condone this actionand and yeah, At any rate,
Thanks, Alexis, Thanks forcoming on, Thanks for bringing
me this movie.
I I hadn't watched it and I gotjust as fired up and pissed off
as I thought I would, but itreally was a good, unique
(56:54):
experience seeing this movie.
So thanks again for coming on.
Speaker 3 (56:59):
Of course, Thank you guys for having me.
Yeah, I think it was a goodopportunity to watch it and just
yeah, I think the more thingslike this are talked about, the
more it'll be understood andhopefully people understand it
in the way that it's supposed tobe sent and like message isn't
completely what the extremethoughts are on things like this
(57:20):
now.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Now, if you have a movie that's been medicine for
you and you'd like to be on theshow, you can email me at
contact at movie-rxcom.
You can also leave me avoicemail or a text at
402-519-5790.
If anxiety is what's keepingyou from being on, you can write
me a couple of paragraphs abouta movie and I can read them on
air.
Remember, this movie is notintended to treat, cure or
(57:43):
prevent any disease, and we'llsee you at the next appointment.
Thank you, Bye.
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Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.