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The overall objective of the film was to convey the struggles of Black Americans, especially against institutions that have profited and progressed off Black trauma while keeping us inferior. His most recent work, “Da 5 Bloods,” discloses the horrors of war, the unintended results of it and the dangers of trying to retrieve things that may need to stay buried. Spike Lee has never been one to shy away from topics involving Black trauma either. The movie coined the phrase “the sunken place,” where the minds of Black individuals are manipulated in hopes of obtaining a certain social status within white society. Movies such as “Get Out,” directed by Jordan Peele, follow the same trend. The stories embedded in trauma have taken young lives and have left communities mourning, all in the hopes of gaining an equal spot on society’s playing grounds. Black trauma is not a trend or a fab, and it shouldn’t help line directors’ pockets. It’s a system the film industry has been able to analyze, but fails to actually rectify or reform.Ī commitment to justice requires more than just merely presenting the issue – a quite profitable issue at that. As a result, it swayed the audience to see the trauma experienced by Black men and the criminal justice system. The movie focuses on the false execution of a Black man that forced the wardens and guards of the prison to question the morality of the system they took part in. Let’s dive in.Ī great deal of famous films depicting Black individuals have been centered on traumatic experiences, such as “The Green Mile” based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. The painful plotlines and tearful tropes are especially prevalent in mainstream movies.
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African Americans have endured a massive amount of trauma over the course of American history, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that the media – an institution rife with racism – furthers the cycle by exploiting our suffering. Merriam Webster dictionary defines trauma as a “disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury ,” a feeling rooted in the Black experience. The media, specifically film directors, have a monopoly-like grip on the genre of trauma. Some of these tropes might seem harmless, like the stories of love, loss, mystery and war that have headlined box offices for decades. There are several rules within the entertainment industry that are used to enhance the sale of a product.
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