Blind Faith
Quill Wordsmith
wordsmith@excapethematrix.com
Picture the Jena Six, except 50 some years ago. Instead of the heated racial
tension of the south, let’s make the setting Manhattan. What’s the crime? An
African American male in his twenties is accused of assaulting a white male
around the same age. But what comes out through the court involvement is a
secret far deeper and even greater than the obvious.
"This
wasn’t just a struggle for innocence, but a struggle to keep a family’s secret
as quietly kept as possible."
The film Blind Faith starts off with two black young males walking
through a park when a group of whites begin to harass and taunt them. What does
the obvious say? The obvious says that the brutality brought forth by the
African American male was a demonstration of self defense. And this is what is
to be mentioned by his lawyer in the courtroom. However, there’s something else
underlying throughout the movie. The racial tension of the time period plays a
part in it but there’s something else that occurs with the actors.
"The
racial tension of the time period plays a part in it but there’s something else
that occurs with the actors."
How do you approach this? Your elements consists of an all white jury, a black lawyer/uncle vs. a white lawyer and an issue in society that is just as prominent as assault and battery between two races. How do you approach the newfound element and long kept secret of the sexual orientation of the African American boys? Was it an act of self defense physically? Was it an act of defending civil liberties as an African American adolescent in 1950s Manhattan? Was this a cry for those in the gay community and an attempt to build up their voice? This wasn’t just a struggle for innocence, but a struggle to keep a family’s secret as quietly kept as possible.
Perhaps it was all three.
Be sure to check out this HBO original, Blind Faith, and see the shocking verdict reached. With an all star cast including Courtney Vance (Dangerous Minds, The Preacher’s Wife), Kadeem Hardison (A Different World, The Sixth Man), and Garland Whitt (Save the Last Dance, Hurricane). Though the movie is rated R, it’s definitely a must see for all.
:qws: