The Color of Justice

      "Mr. Marshall may serve as co-council, but he may not speak. Mr. Friedman will try this case. Should he speak or have any unwarranted communication, I will find him in contempt of court immediately," says the judge with pure hatred in his eyes for the greatest lawyer of all time. "But sir, how can I possibly offer quality council to my client if I can't speak?" So, now here is Thurgood Marshall left with the task of defending an innocent Joseph Spell against charges of rape against a white woman and he must give ALL of his directions to a timid insurance lawyer by the name of Sam Friedman. For any lawyers reading this, try to imagine for one moment attempting to try ANY case in which your verbal ability has been taken away from you. It's not a fun thought, is it?

       So, let's pose this question. Why would a judge put such a restriction on an attorney? Was it to give an ill prepared prosecution an advantage? Was it to give a white non-defense attorney the chance to show what he could do on the big stage? Or was it the fact that the judge knew Thurgood was beyond capable or proving Spell's innocence? Whatever the motivation, I'm sure we can all agree that unjust stipulation quickly put the defense at a disadvantage. However, there is a layer of beauty in this decision. It gives Marshall the chance to properly represent the NAACP and also show the necessity of people of color at a time where many whites wanted to see us hanging from a tree. This is illustrated by Friedman's horrified nature at having to be the main voice in trying this case. Though reluctant at first and for a good portion of the trial, Friedman eventually gets on board and realizes he and Thurgood have gotta be in this for the long haul.

        As for the case itself, it's like most others. The actual truth lying somewhere in between both stories. This one proves no different. When Thurgood first meets with his client, he asks him straight up if he is indeed innocent. He swears to the gospel that he is. However, Eleanor Strubing accuses him of rape and attempted murder. As Thurgood begins to put together the missing pieces and holes in the story, it leads him to question his client as to whether or not he had consensual sex with his accuser. He first answers no a lie which Thurgood challenges and eventually gets the truth. Upon this discovery, Thurgood takes his defense in a different direction, attempting to discover why the accuser would make up such a heinous story. It is through this discovery that we are reminded of the timeframe for which the film takes place. Out of fear of discovery of her affair by her husband (driven by the potential of birthing Spell's child), a woman beater, Strubing attempts to frame Spell for rape and attempted murder, knowing her privilege and class will give her the edge over the dishonorably discharged vet and adulterer, Joseph Spell.
 
         Now, we all know how it ends. Justice eventually prevails, Joseph Spell is allowed to go free, and Thurgood Marshall goes on to cement his legacy as the greatest lawyer of all time. The question that remains is how much has truly changed since that trial took place? Is it still safe for black men to be involved with white women on that level? Are people of color still viewed as equal to their counterparts in positions of authority? Some will quickly say yes, but before you jump to that "Post-Racial America" conclusion, let's examine some things real quick. If we lined up Donald Trump's resume against former POTUS Barack Obama, can you honestly say President Obama would have even been remotely considered for office, let alone elected? If he had gone on national television and said "Grab her right in the pussy," would there have been a place for him in office?

        If Rick Pitino and Bobby Petrino were black men, would their previous scandals have gone so far overlooked as to still allow for employment? If Michael Vick was white, would mainstream media and society finally forgive him and accept that he had paid his debt to society? Why is it when Colin Kaepernick says there are serious unaddressed issues in America, he is told to leave the country, but Donald Trump says it and is elected president? Why is it when hockey players fight, it is deemed to be part of the game tradition, but NBA players fighting are thugs overly influenced by hip-hop culture? I'm sure you get the point by now, but these questions and so many others CANNOT be ignored in the midst of a discussion about whether or not we are truly living in a post-racial America.

     Ultimately, thanks to a brilliant portrayal by Chadwick Boseman (who really seems to have found his niche portraying black historical figures) and balanced storytelling, Marshall serves as a refreshing reminder of both history and how far we still have to go.
   

Man vs. Nature

             At first glance, the latest “King Kong” installment, Kong: Skull Island can certainly look like another medium rare Sci-Fi adventure relying on excessive action scenes to distract us from the fact there’s hardly any storyline. Much to my surprise and pleasure, the film delivers much more than that. Utilizing quality extreme close ups of Kong and Lieutenant Colonel Packard, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, we get a firsthand glimpse at the central conflict of the film. “Man is King!!” shouts Lieutenant Colonel Packard in an attempt to establish his belief of dominance over the ruler of the island.

            Allow us to explore that statement and the underlying theme. First off, what exactly is man the king of…especially in a place that is clearly someone else’s territory? I guess Jackson’s character is referencing the fact that humans are at the top of the food chain and are here to take what they want from whomever they want when they want it. Perhaps this explains why you can walk into numerous homes and restaurants and see stuffed deer, bulls, and other animals killed for reasons other than the need to provide nourishment. Early on in the film, we can somewhat identify with his desire to take down the massive gorilla on account of how Kong takes out several of Packard’s men and destroys all of their helicopters.

            However, thanks to a brilliant character arc for a CGI character with ZERO speaking roles, we find out the real reason Kong took down the incoming army. That reason being protection of his home. We discover Kong protects the native people from large, vicious, reptilian like creatures known as skullcrawlers. The presence of the army would have possibly awakened the largest skullcrawler, one of several responsible for the death of Kong’s ancestors. With this enlightenment, not only are we able to understand why Kong took out the intruders, but we can even empathize with him.

            Despite being informed of Kong’s reasoning, Packard insists on vengeance or perhaps dominance and vows to kill Kong. His stubbornness leads to more deaths at the hands of one of the skullcrawlers while the crew is on the verge of getting to the North end of the island to escape to safety. The most interesting part about Packard’s desire to kill Kong is how he ignores the fact that he and his men did indeed intrude onto someone else’s territory. In America, we call that trespassing which is indeed a crime. Also in America, we are rather gung ho about the “right to bear arms” and defend ourselves. Yet, for some reason, Packard refuses to apply that knowledge to the current situation.

            In the final showdown, Packard is able to lure Kong into a trap and is on the verge of killing him with a detonation device before he is stopped by the rest of the members of the crew. The larger skullcrawler awakens, and Packard prepares to set off the detonation before Kong kills him and does battle with the reptile. After a vicious round of combat, Kong emerges victorious and even rescues a crew member from drowning. This is a great way to close the film because we see two important things. One is we get to see nature remain intact as it was meant to be. Two, we get to see our protagonist exhibit real emotional attachments we likely didn’t think he had when he first appears on screen. Overall, Kong scores as a quality illustration for allowing the natural order of the world to run its course. Contrary to popular belief, man is not king. Man is simply one of many species that must learn to coexist with all the others. 

Love Driven Hate

“I gotta get me one of those,” says the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant as a Southern Cal fullback named Sam Cunningham blazes by him on the sideline making a fool of his Crimson Tide defense. Despite the disrespect of that statement referring to another human being as an object, there’s also a positive acknowledgment contained within. An acknowledgement on Bryant’s behalf that strongly suggests quality athletic prowess among black athletes. A prowess that none of his white athletes possessed. A prowess he wanted on his team. A prowess so strong, it made the legendary coach decide then and there that it was time to integrate college football at the University of Alabama.

Here we are, 46 years and five months after that game, watching a film depicting the very same love for certain black traits.  Judging from the trailer, you would think Get Out is merely about kidnapping black people and forcing them to relive the slavery days of America. In some respects, it is that. However, the beauty of the film lies in the fact that it goes deeper than that. It examines the “why” question. Why are they only kidnapping black people? What does the so called “superior race” want from those they once didn’t even want to share water fountains with?

Although revealed in the end, we get several clues throughout the film. Perhaps the most telling one is when Rose introduces her boyfriend, Chris to a few family friends, and the white lady shamelessly feels on his arm and chest and asks Rose “Is it better?” in reference to his sexual capabilities. That scene and that line shine a light on the alleged sexual inferiority complex that white men have. It also sparks discussion and debate on whether or not white women secretly prefer and/or fantasize about being with a black man. Emphasis on secret because it’s extremely unlikely many white women would ever openly tell their families, specifically their fathers, that they actually want to be with a black man.

Ultimately, this acknowledgement, among several others, gives credibility to the notion that the very hate from white people directed towards people of color is driven by the love of several of our features and abilities. For those who would disagree, I would pose a few questions. If there’s no love, then why is tanning a multi-million dollar a year industry? Why are numerous white people willing to pay for the possibility of skin cancer for a temporary darker look? Why do some of them voluntarily allow the sun to burn them on a beach? Why did Bo Derek choose a hairstyle that black women had been wearing for decades before her? Why did Angelina Jolie have lip surgery? If there is some reason other than the fact that black is beautiful, I would love to hear it.

While some will call this film a display of reverse racism, I pose the question, at what point in the film are any of the white characters oppressed? At what point are any of them not in their original and full states of mind? At what point are they subjected to hypnosis for the sake of being transformed into someone else? The answer is never. If there was ever a moment in the film where racism was perhaps evident, it is when Rose is searching for her next victim, and she types in “Top NCAA prospects” and the immediate photos that come up are all of black men. Granted, a rather high percentage of your top notch NCAA recruits do happen to be black men, but that image doesn’t take away from the underlying message suggesting that athletics are the only way a black male is going to college.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of the film is when Chris attempts to take a discreet photo of “Logan” a newly transformed Uncle Tom type fella who once went by the name Andre Hayworth, a New York native who went missing six months ago. Upon taking this photo, we get to see Andre momentarily regain his consciousness and warn Chris to get out before it’s too late. We now get to see that no matter how brainwashed white society attempts to make you, there’s always a chance for you to reclaim your true self. Chris realizes this and eventually must resort to a Nat Turner like rebellion in order to save his life.

By the time the film ends, we are left with a vigilante hero who avoided being a victim of strong love driven hate that still exists today. The question that remains is what will come of this hate as we go forth seeing as how 46 years and some change later, it still clearly exists.