I appreciate those who are sanguine about the #GoldenGlobes shut out of #WhenTheySeeUs. I am not. B/c where we find ourselves in this country in this moment has so much to do w/the willful blindness & disregard for the voices & experiences of those at the bottom.
Those stories tell a truth abt America that is painful but necessary to engage. Their stories implicate us all as citizens of this deeply flawed democracy. They tell of the America that many of us know well but so many more ignore. “We didn’t know,” so many well-meaning ppl say.
We didn’t know about this kind of injustice, about prosecutors & police ofcrs who railroad Black boys & men for crimes they didn’t commit. Abt cruel judges, children placed in adult prisons. #WhenTheySeeUs brings it all into focus. And w/performances that are simply w/o parallel.
And I wld have hoped that at this moment, when the “not knowing,” & the refusal to see has brought us to the brink of disaster, that we would recognize the gift of this film & these performances. This is the material that we must lift up and engage. It is art doing what it must.
Forcing us to look at the parts of America so many don’t want to see. Bringing us devastating performances from young breakout stars who are a revelation. Directed w/the unflinchibg honesty, but tender humanity of a phenom - @ava.
If you watched #WhenTheySeeUs you could not honestly fail to recognize the film & the performances. But the failure means fewer ppl will see the film & these exceptional actors. And more can claim they “didn’t know.”
At this moment in our country, I expect more. B/c it turns out that those at the bottom - the ones who yrs ago saw the rising tide of racism & white supremacy, voter suppression, & criminal injustice & sexual harassment - had critical insight into the American condition.
Those voices must be respected & fully appreciated in the arts. The danger of ignoring those voices & stories is one that reveals itself to us every day. I congratulate all who were nominated. But #WhenTheySeeUs is a masterpiece - a devastating masterpiece for our time.
