Blackkklansman: A Current Event Comparison

 Jacquelyn Heinen

Matt Wisniewski

ENGL 280-01

November 21, 2020

Blackkklansman: A Current Event Comparison

The film Blackkklansman directed by Spike Lee is definitely my favorite film that we have watched so far this semester.  This film was about a African American detective , Ron Stallworth, that went undercover to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan.  Stallworth then gets a partner, Flip Zimmerman, and together they attempt to take down the KKK. 

This film was set in the 1970s and any viewer could tell by the outfits choices made for the cast, as well as so many common things from the seventies.  This entire film was based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, by means of his memoir and successful infiltration.  It was made in 2018 and the premise of the movie is still so directly correlated with today’s world and society.  Movies that are timeless like this one, I always take to liking.  The film Remember the Titans is another film that while watching this came to mind.  Both these films were made about racism and prejudice in America, but they were set in a time from before they were actually made.  Remember the Titans was a 2000 film based on the seventies and Blackkklansman was a 2018 film based on the seventies.  These films both discussed racism and life as a black person during that time, to show the world just exactly what was happening, but they both are still relevant today. 

Racism is around today just as much as it ever was, just some racists are more closeted because a large chunk of the population has begun to speak out against the injustice Black Americans face everyday.  While laws have been passed to restrict out right prejudice, the KKK is still around, and there are still lynching occurring right here in 2020.  Police brutality and the death of unarmed black men and women still rises, and even with outcries from the public not much change is happening to make this country a safe place for all its citizens.  Blackklansman and Remember the Titans shined a light onto these injustices, and while they were based on the seventies so many things that are covered in both films are things that still happen today.

Films such as these two, that discuss topics that many people try to avoid are always films I love.  These films make people take a second look at the world around them and think what really has changed?  This shows that there are problems to be taken care of and things that need to be worked on, by the country as a whole.  Both of these films were based on true stories as well, so while it is a historical film, the directors incorporate things that are just as relevant today and for me, the message is loud and clear. I support and love films like these, and I am glad we could discuss this in class.

Comments

  1. Brianna CampbellNovember 21, 2020 at 10:39 AM

    Hi Jacquelyn! I agree on what you said, this movie definitely makes people take a moment to look around and see that the racist behaviors that plagued the country in the 1900s are very much still alive. Movies about the past have a tendency of distancing problems between that time period and the present, but BlacKkKlansman manages to blend them seamlessly. I really love this movie!

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