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July 26, 2013
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Lets Talk: Fruitvale Station
— Posted by
Kenny Miles
Progressive Christian social justice activist/pastor Jim Wallis has referred to racism as America’s original sin. The bondage of a past has been explored in numerous movies and many people think this is an issue America has overcome. If it were only so easy. The Supreme Court voted to roll back some backbone provisions to the Civil Rights Act during in the summer of Paula Deen and George Zimmerman. The historical baggage of racism lingers in society. It is an issue I am not comfortable confronting or mentioning on a movie website like The Movie Blog. However, I do every reader of this site a huge disservice not mentioning this in a write up of Fruitvale Station. There are true injustices in society and Fruitvale Station explores characters and exposes the wrongs.
The opening scene of the movie shows the real incident of Oscar being gunned down by police. Utilizing Oscar’s cell phone and displaying his texts on screen as a means to communicate his life to the audience was masterful, daring, and creative form of expressionist filmmaking. Yet as I say this there is nothing too original in the directorial style other than those text messages typing across the screen. Something a film student could experiment with and talented filmmaker could successfully pull off, this directorial debut of 27-year-old Ryan Coogler shows what talent he can accomplish in a debut feature.
A racially charged movie will be a hot topic, but a tough sell for summer moviegoers. People want to escape, but they have consumed a lot of big budget mindless entertainment. If people crave to be challenged by a soon to be Oscar contender that presents a real life story with societal implications, Fruitvale Station could hit the zeitgeist nerve from audiences. The tragedy featured that occurred at Fruitvale Station early on New Years Day in 2009 is depressing in the context of witnessing a man who wants to make his life better for himself and loved ones. This was a life cut short by an aggressive, reactionary, and sloppy police state. If racism is the original sin of America as Jim Wallis claims, understanding the context of Fruitvale Station might lead us toward a path of better understanding.
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![]() who has written 297 posts on The Movie Blog Whether something is overlooked by Hollywood or whatever business trend has captured the Entertainment Industry’s attention, Kenny Miles loves to talk about movies (especially the cultural impact of a film). He covers various aspects of movies including specialty genre films, limited release, independent, foreign language, documentary features, and THE much infamous "awards season." Also, he likes to offer his opinion on the business of film, marketing strategy, and branding. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado and is a member of the Denver Film Critics Society critics group. When he isn’t writing, Kenny channels his passion for interacting with moviegoers (something most movie pundits lack) as a pollster for the market research company CinemaScore and working as floor staff/special events coordinator in the film community. You can follow him on Twitter @kmiles723. visit author's website | Contact the Author Around the Web
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