Racism in The Hate U Give Movie Analysis Essay

📌Category: Entertainment, Movies, Racism, Social Issues, The Hate U Give
📌Words: 1483
📌Pages: 6
📌Published: 10 June 2021

The movie The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman Jr., is an eye-opening film written to show the brutal reality of racism and the fear that African American’s live in. Within the film, the main character Starr (played by Amandla Stenberg) lives a double life where she lives and grew up in a dangerous part of town but attends a school filled with all whites, in a safe area. The truth behind her life is hidden from her friends at school but tears her apart when she has to go home to live a life in fear after. The hate that grows larger every day in Garden Heights, becomes a life of terror. There are many different emotions throughout this film that represent the feelings of what it is like to grow up with more melanin in your skin and the hate that is given to them, deserved or not. 

For the plot of this film, a teen girl named Starr is torn between two different sides of town or in this case seems to be a life torn between two completely different worlds. The primary plot choice that the film director created was a discovery. Throughout the film, the characters are learning how hate is tearing their lives apart, they do not realize how much hate is impacting the minds of the younger children until later on in the film. Starr attends school in a predominantly white, wealthy area, but lives in a predominantly black, poor area. The film shows how the hate you give out, will soon come back to you. The hatred towards not only African Americans but other people in the area that Starr grew up grows out of control. It gets to the point where they are not safe in their homes, public, church, or even at a funeral. In the life of Starr, the two polar opposite worlds get flipped upside-down when a white police officer shoots her best friend, Khalil, after being pulled over on the side of the road. Her separate lives get mixed as the news is broadcasted and protests began and she can no longer contain her emotions. Starr has to hide what she feels from her friends on the nicer side of town so that she is not judged, but the anger and fear overpower her. She must speak out and she must be a better friend to Khalil. The young girl uses her voice as a stance for stopping the hate that is given towards African Americans. 

Throughout the film, there are many different forms of symbolism to show the pain and hardships that are brought onto blacks because of racism and hate. As a child gets older, they become more aware of discrimination and hate and they also absorb how they see others being treated. So at the youngest age of one, Starr and her siblings were given “the talk” as soon as possible. The talk is a conversation that should not have to be a factor in someone’s life, but sadly in this society, it is a must. The talk is given to Starr and her siblings in the film to teach them how they should act if they are to be arrested or pulled over by a cop. These precautions are simple, but life-changing to people of color due to discrimination by cops and other white people. The first symbol that the film creator chooses to represent the struggle that Blacks have to go through was the black panther. The black panther was a list of rights that the children must embed into their tiny brains and remember in every situation. Towards the beginning of the film, Starr is shown as a little girl who is getting “the talk” from her father, Maverick (played by Russell Hornsby) on how important it is to know her rights. Starr remembers these rights throughout the film and uses them to save her father’s life, even if she was told she did not have them when her best friend was shot. The author uses the image of a black panther on a piece of paper to show how people of color must know their rights, stick together, and be aware of their surroundings. The panther symbolizes a group, almost as if Blacks are in their category. 

There are many other uses of symbolism within this move such as a hairbrush. The hairbrush that was mistaken as a gun by the Cop in the film, took Khalil’s life. The hairbrush symbolizes the wrongfulness in the murder of Khalil. It represents the carelessness and racism that the cop had towards Khalil. As said in the film, if it were a white person in a business suit holding the hairbrush, the cop would have asked them to raise their hands above their heads, not shoot them in the chest. The hairbrush is a subtle yet powerful form of the symbolism of racism in this film. Khalil did not have a weapon, he barely had a reason to be pulled over, and he did not use force against the cop, but he still was killed. The officer did not know what Khalil had in his hand at the time, but he knew he was black and he saw the color of Khalil’s skin as a threat. The hairbrush was a symbol that was used multiple times to show how quick the cop was to stereotype Khalil. It is used again by Starr to teach her “best friend” at Williamson Prep a lesson. Grabbing the hairbrush and swinging it at Hailey (played by Sabrina Carpenter), Starr tried to show how poor it was for the cop to take Khalil’s life over something that cannot harm. The hairbrush was a symbol of the senselessness of the cop who took Khalil’s life. 

Symbolism is used throughout the entire film and the list could go on, but one other major form of symbolism in this film is a gun. A gun has the ability to kill more than any other weapon. A gun is carried by most people who live in the heights, where they lived in the movie. A gun is the last thing Khalil sees and the first thing Starr sees when she shuts her eyes. A gun is an issue in their society. 

From the first gunshots taken at the party, to the gun shaking in Sekani’s hand, a gunshot becomes a norm in their lives. It seems as though they cannot have fun or even through a get-together, without someone being shot at or killed. In a life filled with hate, white or black, cop or no cop, a gun is seen as the way to solve a problem. We all know that having a gun pointed towards your face even once in your life is not okay, but it becomes the norm for blacks living in their area. This form of symbolism shows not only racism and targetting but shows how different Starr grows up on each end of town. 

The theme of this movie is hate. Hate changes their town and turns their entire community against each other. Not only is the hate coming from within their “own people”, but it is also coming from whites, cops, and the people on the other side of town. It comes to a point where hate is all that is known. Where discrimination, fighting, protesting, and running are a constant in their lives. Hate is spread down on every person who sees it. Just like the little boy, Sekani, who watched people hate each other every day to the point that it broke him enough to pick up a gun at the age of eight years old and point it towards someone. He wanted to end hate, not end someone’s life. As the title says, The Hate U Give little infants fucks everybody. Also known as THUG LIFE. Growing up in a society where there is nothing but hate towards others rather it is because of their color of skin or they turned their back on you, changes the way you look at life. The author chose this theme because it covers many different aspects of hate, white, black, authority, and even gangs. Nothing is worse than teaching hate to a child. It creates a vicious cycle of envy.  

To conclude, the Hate U Give is a powerful movie that brings awareness to the issue of racism and targeting towards people of color. The film creator used different forms of symbolism to bring a sense of the brutal reality that Blacks face every day. The fear of color shows more about a person than the pigment of one’s skin and this was shown throughout the film. Just like the famous saying “never judge a book by its color”, the movie shows the cruel discrimination against judging a person by the pigment of their skin. The theme of hate throughout this movie ties the whole thing together with the slogan “The hate you give little infants fucks everybody” as the characters watch the eight-year-old little boy point a gun at the man, threatening to end his life for the damage he had caused their family. Stereotypes create the tunnel vision effect of what an innocent person looks like and is the reason that Blacks are treated differently by many. This film brings a chill down your spine and opens your eyes to reality as the heartwrenching actions against African Americans take place. Hate creates a world of stereotypes and discrimination; Hate creates a life filled with fear for African Americans.

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