GSULYP Review: Fruitvale Station

Sitting in adjacent seats at Century 14 Sacramento on July 23rd, Flojaune Griffin and TaureenCofer and other members of GSULYP attended an advance screening of "Fruitvale Station"; a film written and directed by 2007 Sacramento State Alumnus, Ryan Coogler. The film chronicles the last day of Oscar Grant III -- a 22-year-old black man who was killed by a police officer in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009 at the Fruitvale BART station. Much of the film we saw through a similar vantage point, yet there was some departure in what captured our attention. Some of which evoked a visceral response. Here we present the synergy and distinctions in those perspectives.

Review #1 by Taureen Cofer:

I learned about the incident that took place at Fruitvale Station when it happened. I knew all of the details: the day of the shooting, the time of the shooting, the events that precipitated the shooting and even the so-called “accidental motive” of the shooting. I walked into the theater with my emotions already in hand. I took my seat in the movie theater ready to expect the only thing that could be expected from this film: a senseless murder which a director would manage to drag out long enough to keep an average box office run time. I knew there would be tears, anger and frustration in the theater--as well as the brief moments of judgment of anyone who took a bathroom break during the film. I sat down in that movie theater and knew exactly what to expect from this film….or so I thought. It was the unexpected that caused my hands to come together in applause when the final credits rolled. This film went in every direction that I felt it would, but also turned in others that I couldn’t fully prepare myself for.

This wasn’t a movie about a murder. It played a part in the end of our adventure. However, this was really a film about a young man trying to cope with society and struggling. Not failing, but struggling. During the film, we learn that Oscar lost his job; however, he kept his composure and continued to focus on the well-being of his family. He even decided to make smarter life choices even as his circumstances grew tougher, such as ditching his drugs (when they had now become his only source of income). He cheated on Sophina, his girlfriend and was caught, yet steered us to feel confident throughout the film that he was sincere about keeping his new found faithfulness. The same could be said about his time in prison. Despite all that he had done previously, he never gave us a sense that he was willing to repeat the same mistakes. These were the parts of the film that unexpectedly touched my heart.

His breakdown in the room with Sophina really affected me. In the scene, he admits to losing his job weeks earlier and putting on a charade to avoid disclosing the truth. He knew that there was a chance that he would lose her, but he also knew that his path to becoming a better man had to start today no matter the consequences. He painfully admits a deep seeded truth that he is tired of being a “screw up.” As a young black man I have had to admit to being a “screw up” at times, and it hurts all the same to watch such a familiar scene. I praise the absolute moment of impact where you make the change for the better, but with that comes accepting the worst for an unknown period of time. I also felt the tension of conflicting pressures in the flashback scene depicting him in prison on visiting day one year before his death. Prison is one place where you must remain tough to survive, yet his mother’s visit made him extremely vulnerable. Imagine trying to keep your tough face on as you pass on “I love you” to friends and family through your mother, all the while inmates listen in and mock every word you say. In that scene, the conflict between who he was and his defense mechanism came to a head in a split second and temporarily it cost him the only real support he had; a visit from his mother to get a glimpse of the outside world awaiting him, a world that held his hopes for freedom, redemption and joy for his family.

This was an excellent film about decisions, consequences, salvation, and circumstance. We all know how it ends, but the best part of the journey is all of the things we learn along the way.

  
Review #2 by Flojaune Griffin:

I didn’t realize how raw the emotions were until I found myself weeping loudly and inconsolably in the theatre Tuesday night. Not the cry of being simply feeling moved, this was the back arched, gasping cry of a deep sorrow. A sorrow that I didn’t know I held within me until it erupted during the screening.

The movie was complex; grappling delicately with the human circumstances of relationships, parenting, mistakes, goals, friendships, responsibility and maturity, while also looking at the systemic effects of poverty, drugs, violence, perception and profiling. Oscar wasn’t portrayed as perfect. He had a temper, he was unfaithful to his girlfriend and mother of his daughter, he had an affinity for marijuana, he’d been to prison, and he couldn’t get to work on time. Yet, despite these flaws he was also equally easy going, caring, helpful, loving, hopeful, creative, and responsible. Very rarely are black characters portrayed with as much of the real human nuance of contradiction as Oscar.

The post-viewing discussion with Mr. Coogler mostly centered on cinematic elements of the film; the process of capturing the sounds of Oakland to make the soundtrack subtle and organic, the difficulty blocking the unscripted scenes compared to the relative ease of blocking the police encounter at the station because of how well it was documented on cell phone video, and the actor’s emotions as they filmed in the real settings Oscar was in on his last day. However, at one point Mr. Coogler mentioned that every institution that Oscar encountered in the film failed him: the grocery store, the prison, and eventually the fatal encounter with the BART police. As Young Professional, two thoughts immediately came to mind. First, beyond the Urban League, what are we doing to make our institutions more accepting of Oscar (and his girlfriend Sophina and their daughter Tatiana)? The Youth workforce development program is attempting to help prepare young men and women like Oscar and Sophina for careers, but how are we using our capital to transform institutions without a social focus that we interact with to increase job prospects for previously incarcerated men like Oscar? Or women with young children like Sophina? Or children whose fathers were incarcerated and now deceased like Tatiana? Second, what can we do at the Urban League in our current programs to address these issues? How can we make sure we have the capacity to serve Oscar, Sophina and Tatiana in our Handshakes and Ties, Workforce Development, and Reading Day Programs? And by serve, I mean having a lasting and ongoing role in their lives as a transformative force.

My final thought came later and was a reflection of this case and harkening back to the first case that I followed regarding police battery, the death of Jonny Gammage -- a 31-year-old black motorist who was killed by the police during a stop and frisk in Brentwood, PA when I was 12 years old. Even if we transform our programs and our institutions to be powerful change agents, how to we address the root causes of this brand of violence that sometimes feels inescapable? There is a part in the film where Oscar makes a decision to be truthful and do the honorable thing. Given the timing of the film (New Year’s Eve and his mother’s birthday) it is not hard for me to believe that Oscar, like most of us, was trying to start his year with a clean slate. That this coincided with his last day of life was particularly heartbreaking. But how do we—after reducing the standard risks facing black men and women—make it so that they’re still safe? After overcoming the other odds, how do we prevent men—even law abiding men—from indiscriminately being killed while driving in the suburbs, partying the night before their wedding, walking home from the store, or riding public transportation on New Year’s Eve?

Fruitvale Station opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, July 26, 2013. The film stars Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, and Academy Award Winner, Octavia Spencer and was produced by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker. The film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.