Clacking my fingers at my computer's keyboard after seeing this movie wasn’t exactly how I pictured my morning would go, if it wasn’t for the commitment I had made to write everyday I wouldn’t have written this review and yes ! Writing this was a bit difficult, there was too much I could relate with. I know about blackmail, the double pain of motherhood in a wretched system, police brutality, loyalty, organized resistance against an oppressive system, cyclical nature of violence, retaliation, helplessness and how complicated things can get when one cowers to demands that have been placed on one because of blackmail. These and many more are the themes the movie cut across. The last time I felt like this was probably when I saw the trial of the Chicago 7, there is no way anyone could miss out on Bobby Seale and his famous gagging in the courtroom, Bobby was also a Black Panther party executive.
You know that time when you know the end result of things, not just knowing it, it has become parts and parcel of you and yet you still decide to decide your terms of ending things. This movie is filled with a number of scenes like this, there was this instance where the police besieged The Black Panther’s Party Illinois chapter’s headquarter and there were members inside, rather than a question of the police doing their job, the Black Panthers knew the Police would come in and arrest them, the question was probably on what charges ? Was it going to be on some cooked up never happened charge or for holding their ground. Tough choice.
The same thing could be said about Jake Winters whose friend got murdered in the hospital for standing up to policemen whose stop and search acts were getting much in the city. After his friend gets murdered, Jake sets out to find revenge but his expedition is cut short when his gun falls off him when he tries shaking up someone for information, the person in turn calls the police on him. The ironic thing being this person was also a black man like Jake, he was probably frightened by the gun. Jake Winters gets killed while exchanging fire with some policemen. However, Chairman Fred Hampton tries his best to immortalize Jake.
I don’t know what I’ll be willing to sacrifice in a struggle, I don’t know how much influence struggles wield on me. I say this first of all as a Nigerian who is in a cancerous system that is hell bent on killing its citizens esp. its young ones and people that aren’t of the Fulani tribe. Secondly I saw this as a black boy who is solidarizing with his black brothers and sisters all over the world who are still being oppressed. One of the many face of oppression black people face all over the world is at the hands of Police brutality, you’d expect having native policemen would make a difference, but no it doesn’t, the story is the same every where and its one of murder, theft, rape and trauma. Back in 2020, Nigerian youth came out to protest in the middle of a pandemic against police brutality, that’s reality of every black person. Judas and black Messiah made sure to pass this across.
Whoever supplies Daniel Kaluuya with charisma should see me, cause what ??? he was just too charismatic and graceful, the speeches were very inspiring, I’m wondering what the originals must have felt like if this felt like this. The speeches made by Daniel Kaluuya in this movie can only be rivaled by the speeches given by Bro Kwame Ture(Corey Hawkins) in Blackkklansman which also starred David Washington, Adam Driver and a number of people.
To be honest, my favorite character in this movie was Judy (Dominique Thorne), her performance was quite sizzling even down to her last scene getting arrested. It only revved my enthusiasm for Marvel’s Ironheart for which she has been casted as Riri.
I also can’t say who the main character for the movie was cause it focused almost equally on Fred Hampton and Bill O'Neal. The movie tried in showing how conflicting it was for Bill at first, subsequently I couldn’t say if he found it difficult or not, I want to believe it was difficult because Bill committed suicide after he revealed what role he took to the public. He never anticipated things would get that bad, he never wished to dance to the Fed’s game, he just wanted to avoid jail time and things got dirty from there on ward. I learnt a thing or two about entertaining blackmails and how to respond to them because there’s no telling what could spring up once one signs up for it.
Truth is Bill betrayed Fred Hampton and all Black people. It’s probably high time movements adopt Nigeria’s faceless movement structure, this makes putting a target on people’s back hard.
Judas and the black Messiah is available on HBOmax and select cinemas.
Comments
Post a Comment