Why You should watch blackkksman

This year we have seen some incredible films from the mega-blockbuster that was Avengers Infinity War to quieter low budget comedies such as Eighth Grade, However one film this year really stands out from the crowd and that film is called Blackkklansman. It's directed by Spike Lee a filmmaker known for making films about social issues such as corruption in government, gun control and gang violence. This is the first Spike Lee film I have seen and if his other films are half as good as this then I will happily continue to support his work. One of the reasons why this movie is such a standout is because of even though the story it tells took place in the 1980s, the message and the events in the film cannot be more relevant today. The film is about Ron Stallworth the first African-American cop in Colorado Springs and how he and another cop infiltrate the Klu Klux Klan when it was at one of its strongest moments. The film manages to balance comedy and serious dramatic moments because let's be honest an African-American cop being a part of a white supremacist group is pretty funny. Even though the film is loaded with comedy the main message of the film is still very strong. The film discusses problems such as police brutality, abuse of power, racism within the government and how simple everyday people can be monsters in our society.

In my opinion, Blackkklansman is not only a brilliant piece of art as well as an amazing social commentary. The issue of racism hiding in plain sight is one of the main subjects tackled. In the film, there is another police officer that who even though is meant to protect and serve is actually a heavy racist, misogynist and just overall an evil person. Throughout the film, he berates and insults the main character for his race. Seeing this character in the film clearly shows that even though you have these large groups of racists such as the KKK you also have people with the same ideologies and hatred, and even though they are not active members of the racist organization it doesn’t mean that they are not a threat to society. Due to the fact that the character is a police officer he can easily use his authority to commit acts of racism and harm the people he hates. For example, there is a scene where this very character pulls over a group of African American rights activists for no reason other than to harass them. He threatens to shoot and kill them. Another issue that is tackled is the concept of racism embedded in the government, the film has many antagonists however the main big bad villain is David Duke the well dressed, smiling and professional face of the Klu Klux Klan. Throughout the film, Duke refers to the Klan as an organization as klan sounds barbaric and violent, however, organization sounds more professional and less threatening. Furthermore, Duke also discusses how he plans on going into politics so when he gets into power he can systematically harm and hinder the minority groups that the klan is against. One might say this is happening more and more today hidden in plain sight. However, the biggest message the film carries over is the fact that even though society as a whole has progressed racism is still strong and prevalent. Spike Lee goes the extra mile and shows us news clipping and footage from last years Charlottesville march in which a huge number of neo-nazis, KKK members and white supremacists marched on the streets chanting things like “jews will not replace us”, the march showed the world that these monsters are still alive and well in society, thriving. It wasn’t a peaceful protest as they hit and attacked police officers and other protesters that were protesting this hatred. Directly after we see footage of a car driven by one of these white supremacist driving into a group of anti-racist protesters. In addition to this, we see footage of trump defending the actions of these monsters and lastly we see footage of the real david duke at the rally still pushing the agenda of racism.

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