My Opinion On: Judas and The Black Messiah
Judas and the Black Messiah, a revolutionary film that covers the final days of one of the most eminent leaders of The Black PantherParty. The story is that of Fred Hampton, a 21 year old, effervescent man, wise far beyond his years -who was betrayed by a trusted comrade and FBI informant, William O’Neal. Hence the innuendo of the film's title.
The film does its due diligence by trusting formidable talents to handle such a heavy subject matter and display events that shape contemporary America. So my hat goes off to that of; Daniel Kaluuya, LaKieth Stanfield, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith and more. And a movie is only as good as its director, so I want to give supreme recognition to Shaka King, who also served as a ScreenWriter and a Producer.
As exciting as the schematics of the film are, with having the highest of quality cast and a visually disposed director- I could not help but second guess if this film was something I wanted to genuinely back.
For one, I am overly exhausted of companies and industries either playing catch up or trying to get ahead of the game by rolling out Pro-Black attire and including issues Black people have been screaming about since before Fred Hampton- into entertainment segments. These are actual lives, of real human beings. Not a marketing strategy to sell T-shirts, or a sub genre for PrimeTime Television.
Which brings me to my second objection, that with as important as the Black Panther Party is for Black liberation, it would have been more just to cover the party as a whole, instead of focusing on individuals, simply because leaders like Fred Hampton, opposed capitalist institutions, like Hollywood. Also, Leaders - much like Fred Hampton, would have allocated the Millions it took to build this movie to funding community programs, anti-imperialist movements, anti-poverty movements; essentially anything that would detour him being the primary focus.
I am also impartial to the coincidence of the film's release. Coming out after an outcry for social reform, and during Black History Month, makes it all seem so performative. And to choose an emotion provoking tale, with such weighty substance, is the most Hollywood thing to come about. Even with the focal point being Fred Hampton, why focus on his final days? Why not make a movie surrounding his politics, his theories, his Anti-imperialist teachings- his beliefs on building not just a better community, but a better world that is absent of suffering? This just seems like another Hollywood ploy, to get people to guilt watch a movie under the guise of “raising awareness”.
Hollywood, being capitalistic in nature, already has a track record for exploiting black creators, performers and stories. This time around, they are taking the most respected and magnified black revolutionaries, and abusing their very real stories for the Box Office . This is almost as bad as the sub genre of Black plight, where an influx of “shooting of an unarmed black man” was taking over the movie industry.
Nonetheless, those unaware of Fred Hampton's story, and are still interested in the film, should watch some of his speeches and read essays about his ideology. It is also essential to learn about the history of the Black Panther Party, its members, and its practices to liberate ; black people , poor people, third world living people &c.
A brief synopsis: Fred Hampton was opposed to capitalism and its institutions. Black capitalism, or black elitism under the guise of combating capitalism, institutional and systemic oppression, does not align with his teaching and morals.
