[lbo-talk] Fruitvale Station

[michael yates]

I second Joanna's praise for this film. I watched in one afternoon in Silver Spring, MD. People were in tears afterwards. A black teenager was crying on his father's soldier. What really tore me up was that his daughter's name is Tatiana, the name of my new granddaughter. Tatiana is of mixed race, and I thought she could face some sort of murderous racist action someday.

One person who reviewed it said that we would perhaps be better served with a film about the difficulties facing black people today in the US. But I thought, didn't this film give us a pretty damned good idea of this.

One thing I liked about the movie was the scene at his mom's birthday party. Black people and their families are so often demonized here, and in the film you see people eating, talking, normal stuff, like happens in most families. I had to laugh when one man said he was rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers and not the Oakland Raiders. When another man expressed surprise, the first man said what's not to like about the Steelers. Black coach with a black wife!