The following review was written by Briana Williams, a Chicago high school student, as part of Columbia College Chicago’s Columbia Links journalism program for high school students. RogerEbert.com has partnered with the Chicago Urban League and Columbia Links to mentor these students and to give them a platform for their writing. Read more about the program here.
“Afraid of Dark”
Directed by Mya B.
2 stars
A strong beginning with a
bystander’s police call of Trayvon Martin being gunned down by George Zimmerman
sets the tone for “Afraid of Dark.” You hear the terrified murmurs of the woman
narrating the scene to the operator and Martin’s screams in the background
right before the gun fires, killing the young, innocent, black male.
“Afraid of Dark,” a
documentary by Mya Baker, examines masculinity and how men are misconceived in
American society. My attention was caught from the very beginning, hearing the
heartbreaking phone call reporting a tragedy that catalyzed a movement in
African-American communities to help their young black men stay out of a
bullet’s path. The documentary is full of ideas and explanations behind why
black men are typically perceived so negatively. Interviews from male artists,
actors and even Baker family members contribute to a plethora of opinions about
the stereotypes of black men and evidence of how they are debunked.
“Why are people afraid of dark?”
isn’t a question of literal light versus darkness. Dark in this context means
black, as in the African-American race. Video plays of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. giving a speech where he exclaims the definition of black is usually
characterized by something negative. Then he says: “Well, I want to get the
language right tonight.” That assertion from a black male who led the civil
rights movement lifts all the young African-American men.
Baker integrates clips of the
president, professors and even pictures to help the viewer visualize the point
she is addressing. She takes the time to discuss the polygenic theory, which
claimed that black men were not of the same species of white men, therefore
dehumanizing them and justifying treating them as animals. She explains the
story of Ota Benga, the first man to be indirectly experimented on and kept in
a zoo so that people could come see him as proof of the polygenic theory. After
an intriguing history lesson, Baker interviews men and asks them about their
experiences as black men. This is where the documentary becomes choppy.
The interviews are not very
well-organized. Grouped by theme, rather than specific question, the interviews
are hard to follow and lack depth. Their answers just surf the issues and the
questions do not seem to align with the overall goal of the movie. The
direction of the film is unclear. As a viewer, I was confused as to what I
should know about black men. The film examines what the stereotypes the men
fact but does not address how these problems could be fixed. In order to really
take away a deeper message from the movie, I would have liked to see more
in-depth interviews, focusing on one or two men primarily so that the answers
could be more specific. In-depth interviews would have allowed the audience to
feel a more personal connection with the people in it and the issues it
addressed.
Overall, the movie is a great
conversation starter to spread awareness of the black man’s struggle to be
viewed positively. It explains the roots of these misconceptions,
but it does not come to a resolution.
