My mom is one of those people who just cannot take in information that clashes with her world view and just shuts down if you say something negative about a Democrat (unless they’re progressive).
About halfway through the movie, we had to pause because my brother had to use the bathroom and she talked about growing up in that time frame she was terrified of the Black Panthers because all she knew about them was that they wanted to “kill whitey.” The movie helped her realize that she only read propaganda in the newspapers and misinformation from the FBI. She had never heard of Fred Hampton before the movie.
This morning she sent an article to the family chat about how a former cop confessed that the police and FBI were involved in Malcolm X’s assassination.
I’m not a history buff, so I don’t know how sanitized the movie is, but I think it pretty unapologetically shows cops and the FBI as villains and gives context to when Panthers kill them that keeps the Panthers as the heroes. I think we need more accurate biopics about radicals, libs love these kind of movies. Unfortunately, we’re far more likely to get another Sorkin Chicago 6.
The movie is, in my opinion, the best mainstream depiction of a leftist in film. It's largely accurate (although I don't think there was a shootout before the Chicago PD burned down the Panthers headquarters). However, the main notes that the film hits are accurate and it's depiction of Hampton as a character/leader was great.
Yeah, the latest rev left episode talks about that accusation being suspect. Primarily that it would be idiotic to start a shootout from your own office, and that the Chicago police has a pattern of using that excuse as justification for actions they took against the Black Panthers and other groups in the city.
Namely, it's the exact same justification they used the night they murdered Fred Hampton, despite the fact that out of the roughly 100 bullets fired only one came from the Panthers and it was very clearly a no-knock raid/execution.
"A shootout took place" is just the same "I feared for my life" excuse that officers have been using to justify any and every instance of police misconduct for decades now.
That's interesting I hadn't even been able to find anything about there having been a shootout (even coming from Chicago PD) but there's every chance I just didn't search well enough.
Maybe I'm misremembering the conversation?
I'd have to go back and listen to the episode again to remember what was actually said.
No you could very well be right it would have been weird that they made that up out of nowhere when the cops just bombing their office is way more evil, when the rest of the movie is fully sympathetic to the panthers.
i want the rest of this storyif you can tell it lol
Just watched it last night because of this post. It was great. The depiction of Fred Hampton was just mesmerizing. He quoted Mao O:
The entire time I kept thinking, man, these people had such conviction and unity, over the same things I believe in. It could be me in there. I'm surprised to say that watching it revitalized a bit of a revolutionary spirit in me. Definitely worth a watch.I definitely know what you mean about the revitalized spirit.
Although on one hand the movie made me so angry because the only thing that’s changed is the people being killed by cops/feds are less radical.
Goddamn yeah the movie destroyed me for a couple hours.
Listen to the Dollop episode about Fred Hampton. The story of the legal battle that followed his assassination is fascinating and infuriating as well.