Abstract
In the years following the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, American cinema was looking for a way to appropriately address the issue of police brutality against people of color. Filmmakers, often inspired by real-life events, began developing stories focused on the trauma of witnessing lethal police violence. Three films released in 2018 – Blindspotting (dir. Carlos López Estrada), Monsters and Men (dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green) and The Hate U Give (dir. George Tillman Jr.)– emphasize how the aftermath of such experiences affects young people of color and their communities. This article aims to explore the role of witness testimony in trauma-centered narratives and examine how the contemporary American cinema visualizes racial trauma. To achieve that, the films will be analyzed within the context of trauma studies, including theories regarding both individual and cultural trauma. Moreover, studies focused on the socialization of Black children will help demonstrate the transgenerational impact of trauma. All three films share common motifs: they represent the psychosomatic aspects of trauma through similar cinematic techniques and see value in witness testimony, even if it requires personal sacrifices from the protagonists. They also portray parents’ worry about their children’s future within a prejudiced system and the struggle to prepare them for it. All these issues have been previously addressed in the public and academic discourse and are now being reflected in cinema. Film proves to be a suitable medium for representing trauma of witnessing police brutality and cinema will most likely remain a vital part of the debate about dismantling racist systems for years to come.
Highlights
When a new social trend or a movement forms, cinema begins to look for ways of representing it on the silver screen
One of the emerging tropes in contemporary American cinema, influenced by the ongoing protests against racially motivated violence, are stories that focus on the trauma of witnessing fatal police shootings
Films depicting the trauma of witnessing police violence against people of color can serve multiple purposes
Summary
The name of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement first appeared as a hashtag on. M Twitter in 2013. A year later, the BLM movement gained national recognition, following widespread protests against police brutality and racially motivated violence. The tensions escalated over a period of several weeks and led to the Ferguson riots, prompted by the killing of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. To this day, the movement remains a vital part of American and international sociopolitical discourse, having received global support in the wake of the most recent wave of protests in the summer of 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It gives a platform to the witnesses of violence who use it to share evidence and first-hand accounts of instances of racism and police brutality. The narratives centering on life-altering violent events and their aftermath should be analyzed within the theoretical framework of trauma studies
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