The point is, actually getting to know people and who they are and where they come from takes time and effort; two things we as a society refuse to do. Yet if we confidently spew off some random nonsense on social media and get a few likes, along with some clowns who agree with us, it makes us feel as though we are well informed and somehow also justifies our laziness. "Hey, I saw a blurb on whatever network’s website the other day and it reminded me of something I saw in a Tom Cruise movie when I was a kid, so it has to be right."
It’s sad but this is the very reason why we are so divided in this country and why you have people making ridiculous statements like saying the Black Lives Matters movement is no different than the White Nationalist movement. Now I can write an entire book on that alone but that’s for another site and for a far more talented writer than I am. However the reason why I decided to point this out is because movies that give us some actual insight into our country’s real and very dark history go ignored, like the film Detroit was when it was released two weeks ago. If no one has ever been racist to you and you live in a bubble where everything is equal and fair, at least in your eyes, you don’t want to do anything that rocks the boat. You instead just go out to see Spiderman 9 while downloading the latest Justin Bieber album that came out right after he impregnated Kylie Jenner.
Well Kathryn Bigelow gives us a close and gruesome look into the events that occurred on one horrific night in the middle of the Detroit riots. Tensions had been rising for years as Black people moved up north looking for work while the white community decided to move out to the suburbs; taking most of the jobs and opportunities with them in the process. So naturally, as people start to go hungry and struggle to simply survive, anger and desperation begin to set in. And then you add in the fact that the police routinely came around to harass whoever looked at them sideways (Detroit police were known for being super aggressive back then) and you have yourself a ticking time bomb.
Now there were several incidents that occurred over a number of days that were ultimately the cause of the Detroit riots, and yes there were stupid actions on both sides (not to quote our brilliant president or anything) that caused them to go on for far longer than they probably should have, but what took place at the Algiers Hotel should have never happen in any civilized society, no matter what the situation was. Well what set the stage for this awful scene was a whacked out cop’s (Officer Krauss) reaction to what he thought was sniper fire at him and his unit, even though said gun shots were hundreds of yards away. Now his tracking down the shots wasn’t the issue, what was however was his twisted view of how he could personally help the Black community. He thought that gunning down unarmed Black males in the back who were "up to trouble" would rid the community of its dead weight and as a result would leave only the docile animals around to help save the Black neighborhoods. Well his superiors disagreed with him and put him under investigation for murder but that for some reason wasn’t quite enough to keep them from releasing him back on the streets to wreak even more havoc.
And as fate would have it, the sound of these gun shots came from the starter pistol of a resident at the Algiers Hotel who decided that he would finally get some sort of revenge for all of police brutality he and his loved ones had encountered over the years. "How about I give them a quick scare to give them just a taste of what they have done to us for decades". Not the brightest idea he’s ever had, especially considering the fact that he was in a hotel full of Black men and two white girls in the late 60’s as that’s just a recipe for disaster. But that’s still no excuse for what took place once Krauss and his crew came on the scene.
The rest I will let you experience for yourself but just know that the amount of torture, beating, and killing that took place on that night was so off the charts that even the U.S. military, who was brought in into Detroit to help restore order, decided to wash their hands of it and leave the scene. Now there were quite a few subplots that came into play that could have turned this into a four hour epic; like the fact that the lead singer of the up and coming group The Dramatics was one of these hostages or the fact that a recent war hero who had just returned home from battle was another hostage, but thankfully Bigelow chose the route of succinct yet effective storytelling when it came to providing backstory for each of the characters involved.
And while there are plenty of intense scenes in this film, she does decide to play it a little safe when it comes to making a statement. The officers were ultimately found innocent in real life, so she tries to show how these were sort of good men who had just gone astray but anyone who was involved in that night would tell you a far different story. And I think that is what keeps them very solid film from being a great one; if this is your way of exposing what really happened, then go all the way with it. All of the acting is superb in this film and I do have to say that even though this film does clock in at 2 hours and 22 minutes, it certainly doesn’t feel like it. I give Detroit a rating of FRESH but just know that this is the only way anything that is associated with that city will ever get that rating. Go Stars!
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