ACT 5- If I Watch This Does That Count As Activism?

BLOGGER: Hello everyone! Welcome back, today I wanted to talk about film interpretation of grassroots movements.
READER: ...
BLOGGER: What? No comments for me today?
READER: I’m waiting.
BLOGGER: Alright then. Anyways, smaller citizen journalism and grassroots movements have been around for awhile. Ironically the first instance of this was in blogs! (Weblog was the original term.) It was first used in reference to politics and political candidates; it was mainly for people to discuss politics and in correction of inaccurate news reporting from traditional journalism sources. However, blogging and social media such as Twitter became substantial platforms for activism and areas for communities to come together on social and political matters of injustice like the Black Lives Matter movement, they affected people and provoked them into action.
READER: Where do movies play a role in this?
BLOGGER: See, you spoke too soon. Give yourself more time to listen before jumping in okay? Where movies come in is that, amongst many genres and topics including the historical, movies also focus and center their stories at times around these social/grassroots movements and through a bit off dramatization and the lens of Hollywood aims to portray (in the most palatable way) these movements and their impact. Documentaries are a important and perfect conveyance of a good amount of the historic facts surrounding the movement.
READER: But isn’t it not always accurate when portraying stuff like history or social movements?
BLOGGER: That’s very true! Look who’s finally listening before opening their mouth! Even documentaries aren’t able to cover all the facts and 100% depict each aspect of each movement correctly. Reviews and blogs exactly like this exist to critique when slip ups do happen but that not why I’m here. This is more of a warning on being wary of the depictions Hollywood gives with these social movements; films in their attempt to add to the emotional and psychological drama of the event sometimes miss the message or important factors in remembering the movements. Taking into account all sides of the matter is also good to remember as well. There are good examples out there such as The Hate U Give directed by George Tillman Jr. They hit all the points of violence and police brutality and counter-arguments in the impact on the cops lives to a realistic enough degree that it would stand as a good interpretation of code switching and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Other than that you just need to be wary the next time you watch something with social or historical impact and how close to accurate they are. Until next time!