He is a devoted father who teaches his children to speak out against injustice and values the Black Panther's Ten-Point Program above anything else. He is very passionate about the social injustice in Garden Heights and refuses to leave the neighborhood, hoping to improve it from the inside. He served time in prison after pleading guilty to a crime he didn't commit, in order to get permission to leave the gang. Starr's father and a former member of the King Lords gang. That night, Khalil is tragically shot by a white police officer.
Khalil harbored romantic feelings for Starr all along and they reconnect after the house party. However, when Starr started attending Williamson, the two stopped seeing each other as often, as Starr was keen to separate herself from the people of Garden Heights. Khalil is one of Starr's childhood friends from Garden Heights, and the two share a love of Harry Potter. While she feels she must hold a lot in at the beginning of the film, she eventually learns to integrate the different parts of her life. Starr is brave, poised, and determined, in spite of facing many obstacles in life. After witnessing the unjust killing of her childhood friend, Khalil, by a white police officer, Starr begins to see the ways that black people face greater injustice under the law, and starts to fight for what is right, speaking on television, testifying in front of a grand jury, and speaking at a protest. Meanwhile, she also attends Williamson, a fancy prep school with mostly white students, which leaves her feeling fractured, like two different people. She learns to stop tolerating the microaggressions from her ex-friend Hailey and learns that there is power in her words and actions to change the injustices surrounding her.Īlthough no form of entertainment can truly replace how it is to live in America as a PoC, specifically as a black American, “The Hate U Give” can help to provide a deeper insight into the experiences and emotions of living in today’s society and culture.The protagonist of the movie, Starr is a 16-year old African American girl living in Garden Heights, a rough neighborhood. She illuminates the police brutality within her neighboring communities through her bravery and courage to stand up and do the right thing.īy the end of the movie, Starr learns that she can no longer separate her two different identities and must live true to herself and whom she loves and cares about. Figuratively, Starr lights up the darkness of America’s blatant and subtle racism literally, upon realizing her ability to use her voice as a weapon, she acts as a leader for others to follow. Named after the stars for bringing her father hope in a very dark time in his life, Starr’s name is both figurative and literal. She feels that she has to compartmentalize herself into two distinct personalities that can’t coexist.Īs the movie progresses, Starr also learns the power of her own voice and how she can become a “star” to others, a beacon of hope. When I’m here, I can’t be too Garden Heights,” says Starr. “When I’m at home, I can’t be too Williamson. Throughout the movie, Starr battles internally with what she feels are two different sides of herself that she displays to others to fit into her two different worlds. In contrast, Starr’s family home in Garden Heights is furnished and lit with warm hues of orange and red giving it a comforting and welcoming feel to both Starr and the audience. Whether it be the extremely life like protest scene near the end of the movie or more subtle hints to portray the polar opposite situations found in Starr’s life, the film masterfully captures what many PoC have to deal with.įor instance, Williamson Prep’s school colors are blue and white, and the relating scenes are lit with cool blue tones giving the scenes an almost cold, unwelcoming and unfamiliar feel. The film was also nominated for a 2019 BET Award for Best Movie.Ĭinematically, the movie was extremely realistic and portrayed the realities of many people of color (PoC) living in America today. With a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 7.5/10 on IMDb, both critics and movie-goers alike felt the strong and extremely moving performances by all members of the cast. from a screenplay by Audrey Wells.īased on the 2017 YA novel by Angie Thomas, the main character, Starr Carter, deals with the tragedy of having her childhood best friend, Khalil, wrongly shot by a police officer right in front of her after he mistakes a hairbrush for a gun.Ī 16-year-old black girl, Starr and her family live in Garden Heights, a poor and predominantly black community this is starkly contrasted by the fact that she and her siblings attend Williamson Prep, a private school situated in an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood. Released in theaters in 2018, “The Hate U Give” is an American drama film co-produced and directed by George Tilman Jr.