Fruitvale Station Reflection

Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler is a drama based on true events that took place in 2009. The movie stars a young Michael B. Jordan trying to get back on his feet, with a young child and no job. While I had never seen the film before, I knew the backstory of what happened at Fruitvale Station; however, this didn’t make the film easier for me to watch. Personally, this was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch, but also one of the most important. The story of Fruitvale Station is one of police brutality, and the unjustified killing of a young black man. Fruitvale Station is so successful because it doesn’t paint Oscar as an angel or as the devil, it portrays him as a human, who has made mistakes but is trying to change. To me, this is also why the movie is so heartbreaking. The human side of Oscar that we see in prison, and at the bay is what makes him so easy to care for. The struggle that Oscar faces between living in poverty and staying above the law is one that so many black men face, and it begs the question why our society doesn’t have more programs to help these goodhearted but struggling individuals. While this happened almost 8 years ago, the topic of police brutality is still one of the most relevant and controversial today. The movie was released in January of 2013, just five months before George Zimmerman would be acquitted for the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin. This acquittal would lead to the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequently create discussion about why black men are more likely to be the target of these crimes.