Fruitvale Station Reflection

Ryan Coogler’s first feature length film, Fruitvale Station, provides audience members with an in-depth look into the final day of Oscar Grant, a young African American man gunned down by Oakland police officers. Based on true events, Coogler’s movie pays particularly close attention to Grant’s last hours leading up to his questionable death at the hands of BART Police.

The film is particularly compelling because the director utilizes actual footage of Grant and his friends being detained just moments before he is fatally shot in the back by police officers. It is also strong because Coogler incorporates different flashback scenes. These scenes are important to the overall plot because they aid in shaping a positive and non-violent image of Grant. Although it is made clear that he has been to prison, and at one point even contemplates selling marijuana, the director portrays him as an individual who cares deeply for his family, illustrated by his attendance at the birthday party of his mother. It is also evident that the protagonist is a person who hopes to make an honest living, as the movie shows Grant desperately trying to get his job as a grocery store clerk back. However, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, Grant’s past life catches up to him at an Oakland BART station. While returning from San Francisco, Grant is recognized by a former fellow inmate from his time in prison. The man starts a disturbance and BART Police officers are forced to respond. The film’s later scenes show Grant restrained on the station platform before he is shot in the back and rushed to a nearby hospital where he later dies of his wounds.

Although well filmed, the movie’s closing credits are particularly powerful. Title credits show that Grant’s death sparked mass outrage in the greater African American community. The audience later learns that the officer who shot Grant receives an 11-month prison sentence, claiming that he thought his gun was a Taser.

A rightful winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, I believe Coogler’s depiction of events is particularly powerful because he manages to display the facts surrounding Grant’s death in an objective manner.