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This movie is about a black man who was shot and killed by a
white police officer. The story is true, or at least mostly true. Or at least
it is based on a true story. Or at least it deals with an event that really
happened. It is a little tough to tell whether the story is supposed to be straight-up
non-fiction, somewhat-fiction, mostly-fiction, or what. But it is not tough to
tell that this story—what really did happen—is tragic.
“Fruitvale Station” opens with video footage of the actual
event. It is early in the morning on New Years Day, 2009, at Fruitvale Station,
near San Francisco. We see a handful of young black men lined up along a wall.
Several officers are giving them a hard time—pushing them around, yelling at
them, and even kicking them. One of the men stands up and is immediately shoved
to the ground. One of the officers holds him down. Another grinds the man’s
head into the ground with his knee.
Then suddenly—BANG!—the unmistakable report of a gunshot cuts
the air. People scream and the camera shakes. Everything goes dark.
That is the scene we are anticipating for the whole movie.
We want to know what happens, how it happens, and what is going to happen as a
result. Alas, we have to wait for it (quite a while, actually). For, after the
first scene, we back up so that we can get to know the victim.
His name is Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan). Oscar is 22-years-old.
He lives in the Bay Area with his girlfriend, Sophina (Melonie Diaz), and his 4-year-old
daughter, Tatiana (Ariana Neal). Oscar has a bit of a checkered past, and
indeed, a bit of a checkered present. He was in prison for a while. He got out.
But now he is unemployed and hurting.
Sometimes Oscar acts like a responsible, mature adult who is
willing to work hard. But sometimes it’s the opposite. He goofs off, shows up
late and gets fired. Sometimes Oscar acts like a loyal boyfriend, father, son
and friend. But again, sometimes it’s the opposite. He says and pleads and
insists and promises Sophina that he wants nothing more than to be with her and
their daughter for the rest of his life. Then he cheats.
Sometimes Oscar is the kindest man you will ever see. He
helps random people in the supermarket, comforts a dying dog, and showers
affection on his daughter. But then Oscar can be mean. He snaps, switches over
to a different personality, gets in fights and hurls threats.
I suppose the point is that Oscar is kind of just like all
of us. He is not perfect, and who knows, maybe he is not even a particularly good
guy. It seems like it could go either way. Maybe he will turn things around and
have a rich, full life. Or maybe he will screw it all up.
Then Fruitvale Station happens. And I suppose it does not
matter whether Oscar was responsible and hard working. It does not matter
whether he was kind or mean, loyal or disloyal, good or bad, a success or
failure, on his way up or on his way out.
Oscar did not deserve to be shot that night. It is true that
Oscar had potential. But even if he was, or turned out to be, mean, disloyal,
irresponsible, and just plain bad, Oscar did not deserve to be shot that night.
“Fruitvale Station” is dramatic and gut wrenching because of
what actually happened on January 1, 2009. It is powerful because someone who
did not deserve to die was shot and killed, and for all the worst reasons.
I guess it’s all right that this movie spends time on Oscar’s
life. It enhances the drama and all that. But the movie spends so so so much
time on this background stuff. And, again, there is a sense in which it feels
irrelevant. Are we supposed to assess, over the course of an hour of getting to
know Oscar, whether Oscar deserved to be shot? Is all the background info supposed
to be what makes Oscar’s story tragic rather than merely unfortunate?
No. Oscar’s story is tragic. He did not deserve to be shot.
Yes, it is good to get to know Oscar. But his personality is
not the story. “Fruitvale Station” is worth watching, but not because the
creators of the movie add anything by way of cinematic genius. This movie is
worth watching because what happened at Fruitvale Station is worth knowing and
reflecting upon.
