I have known of the black panthers since I was young. I always watch out for movies that are historical adaptations but movies based on black stories get me extra hype. Always watching out for black panther stories, intrigued by how young black men and women had the audacity to challenge oppressive systems in America.
So when I saw the trailer of “Judas and the black messiah” which is the story about the betrayal of Freddie Hampton, who was the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Well I watched the movie and it was good, better still it was great, you know what? scratch that, it was GLORIOUS!
I felt it was appropriate for black history month that my lost post be a review of this excellent movie.
**SPOILER ALERT**
The Plot: This movie is based on true life events, it explores the betrayal of Freddie Hampton by William O’Neal. It was directed by Shaka King, screenplay is by Shaka King and Will Berson.
Casting and Acting: The actors played their roles very, very well. Daniel Kaluuya embodied the essence of Fred Hampton really well. Lakeith Stanfield was really a good portrayal of the awkward black man/ snitch which he played through his character William O’Neal. Dominique Fishback portrayal of Akua Njeri (formerly Deborah Johnson) was so good, I had to go read about her. Overall very good acting.
The casting was great, my one criticism is I wish the actors were younger. Daniel is 31, Lakeith is 29, the people they portrayed namely Fred and William were 21 and 17 respectively. Obviously, the actors are older than the people they were portraying and I think that perspective was important. It would have been nice for the movie to portray that the people making history were doing it young with no manual.
Dialogue: The dialogue between the characters was great. It was so good that I felt like I was a member of the black panther party. The dialogue did a good job of exploring friendship, community and betrayal but the dialogue between Fred and Akua was delicious. I could feel the chemistry, it felt like watching a revolutionary Romeo and Juliet.
The poem that she recited called ” Are you a bad motherfucker or just a bad mother?” showed the tension between wanting and fighting for a better more just world and the dangers of wanting a revolution. You could feel the emotions between them, also the dialogue made Akua more than a one-dimensional character. She was clearly more than Fred babe because she is smart and articulate. Their flirtation was great, the scene where they were reciting Malcolm X speech to each other was phenomenal. Truly one of the sexiest scenes ever.
Black Panthers: When you mention Fred Hampton and the black panthers, the average person thinks of militant political action but there is more to the story than that and this movie did a great job of portraying that. The movie showed the black panther party was very community-focused, providing food for children, providing access to healthcare, and doing other things focused on the community.
Loved that it also portrayed Fred as a socialist, I may not believe socialism is the way to black liberation because I am a capitalist but that’s another story. Fred was a socialist in every sense of the word, he acknowledged material reality and class disparities loved that this was well represented in the movie. Also, the movie showed that Fred was a bridge builder, the creation of the rainbow coalition was truly a brilliant idea, which also goes against the image of a dangerous man the FBI created.
COINTELPRO ( derived from COunter INTELligence PRO gram from 1956 -unknown): was a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic American political organizations.
FBI records show COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals the FBI deemed subversive, including feminist organizations, the Communist Party USA, anti-Vietnam War organizers, activists of the civil rights movement, or the Black power movement.
It was obvious that J. Edgar Hoover couldn’t stand dissidents but he definitely could not stand the black panthers. A lot of really weird, odd and crazy things were allowed to pass because “we need to crash the black panthers”. Truly a mess, a complete shit show.
Lastly, I would love to appreciate the name “Judas and the black Messiah”. The similarities between the biblical Judas and this story is a lot. The name is fitting for the story.
This was a great movie, if you haven’t seen it I definitely recommend.
