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| 13TH - Chronicling the root of the problem. |
Written by: Spencer Averick, Ava DuVernay
Directed by: Ava DuVernay
Rated: TV-MA
Plot:
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay examines racial inequality, focusing on the disproportionate number of African-Americans in the American prison system. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, but the prison system perpetuates slavery.
Verdict:
This is incredible and powerful. This leaves an indelible imprint on your mind of the struggle blacks face. As Newt Gingrich says, "If you're white, you can't understand." While this is framed around the disproportionate amount of blacks in prison, it thoroughly examines the systemic issue of why it's disproportionate, from the politicians to the policies and how things have changed over time.
Watch it.
Review:
The United States has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prisoners. That's the opening statement of this documentary, perfectly priming you for what is about to come.
After slavery, blacks were imprisoned unjustly and used as labor. Even films at the turn of the century unfairly portrayed blacks as criminals. Overt racism became segregation.
A clip of Nixon's advisor has him stating their strategy to disrupt the anti-war and blacks was to target drugs. Despite crack and cocaine being the same drug. Crack was used primarily in the inner city black neighbor hoods and punished much more harshly. Cocaine was used in white neighborhoods and faced more lenient penalties. Newt Gingrich admits they should have been penalized similarly.
A running tally of the prison population over the years appears between segments, showing just how quickly it grew, especially during Reagan's war on drugs campaign.
This is a well done documentary. The interviews are incredibly effective, combined with stock footage. The final montage if effective.
While it does include the opposite viewpoint, specifically racially targeted policies, it provides no credence to that viewpoint. Someone from ALEC in essence stammers and shrugs his shoulders.
ALEC was really intriguing. They are a legislative group responsible for the policies that helped George Zimmerman avoid jail time despite being told by the 911 operator not to follow Trayvon Martin. They also are responsible for laws that helped private prisons, ensuring a steady population stream.
This also gets into how prisons are biased against the poor. Prosecutors bully people into taking a plea deal to get out of jail quicker when they can't afford jail. John Oliver did a segment on this in Last Week Tonight.
This is something you've got to see. There is no way to do it justice in a short review.
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