Burden Movie Review

Burden (2018)

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Written by: Andrew Heckler
Directed by: Andrew Heckler
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Andrea Riseborough, Forest Whitaker, Tom Wilkinson, Usher Raymond
Rated: R
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Plot
When a museum celebrating the Ku Klux Klan opens in a South Carolina town, the idealistic Reverend Kennedy strives to keep the peace even as he urges the group's Grand Dragon to disavow his racist past.

Verdict
Sometimes people can change, they can rise above the entrenched hate they've been taught. Mike is part of the Klan, but he begins questioning the motives and ideology when his new girlfriend pushes him. While the message is important, this doesn't surpass similar movies, though it gets a boost for being based on a true story. Mike's friends hate anyone they deem inferior, and later that even includes Mike. The ideology is hate as an outlet. Mike went along though he didn't fully subscribe. That's part of why he got out. He just needed a good influence.
It depends.

Review
Mike (Garrett Hedlund) works as a repo guy for a Rent-to-Own in South Carolina. There aren't many options in the small town. His adopted father Tom (Tom Wilkinson) and friends open a KKK museum and shop. In a town that's already fighting discrimination, Reverend Kennedy (Forest Whitaker) realizes all too well the divide and tension something like that creates.

Garrett Hedlund, Andrea Riseborough play Mike, Judy

While we hear the arguments of the people in support of their self titled "redneck shop," the arguments don't hold. They claim other demographics have a museum, but those aren't museums built on and encouraging hate and violence. A radio station features a caller stating if blacks don't like the museum they can go back to Africa. By that logic whites that don't like the protests against the museum should go back to Germany, England, Ireland, and Italy. The same people making the argument wouldn't accept that. It's not about logic, it's about power, control, and using whatever false argument sounds good in the moment. These same whites would claim America as their land, as false as that is.

We learn that Mike wasn't always racist. It seems that started when Tom took him in. Did he go along to fit in or does he really believe in hate? Mike is nice to his new girlfriend Judy (Andrea Riseborough), a level of empathy we haven't seen in his friends. Judy is put off by Tom and Mike's friends' overt racism. He dismisses Tom and the jokes, but she asks him if the thinks it's funny. Despite this, and I don't know why, Judy stays with Mike. Does she think she can change him? As a single mother, does she like having help around the house? Mike takes Judy's son and the son's friend fishing. The friend happens to be black, but Mike takes and teaches them both. It's clear Mike's beliefs aren't rooted in hate. Tom took him in and Mike mimicked what he saw, either to keep a roof over his head or slowly becoming ingrained in that culture. Mike is pulled between Judy and Tom. He thinks about the violence he's seen, and how it's changed him. Mike decides to reject the Klan.

Forest Whitaker plays Reverend Kennedy

These white guys have nothing better to do than harass others as a means to escape their own sad lives. They just need an excuse. When Mike rejects them, he becomes a target. Of course someone like Tom is going to be vindictive, making Mike's life difficult. Mike's truck was Tom's. Mike worked for Tom. That's gone. Tom manages to get Judy fired. Tom has lost everything, but it's Reverend Kennedy that shows Mike kindness. Kennedy even brings them into his home, providing a place to stay. Kennedy's family is shocked at the least. Mike's from a group that's been openly hostile, but Kennedy realizes Mike is different.

Mike never bought in, he probably assumed a place to get by. Judy questioned his beliefs and pushed him to be better. Before that, he was happy to go along with racism. Part of that is a desire to belong and have some friends, even if he doesn't agree with them. While this has a happy ending, it doesn't usually work that way. I have to imagine, it's incredibly rare to change someone's opinion that's so entrenched in hate. We see that Mike's friends don't just hate minorities, it extends to women, and later even Mike. They harass and attack others to feel more powerful because they're weak.