Deborah Hay: Solo (2012)

Quentin Tarantino did not direct By Any Means, but he did direct the movie Django Unchained, which grossed $449.8 million worldwide. 

Spike Lee did not direct By Any Means, but he did direct the movie BlacKkKlansman, which grossed $93.4 million worldwide.

Before Django Unchained came out, Spike Lee criticized Quentin Tarantino’s film, saying on Twitter (now X): “American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them.” 

All three movies – Django Unchained, BlacKkKlansman, and By Any Means – make the creative choice to dramatize a certain period of systemic oppression of Black people in a way that excites and thrills the audience.  All three movies are also told in a way that reminds the audience of the terror of oppression.  That naturally raises the question – are movies like these a force for good, essentially slipping the spirit of liberation into our minds through entertainment?  Or are these movies ultimately misguided, minimizing what was unimaginably horrible by associating them with thrills?  Can the same analysis of these films be applied to war films like Saving Private Ryan and this year’s Pressure?

While this isn’t quite the ideal Black History Month watch,The Trial of the Chicago 7 covers a very real history of protesting in America from the perspective of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protestors. While these protests looked very different from the ones America saw in the summer of 2020, protestors risked their lives to have their voices heard in protest against the Vietnam War.

With a mostly white ensemble cast, there are still themes that emphasize the racism of this time and in this specific trial. The film, while criticized for not being completely accurate to the real trial from 1969, tells the story of the seven white men held responsible for the Chicago riots in 1968. In the same trial (according to the film), Bobby Seal, (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was tried without legal counsel for the majority of the trial, charged with several accounts of Contempt of Court, and was bound and gagged in the courtroom for his “misbehavior.”

The film focuses on the seven white men who were actually responsible for causing the riots and comments on the extreme racism present through the trial by using Bobby Seal as a type of scape-goat. The re-living of this historic trial through this film is relevant to current politics and disturbingly enjoyable to watch due to the excellent performances from the ensemble cast. If you like a juicy courtroom drama, this film will definitely scratch that itch in a really chilling manner.