The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman, is a 2018 popular film based on Angie Thomas’ New York Times best-selling novel. This film follows the experience of the main character Starr Carter, a 16-year-old African American girl. She lives in the neighbourhood Garden Heights, a predominantly black neighbourhood, with a lot of poverty and crime. She lives with her mother, father, younger brother Sekani and older half-brother Seven. Despite living in what she refers to as the hood, Starr attends Williamson prep, a prestigious school with a majority white student population, along with her brothers to receive a better education. Because Garden Heights and Williamson are two completely different worlds, Starr struggles with her identity and being …show more content…
There are many themes in The Hate U Give, but I think the most important one relating to Starrs decision is the power of voice. The power of voice is when you use your voice as your weapon, to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. In the film, Starr uses the power of her voice to be brave and fight for Khalil. An example of this in the film is when Starr speaks at the protest after the grand jury verdict came out, publicly coming forward as the witness. In this scene we see Starr standing on the top of a car in front of many people, both cops and protesters, speaking through a megaphone using her voice to fight for Khalil. My name is Starr! And I am the one who saw what happened to Khalil! I am the witness of the truth! But so are you all! We are all witnesses to this injustice! We see it all, and we will not stop until the world sees it, too! We will not stop protesting!’ This quote from the movie shows her bravery in speaking up in a dangerous situation. It demonstrates the power of voice because she is learning to stand up for herself, Khalil and the oppressed community. This relates to Starr’s decision because it was a pivotal moment in her fully deciding to speak up for Khalil. This theme engages the audience because we see throughout the film Starr fighting with herself on whether to speak up or not, eventually deciding to use the power of her voice. This helps the audience relate and understand Starr because we see the struggle and are able to connect with her. Also helping the audience understand what she is going through and to better help them relate. The director's purpose of the aspect is to show people the story as a whole, to teach people a lesson they can take away, in this example to fight for what they believe in. We see this in the real world all the time, such as the black lives movement. With this movement, we see many people using their voices as their weapons, to fight for equality and