The two works we examined in class this week, Amiri Baraka' Dutchman and Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, have common themes and remarkably similar endings. At the end of both works we find young Black men--both with promising futures--killed at a too early age by a White man and a White woman. Both of these murders take place on a subway or mass transit system but on opposite coasts of the U.S. and as the result of circumstances separated by more than 50 years.
For your blog entry this week, explain your reactions to Fruitvale Station and how the film left you feeling: angry, sad, confused, something else? Why do you think Koogler (the director) choose the details he included in the story? What did he hope to achieve by sharing this information about the main character?
If you are interested, make some comparisons between Dutchman and Fruitvale Station. This is not a required part of your analysis, but thinking about this may help you with your drama paper assignment. How are the play and film similar--apart from the nature of the deaths in both works. Do both authors have similar objectives in writing each piece? How much has changed for the better or worse from NYC of the 1960's as Baraka saw it and the contemporary San Francisco Bay area we see in Coogler's Fruitvale Station.
Your entry should be at least two complete paragraphs of 4-5 sentences and you should try to address an idea or theme raised by someone who has posted before your entry.
Some more background that may be of interest to you.
Link to Forbes Discussion of Fruitvale Station
