Months ago, I wrote about my displeasure over Nate Parker's lack of repentance, empathy, and straight up arrogance after being accused of rape, harassing his victim after the fact, and then the whole story ending in her tragic suicide nearly thirteen years later.
I find it highly distasteful that a man accused of rape would write a screenplay, where there is a rape scene, and then invite the guy, with whom he raped a woman, to co-write with him. But I digress, as this is not the point of this blog.
My greater issue is that we seem to value art, over the artist, and over human lives.
Many of you are willing to forego his past transgressions because you really want to see the film. Admit it; there are plenty of other slave narratives (12 Years A Slave, Roots, Queen, etc) executive produced and written by black people, so if it was simply about telling our own stories, there is a plethora of literature and film examples out there. Ultimately, it is that you care more about the art than you do the story, or the artist.
Nate Parker is married to a white woman, any other day you would slander him for it, like you did with OJ, Kobe, MJ, and countless other black men, but again, he has something you want, so you are willing to forego this minor transgression.
Nate Parker is arrogant, narcissistic even; any other black man would be an Uncle Tom, an asshole; again, you are forgiving, make excuses for, and ultimately shrug your shoulders, because you want to see the film.
If Nate Parker were accused of raping your wife, daughter, sister, mother, girlfriend, you would gather up your local posse and perform some street justice, but again, you want to see the film.
You are quick to rally in the streets when policemen kill unarmed black men, and there in the forefront are black women leading the charge. They tell you they have a problem with Nate Parker and his unrepentant, nonchalant attitude about his alleged rape, and you say, "stop trying to tear a brother down"; "we need to see this film," so their feelings, the women who fight so hard on your behalf when the boys in blue take your lives and those who you care about, are tossed aside.
I your fellow brother, fellow black man, sexual trauma survivor, tells you I can't support this film, because it triggers my PTSD, and I don't want to support someone accused of doing something that changed the whole trajectory of my life, and you say "get over it", maybe not literally, but you tell me by spending your money on the film, raving about how good it is, and preaching to me, why I should see it, despite how triggering and traumatic it is for me.
So ultimately it is about the art! And maybe not even the art itself! Maybe, it is about the fact that you need to feel that you are racially aware, "woke", pro-black, this film allows you to prove that!
Because ultimately, regardless of this film, white supremacy will still be a thing, cops will still murder us in the street, our lives still will have lesser value than those of a lighter skin hue, but you got to see good "art", so that is what is most important right?
Until next time.....
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